Repeated Cycle (IC)

[Shade Leshyr]

Robert focussed on the clack of his boots on the metallic floor of the great and mighty Citadel, trying to ignore the murmurs of conversation around him. If there was one thing Robert had learned during his military service, it was that his outward appearance allowed things to get swept under the carpet. Plus, down in the wards, things could get ugly quick and C-Sec didn't jump like they did elsewhere.

He sighed, rubbing his head and keeping his eyes focused, but ears alert, but it was hard not to look around. A Krogan stood not far away, sizing Robert up, apparently thinking a dragon's skull would earn him some serious praise and maybe a little company at night, but Robert kept going, heading towards the nearest elevator to the Presidium.

Normally, the human embassy preferred to keep the anthros under their rules down in the wards. Robert snorted quietly to himself, they hid the anthros, acting like they were some kind of disease that tainted the good name of humanity. However, that's not what the message on his omni-tool said.

He smiled a little, rereading the message:
Dear Sir or Madam,
you are receiving this message on the basis of your abilities. You have been scouted for a private mission of the Citadel Council. You are encouraged to attend a meeting of the council today. You will be notified when you are wished to come and you will receive security clearance via your omni-tool. Any and all criminal charges will be pardoned should you attend and the council wishes to extend their promise that it will be worth your time
Sincerely,
The Ambassador circle.

Robert would have just stayed near his current ship assignment if the captain hadn't read the message with him and ordered him to go, and so here he was, on his way to see the Council. He arrived at the elevator and waited until the C-Sec guard finished checking his clearance and stepped onto the elevator.

[Nelle Kozera]

Isis yawned as she sat on the steps that lead to the council chambers. She was waiting to be called in as far as she knew their where some others that where being called to this meeting as well but until now she hadn’t seen any aside from herself. Because of this she figured that she was in for a long wait until she could see the council and that didn’t bother her all that much. She saw the price tag that came with the assignment and she figured with that she could purchase her own world, which was her intention.

She had wanted to start a colony for people like her, whether they where anthros or biotics. Such ambitions where going to be made possible by the payoff for this mission, but she figured that such a pay off came with risks, very large risks. But the chance that she could come off with enough money to start a colony was worth the risks. Until then she figured she would wait and do as they ask, in the mean time she was using her omi-tool to look for suitable worlds for purchase, many of them eden worlds a few not so eden but still livable by most standards.

When she looked up she saw one of the elevators from C-sec area of the citadel, she was wondering if the person riding the elevator was one of those that were going on this mission.

[Dusty]

Lorik leaned against the safety rail that surrounded the Galaxy Well in the council chambers. Though it appeared he was gazing to the giant cloud of stars he was actually rereading the message from the council on his eye piece. So, I'm called here on Council Business and then forced to wait for them he thought to himself. He had just finished tracking a Volus smugglers to a warehouse of the citadel when he had been ordered to the citadel tower.

With a sigh he closed the message and stood up. He hated all he politics and back room deals that happened on this station. He much preferred the task of finding a criminal and killing him to negotiating the murky waters of galactic diplomacy. Deciding there was nothing better to do he started walking up the stairs towards the council's platform. His eyes were drawn to the strange reptilian creature sitting on the stairs. Another gene-modded human, he assumed. The practice baffled him, he had never seen a race so keen to distance themselves from each other, yet they still considered themselves one species.

[Buzzwolf]

"Alex! Buddy! How ya doin--" the small fox found himself nose to nose with a rather, gruesome looking pistol

"What do you want Jake" the pistol twirled in hand and was jammed back into it's holster, to be replaced with a pool cue. he lined up a shot as he waited for Jake to continue

"Whoa, buddy, what's with the hostility man!" *Crack* "Oh, nice shot there...I just dropped in between customers, see how my good buddy Alex was doin!" the fox gave his best Salesman grin, which wasn't much

Alex circled the pool table, looking for his next shot "you don't really expect me to believe that, do you?" *Crack*

"No, really! I'm not selling anything this time! Honest!" The look alex gave him, made him doubt even his own word "Alright, alright...look, this guy dropped off a package for ya o'dark early this morning. New Omni-tool for ya. a gift he said. make sure it gets to ya, he said" Alex stopped mid shot "Yeah, that's what I thought...ran all the scans on it I could. it's clean. thing is...there's a message already on it. oh don't be surprised, I couldn't give a good friend an omni-tool as nice as this one, without making sure it was clean of malicious software" he put his hands up as Alex approached him, with a look as though about to kill him "Hey hey! relax, I didn't read it...couldn't even if I wanted to...its got a biometric lock on it, an i know better than ta try to deal with thatshit...ain't worth my time" he pulled the device from his satchel, turning it over in his hands "Ya know, these things ain't cheap..."

"Lemme see it" Jake pulled it away as Alex started to reach for it, and opened his mouth as though to start a sales pitch "If any words other than 'on the house' come out of your mouth...you're not going to walk out of here with all your limbs"

Jake grumbled and slapped the Omni-tool module into Alex's waiting hand "On the house" he grumbled through gritted teeth

Alex jammed his thumb on the scanning pad and unlocked the message. he scanned over it, his eyes catching on the council seal, a grin spreading as he read the message "Jake, you talk too much...Take it easy" He patted his shoulder as he pushed past him. Jake grumbled a response, picking up the pool cue to finish Alex's game for him.

[Shade Leshyr]

Robert tapped his foot impatiently, still not understanding why the Council had built this apparently "secret" lift leading from the wards straight to the Council Chambers. It wasn't the easiest thing to hide and a good many people in the wards knew about it, but the lift ride was so long that it wasn't really worth the effort to capture in the eyes of the occupants of the wards.

Finally, with a short hiss, the lift settled and opened, giving Robert his first view of the Council Chambers, which caused him to stop and stare. It was oddly beautiful, the way the shiny metal of the Citadel blended with the trees and plants that covered several areas of the Chambers. Making his way up the stairs, he almost tripped over another dragon who was sitting on the stairs.

Jumping back and stuttering an apology, Robert was glad the scales on his face covered his cheeks as he felt them heat up, "I-I'm sorry, I was looking at the chambers, didn't see you there, sorry," then a question settled in his mind and he looked at the dragonness, "wait, how'd you get clearance up here? I thought our ambassador kept us down in the wards."

[Dusty]

Lorik's interest was piqued when as he watched yet another of the strange reptilian creatures step out of the lift from the wards. Another one? Strange, he wondered. The Alliance didn't have many gene-modded members of the diplomatic corps. The Alliance military uniform of the new comer also added to the confusion. Could they be here for the same reason I am? he wondered. With nothing else to do he moved towards the pair who seemed like they were starting a conversation. "Pardon me, are you two here on summons from the council? There aren't many gene-modded humans in Citadel tower."

[BIos_Reaper]

The Citadel, grandest piece of engineering in existence, yet it had the worst internal navigation system Ishida had ever seen. Despite being literally bred and born aboard space stations and spaceships he'd spent the better part of two hours navigating one of the massive stations wards without a clue of where he even was. The downside of not not having an embassy on the station he guessed, Parum Prime was too far into the Terminus systems to qualify, hell if they did there would be no relenting the attacks by lesser species on the ESA. Still, he guessed the council was aware of the ESA's recent rise to power within the Terminus systems, the message they received, a request for a singular skilled individual to be allowed extended leave to come to the citadel. Scrolling through his omni-tool data via his visor, the benefit of having a massively augmented cerebral cortex, hands-free interface, he re-read the message, taking especial care to verify the council seal on it.

"Dear Sir or Madam,
you are receiving this message on the basis of your abilities. You have been scouted for a private mission of the Citadel Council. You are encouraged to attend a meeting of the council today. You will be notified when you are wished to come and you will receive security clearance via your omni-tool. Any and all criminal charges will be pardoned should there be any on record should you attend and the council wishes to extend their promise that it will be worth your time
Sincerely,
The Ambassador circle."

Closing the data-file he smiled, it was sort of an ego-stroke to be selected for the mission, almost certain that on of the ERR veterans would get the job, but apparently the higher-ups didn't think much of the council and their inept rule so they opted to send someone in need of the experience, also to get a lay of the land on the citadel and assess the supposed citadel councils strengths and weaknesses, after all diplomacy was one of the Altinians grandest feature, they knew how to dance around unneeded political clouts and "shit-storms" a term coined from the humans. Humans were actually a species the Altinians wanted to establish relations with, they were similar to them in many ways. Taking a deep breath, FINALLY having found a terminal with easy to ready instructions he acquired an automated transport to take him to the presidium.

"Sir, would you please remove your facial mask, concealing your identity is not permitted on the citadel presidium." Ishida shrugged, stating as plainly as he possibly could. "I would, but then my death would be on your hands, Altinians require twice as much oxygen as other life-forms, I'll provide identity affirmation via omni-tool and bio-molecule scans, sufficient?" The female Asari cleric appeared a little shocked, Altinians had never ventured beyond the Terminus systems, not once even really beyond their own systems. "Y-yes! That will be sufficient, may I see your council clearance? Thank you... You may proceed."

Nodding politely he headed towards the towers elevator, emerging out of it a few minutes later. He had to admit, the council chambers were lavish! If a little too posh for his tastes, political quarters and higher-ups only decorated and designed their quarters as well as they were allowed depending on their skill, not because they were automatically entitled to it. Moving forward he spotted a pair of "Dragons" having a conversation on the steps leading up to the main council podium, intrigued he moved closer. He'd heard of the Alliance "Anthropomorphic Soldier" program, apparently it failed to create super-soldiers and instead created a sub-species of humans.

"Hello." He said in a friendly manner, if a little bit inquisitively. "I assume you are here for the same reason I am? The council "Draft" you too?" He asked, adding a little bit of invisible mockery to his question, directed at the council, not the dragons, since apparently if the council needed people they could get them from anywhere they wanted to. "Oh... My apologies. Ishida "Denkou" Kiyoshi. Of the Altinian Emergency Rapid-Response military, Technician corps." He saluted, placing the palm of his hand against his two hearts and standing poised for a moment before returning to being at ease.

[Buzzwolf]

Alex grumbled as he made his way through the lower levels toward the lift. every other vendor was trying to sell him something or other. he had to shove one particularly insistant vendor more than a little to get him to get out of his way. as useful as the lower levels were, they also made getting anything done a complete pain in the ass.

"Well, if not that, then how about this!!" the keeper started to say, reaching for something else he was carrying

Alex roared and jammed the muzzle of his pistol under the man's jaw "If you offer to sell me one more thing...I'm gonna give you a new hole to pitch your sales through...clear?" The man nodded as much as he could with the barrel under his jaw "Good" Alex shoved him back into his stand with a thud, continuing on toward the elevator. his path suddenly seeming a little more 'clear' then before.

Making his way to the lift, only one other vendor tried to stop him, and was quickly turned away with a growl. as he reached the lift, his omni tool transfered the codes and called the lift. as he stood waiting, at least a few people passed, giving him odd looks as they hurried by. the lift dinged and he stepped in, scanning his Omnitool once more. as the doors slid shut behind him, he sighed and leaned against the wall, wondering, again, why he spent as much time down there as he did.

The doors slid open once more as he reached the top, and Alex pushed himself off the wall and headed out into what he thought would be the chambers, and finding the atrium. he grumbled. "Course they get fancier shit than the average joes" he did have to admit to himself though, for being all high and mighty, they certianly had good taste in decor.

He made his way up the stairs, all but ignoring (and somewhat hoping that they weren't) the fellow 'council enlistees' that seemed to be massing on the stairs, and headed for the council chambers, finding they were still closed and waiting for the proper authorization, he pulled his Omnitool up again, and checked the time stamp on it with a growl. he hated having to wait after being told to be somewhere AT specified time.

[Shade Leshyr]

Robert looked up at the Turian and Altinian that approached and smiled, "Well, I guess the council can't get mad at us for our timing, unless they have an issue with early birds. I guess this is us then, so hey everybody. I'm Robert, Robert Verrick, but my squad calls me Titan because apparently I have a fascination with explosives. I just think it's fun to see how much stuff you can destroy with one explosive device." He chuckled nervously.

[Nelle Kozera]

Isis saw people walking in, and was almost stepped on. "Yes i'm here for council as well. I'm not sure exactly why they called for a Biotic specialist but here I am." She she shrugged before turning to Robert. "It would be a kindness if you try not to step on those that are sitting on the stairs in the future..." She stood up to as to make way for the others and possibly avoid being stepped on walking up the stairs herself. She seemed fairly pleasant, even kind no malice or sarcasm rode any of her words.

[Shade Leshyr]

Any further introductions and conversation were halted as a Turian C-Sec officer stepped out of the Council Chambers, almost running into Alex, "Excuse me sir." he said politely. Moving around Alex carefully, he eyed the gathered group before addressing them in a formal manner, "I am assuming that you are the company the Council requested," he watched them nod before continuing, "I am to inform you that the Council is ready to see you, please enter the Council Chambers."

The officer waited until Lorik was passing him before reaching out and gently gripping the other Turian's shoulder, leaning in and whispering, "Turian to Turian, the Council's been at each other's throats all day, be careful in there." With that said, he released Lorik's shoulder and moved back.

Robert entered the chamber slowly, marveling at the splendor of the Council Chamber. He would have walked blindly up to the Council had he not heard the voices up ahead of himself. As he drew closer, he could make out some of the conversation. It sounded like Garven, the Turian Councilor, was giving a piece of his mind

"...and that is why I feel it is necessary to reopen your candidates for debate councilor. I question the resolve and loyalty of your choices, since they seem to be unable to be true to their own race. It is appalling to me that you would choose them for such an important task when your own race banned them to the wards!"

Robert walked the final steps and caught his first sight of the Council. Garven was turned towards Anderson, the human councilor, with a look of extreme dissatisfaction on his face. Clara, the Asari councilor, looked helplessly between the two, obviously trying to find some way to calm them both down while Teshta, the Salarian councilor looked on, almost intrigued.

Clara seemed relieved at their approach as she said, "Councilors, our guests have arrived, please give them your attention," Anderson was quick to turn to them, but Garven required a little bit of a stare down before he turned, "welcome, all of you. Thank you for coming."

[BIos_Reaper]

Giving a polite nod towards the C-Sec officer, I proceeded to follow the others who had gathered for the meeting, keeping largely to the back of the group, being on point wasn't my thing, and the last thing I wanted was for that incompetent Turian council member to spot my heritage, didn't want any trouble just because I happened to be from Terminus, a nice place if you ever bothered to look for something besides war, famine and destruction on countless worlds, the council content to just sit out on it, cowards.

My booted feet made no clanking noise, hell they barely even made a noise at all, my large, broad feet had their toes individually articulated, allowing for much more mobility and stability than a traditional boot design would allow, something actually adapted from Krogan hard-suits believe it or not. Despite my being careful and hanging back of the others ahead of me I couldn't help but catch sight of the council as it went at it like horners and thawfers (native animals similar to bees/hornets/wasps and bears/lions) over the horners stash of ambrosia.

It was quite funny to see the mighty council reduce itself to low-yield idiots through bickering, only the Salarian council member appeared to have any sense in his squishy soft brain, a trait that lent itself well to cooperation with individual Salarian scientists. For now though, I was content to remain at the back, observing quietly, whatever they were arguing about, they did so with a lot of enthusiasm, I could tell by the look on their faces through my artificial eyes zoom feature.

[Dusty]

Lorik thought about the guard's warning. The council is divided, but over what? he wondered. His question was answered as the the human Anderson and Garven's argument played out. Even as the two council members turned to face the group he could see the tension between the two. Anderson's career had been showered over Citadel Space after his appointment to the council, and Lorik figured both him and Garven still had a chip on their shoulders after the Saren incident.

He instinctively stood at attention as the council addressed the group. "Council members, I must ask why you have drawn us here at this time. While I can not speak for the others, I myself was in the middle of a very important investigation of a smuggling ring that might have failed now that I had to abandon it on short notice."

[Shade Leshyr]

Garven clicked his mandibles and the ghost of a smile played at his face as he nodded respectfully to Lorik. Clara nodded to Lorik, "We understand your concerns, but I'm afraid that your work may be cut short for the time being."

Teshta folded his arms and looked over the volunteers, "I assume that most of you know of Commander John Sheppard of the Alliance Marines? And also of the Geth attack that occurred a few years ago? Then I am afraid to inform you that some of the information released to the public was a downright bending of the truth."

Garven scowled at the Salarian councilor, "We had agreed we would not fill their heads with Sheppard's nonsense." Anderson turned a knowing smile to Garven, "On the contrary Councilor, we chose to reveal Sheppard's motives, as it may help them find him."

Robert shook his head, "Wait, find Sheppard? What's going on?" In answer to his question Clara tapped at the console in front of her until a holographic panel appeared in front of the assembled group and spoke, "First, we must qualify the truth. The public was told that the attack on the Citadel was completely of Geth design, however." a video recording appeared, showing the space around the Citadel, which seemed to be under attack.

Out of the mist that surrounded the Citadel a large ship burst forth, making a beeline for the Citadel, smashing its way through a Turian cruiser. The feed stopped and the large vessel became boxed in red lines, "this ship is not Geth design... how many of you have heard the rumors of the Reapers?"

[Dusty]

Garven clicked his mandibles and the ghost of a smile played at his face as he nodded respectfully to Lorik. Clara nodded to Lorik, "We understand your concerns, but I'm afraid that your work may be cut short for the time being."

Teshta folded his arms and looked over the volunteers, "I assume that most of you know of Commander John Sheppard of the Alliance Marines? And also of the Geth attack that occurred a few years ago? Then I am afraid to inform you that some of the information released to the public was a downright bending of the truth."

Garven scowled at the Salarian councilor, "We had agreed we would not fill their heads with Sheppard's nonsense." Anderson turned a knowing smile to Garven, "On the contrary Councilor, we chose to reveal Sheppard's motives, as it may help them find him."

Robert shook his head, "Wait, find Sheppard? What's going on?" In answer to his question Clara tapped at the console in front of her until a holographic panel appeared in front of the assembled group and spoke, "First, we must qualify the truth. The public was told that the attack on the Citadel was completely of Geth design, however." a video recording appeared, showing the space around the Citadel, which seemed to be under attack.

Out of the mist that surrounded the Citadel a large ship burst forth, making a beeline for the Citadel, smashing its way through a Turian cruiser. The feed stopped and the large vessel became boxed in red lines, "this ship is not Geth design... how many of you have heard the rumors of the Reapers?"

Lorik hid his frustration as the council lightly brushed aside his grievances. Yet another group of smugglers free to escape to the terminus systems, he muttered to himself. When the conversation turned to the attack on the citadel however, he became much more interested. The video of the huge leviathan simply smashing through a Turian cruiser amazed him. "I've tracked down more then a few people selling 'Geth Mothership Parts' but I didn't realize they came from that thing. And I haven't heard from the Reapers. Also wasn't Shepard dead?"

[Nelle Kozera]

"Hmm, anyone who dipped into the undercurrent of conspiracy theories that fly around the underbelly of the Extranet. I have even seen videos from Sheppard's little speeches. Then again I have also heard and seen complex nets drawn on how the Council is run by Cerberus. How that Sheppard is really alive and working for them. How Mr.Garven there has anthro fox for a mistress hidden somewhere on the station. But lets see if you can confirm any of these theories." She said with Crossed arms looking at the ship for a moment not looking impressed, "Any idiot can tell thats not a geth construct...what kind of people do you think we are, the design alone doesn't match up. Nor does the tech..." She said with some scorn towards the Image.

[Shade Leshyr]

For the first time in the history of his service as Turian Councilor, Garven was rendered speechless. His next few attempts at speech could only be compared to a fish gasping for breath before finding its way back into the water. Teshta came to his aid, eyeing Isis, "Whether that last rumor is or is not true, it is not the purpose of this meeting."

Anderson stepped up a little as he spoke, "Sheppard confided in me about the Reapers more than anyone else. What I am about to tell you is highly classified information. Isis, you most likely already know this, but for the rest of you, the Reapers are a race of sentient machines of unknown origins. They were the ones who not only wiped out the Protheans, but also every galactic civilization before them."

"The attack on the citadel was this Reaper, Sovereign's, attempt to repeat this cycle of destruction. Saren, the one we officially blamed for this, was simply a tool of Sovereign. The Reaper's appear to have the ability to create a mental conditioning over prolonged contact with organics. Sheppard managed to lock down all controls to the Citadel before Sovereign could use its hidden mass relay function into dark space, where the rest of the Reaper fleet was."

Robert tapped his foot a little, mulling it all over, "Councilor Anderson, you say that's where they were like they aren't there anymore." This time, it was Clara who answered, "Indeed. First let us clarify Commander Sheppard's current status. He was indeed listed as dead, but Cerberus brought him back. He was in league with them, until recently, when he forwarded several distressing reports to us here and telling us that he no longer worked for the Illusive Man."

She began tapping more onto her console, "Also, I'm going to assume Isis would know a little about the Collectors, but for any of you not familiar with them, allow me to explain. The Collectors were a highly advanced race, who traded bits of technology for seemingly random biological samples. However, with Sheppard's last report, we discovered the true nature behind these samples..."

Here Teshta took over, "Sheppard's reports clearly show a match between the Collectors and the random traces of DNA we've recovered from ancient ruins. To put it simply, the Collectors were Protheans in the past. They were enslaved by the Reapers to aid in the construction of brand new Reapers. We will spare you the gory details, but according to the reports, the Collectors were abducting entire human colonies to build a single human Reaper."

Garven, who had finally regained his composure took over, "Sheppard followed the Collectors to their home base beyond the Omega 4 relay and destroyed not only the partially built Reaper, but also the entire Collector base. However, his report also forewarned of the Reaper fleet's approach from dark space. His ship dropped out of contact and vanished near the edge of Citadel Space. We haven't heard anything from the Normandy since."

Anderson looked over the group, "We have reason to believe that Sheppard may have unearthed something that put him in danger. Before his disappearance, Sheppard sent us this message." His hands moved across his console and Sheppard's voice spoke, "...we've been following rumors about some kind of weapon that can destroy a Reaper with one blow. Jack ensures me that the rumor has at lease some merit and Tali says that the weapon is a theoretic possibility. I will send another message when I know more, but I-" the message suddenly burst into static and Sheppard's voice could faintly be heard yelling for everyone to get to their stations before finally shutting down.

Anderson cleared his throat and continued, "We called you here because you are the best of the best at what you do and most likely our only way to find Sheppard. The council has agreed to grant you immediate Spectre status and council funding for any supplies or equipment you may need as well as clearing your name from any past incidents with the law. The choice to accept is completely up to you."

Alex, who had been standing quietly until now, let out an irritated sigh and pointed accusingly at the Council, "Oh, so you've run out of heros, now you put together a crack squad to go find your favorite!? Isn't that just fucking cute," he stared at the council for a moment, who all had stepped back in shock, before letting out a sigh, "Whatever, I'll do it, but there better be a pretty penny involved.

Garven made as if to yell at Alex but a sharp "Councilor!" from Clara stopped the words in his throat. Robert stared at the Council in shock himself before saying, "Shit, all those perks if we go find Sheppard, how can I possibly say no?" He looked at the others, gauging their reactions.

[BIos_Reaper]

(I may as well continue the one role play I happen to really like, if that's okay with you guys.)

Listening to the entire briefing without so much as twitching my protected ears, I took a deep breath, the double amount of O2 I inhaled was refreshing. Commander Shepard, psychological profile; unknown, pre-service history; unknown, an enigma, a legend, a Paragon. My people, the Altin had heard of his great deeds, though, being so far into the Terminus systems made us unlikely candidates for a chance encounter. I ran the message through my multi-layer filter, attempting to clear out some of the static.

From what I myself, and my voice recognition/analysis software could determine, this was indeed Shepard's voice, off course I only had samples of his extra-net vid speeches, but for now I would go by the assumption that this was his voice. Other than that, the tone of seriousness to his voice was genuine, whatever it was he and his multi-racial crew were searching for, he seemed to genuinely believe his own words.

I didn't much care for the Turian member of the Citadel council, mind it was not due to racial tensions, but more a personal distaste for their brash and trigger-happy military forces. I kept quiet mostly, listening to a couple of the other members of this assembled troupes various collection of races flap their lips. The one called Isis seemed to most intelligent, not unnecessarily raising her voice at the council but speaking plain facts. I half smiled. The Geth could not have build this "Sovereign" if that was indeed its real name.

The Altin had seem Geth ships before, and even witnessed some action in the Terminus via stealthy observation drones. The designs, even the technology didn't match up to their preferences, plus from recent reports it appeared that any and all Geth military activity in Council and Traverse space had ceased. I assumed it had something to do with Shepard, he'd never stand by and let renegade's like those run around freely, which was another point of personal pride I would say, the fact that he traveled with a Quarian, people welcome on Pandorica Prime.

I chuckled silently, figuring the Council would probably be very angry with my people if we were within their jurisdiction, we had no limitations on A.I.'s or synthetic life-forms.

The mention of the imminent possibility for Spectre initiation, spooked me to say the least. "Councilors, if I may interject?" I finally spoke up, stepping forth, I had my doubts they would notice my heritage, my species was not found anywhere within Council space, we disliked how sinisterly clean it appeared, nothing was that clean.

"The Spectres are known, even to my people, as the best of the possible best. I do not consider myself such, I may have earned a medal but that does not make me a professional, I am still in many ways soft-soled, to use a term native to my species, I still have not garnered experience the likes of which most of those currently assembled have, I have never ventured this far beyond Terminus before, and even then, not without being aboard a heavy cruiser class vessel at the very least. Besides, I would believe it would cause some political clout for you, you may not know this, but my species has a... history of unchecked A.I. research, both of the cybernetic and fully synthetic variety."

Sure, it may not have been best to bring this up, NOW, of all times, but I did not wish for a status, nor responsibility I was not yet ready for. It would be as foolish as sticking your foot into unchecked water, having it grabbed an pierced on the sole by a Merentia's poison sting and falling in and drowning, subsequently becoming said Merentia's food, to use phrases only my own kind would recognize, even though a few other species might share similar stories of warning of venturing unprepared into the unknown. It wasn't something to be afraid of after all, only fools fear the dark because they cant see in it, the wise one however, brings a torch.

(P.S. I have no run this post by Shade, I will however listen to feedback and alter the post accordingly if it is deemed that it needs changing, that is all)

[Shade Leshyr]

Teshta looked at Ishida, giving a short blink, "You belittle yourself Ishida, I have received numerous reports of skills and heroic deed. You have proven yourself quite an asset to your team, even being, how did you put it... 'soft-soled.' As for your concern about your species history with AIs and synthetics, we of the Council have gone to great, length discussions and decided that the species doesn't make the individual. Your skills also rounded out the team nicely." Garven gave a soft snort of dissatisfaction, to which he was met with glares from his fellow councilors.

Clara cleared her throat, "We went to great lengths to choose individuals who have the best chance of finding Commander Sheppard. If we did not believe you could do this, you wouldn't have been bothered."

[Nelle Kozera]

"Yes, the councilor has a point..." She said looking about the room, before looking back at the Turian councilor, "Well I take that as proof of the Rumor then." She looked rather pleased, as if she mentioned on purpose to get the confirming reaction that she was looking for. "But I question the specter status myself, I mean would it just be easier to easer our existences and then give those that come up as blocked access with a certain ID code to allow them access Spectre materials and resources. This way our friend her doesn't have to worry about taking something that he is not ready for, and if one of us you like dies out there in the terminus systems you won't have to worry about all the paper work, because we don't exist excreta excreta." She shrugged, "Plus I have never really been big on titles anyway."

[Dusty]

As the conversation continued Lorik's disbelief continued to mount. These people are the best? To save the galaxy they choose a race that doesn't even have its own embassy, and two biotics who don't even wear the same skin as their own kind. Still, following the Turian tradition he simply stood at rigid attention. That was until one of the "humans" spoke up, "Plus I have never really been big on titles anyway."

His mandibles clicked as he digested what he heard. "I'm sorry, councilors but I have to question your judgement on this candidates. The Specter title is one of extreme significance yet they swipe it aside likes its some sort of honorific! Two of them, and Councillor Garven was pointing out, can't even be true to their own species. And the choice of a species with known ties to the Geth, and that operate outside of Citadel law! I am honored that I have been chosen but I have extreme doubts about the success of this mission in its current form. How can we be sure Shepard is even alive?"

[Shade Leshyr]

Robert snorted and stepped so he was face to face with Lorik, "You saying that I ain't loyal to the Alliance Bub? You check my DNA, I'm still 85% identical to a human, I'm just a little more endowed. Plus I've served faithfully in the Alliance military, so don't insult my loyalty to humanity Turian. And you must not know just who Commander Sheppard is! He is the hero of the Skyllian Blitz, he's alive!" He glared into Lorik's eyes, his body starting to shimmer with the blue of biotics.

For the first time in her history as the Asari Councilor, Clara unleashed her biotics, forcing Robert away from Lorik, "Please, try to be civil." she said sharply. Teshta calmly put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down before addressing the group again, "I'm afraid that everything is already in place for your acceptance into the Spectres. and an inside knowledge of AIs and how they work may be extremely valuable to your mission. Also, Ishida was recommended by several worthy captains."

Anderson spoke up, "Now, if that's all your concerns, we would like to begin congratulate you all on your acceptance into the Spectres. You'll have to excuse the lack of ceremony, but time is of the essence. We also have one last gift to give you. For your mission, we secretly gathered a group of engineers to construct a modified frigate for your mission. You will find it in the docking bay near the Destiny Ascension."

Clara, having sufficiently calmed herself took over again, "We have three leads for you as of this moment. We have reason to believe Sheppard may have contacted these individuals before his disappearance." she tapped several commands on her console and three pictures came up. One increased in size until it filled the holographic display. It was of a human woman, dressed in military uniform. She had neatly cut hair bound into a bun and wore little makeup, "Operations Chief Ashly Williams. She was part of the team that helped Sheppard stop Saren."

Anderson moved forward, "She met with Commander Sheppard on Horizon fairly recently, in the aftermath of a Collector attack. We also have reason to believe that Sheppard forwarded her some data before disappearing. She was sent out on a recon mission to the Voyager Cluster a week ago, but her team hasn't reported back, so finding her may be difficult."

Clara tapped several more commands and the picture of Ashley was replaced by a picture of a younger looking Asari, but her eyes showed a lethal edge, making Robert not want to get on her bad side. Here, Clara took over the explanation, "Liara T'Soni, she used to specialize in knowledge of the Protheans, but currently works on Illium as an information dealer. She won't be hard to find, but getting her to reveal anything Sheppard sent her may be difficult."

Once again, Clara tapped her console, moving to a picture of a large Krogan with battle scars covering most of his large head crest and one particular bad one that stretched down the right side of his face to his throat. His blood red eyes spoke of an intent to kill anything and everything. The picture was old, a C-Sec mugshot, and the Krogan wore armor typical of a mercenary. Teshta spoke up here, "Urdnot Wrex, Krogan clan leader, he hasn't been off Tuchanka for a few years now, trying to unite the remaining Krogan. Strictly for beneficial purposes of course, or we would be concerned. Getting to Wrex may be the toughest part of getting his information."

Garven clicked his mandibles, "I'm going to take the liberty of assuming you now have more questions in need of answering."

[BIos_Reaper]

Despite feeling the desire to knee the Turian in what counted as genitalia for his kind I restrained my anger, such a display would most likely reflect poorly on the Altinians as a whole, still, I flattened my armored ears against my helmeted head, turning to look at the human biotic, I decided to give her a look of approval, she shared my sense of duty, so I flashed her a sign I was sure humans would understand from the few pieces of data from their past we had picked up over the years. My holo-optic visor turned blank, a pair of white lines forming a ^^ on the screen, a friendly "smiley" If I rememeber the term.

Turning back to look at the two, the gene-modified systems alliance soldier and the accosting Turian, I was about to try and stem the tide of bad karma myself, when the Asari councilor's biotic display cut me off. I was, amazed. So amazed in fact that my visor displayed an unintentional O O signt. I didn't have much intel on the citadel council members but I had always believed Asari were among the more peaceful civilizations, though information on them was scarce as they weren't common in Altinian controlled space, deep within Terminus, but the Altinians did know that Asari were known for their diplomacy, philosophy and notably in terms of military might, their huntresses and that every Asari was naturally born with the potential to use biotics.

The logic of the salarian impressed me, I had never seen a non-Altinian take to a violent situation wich such calm, collected reason. Looking at the salarian I flashed him a friendly ^^ sign with my visor before returning my attention to the current speaker, hearing that we were being designated as Spectres and given a prototype frigate to boot? "Councilors, if I may?" I spoke up. "If we are being given access to an advanced frigate class warship, might I request the addition of an artificial intelligence? As foolish as it may seem of me to inquire on it, on account of other races lesser experience with A.I. technology, and naturally the "supposed" Geth incident 200 years ago. I believe that an A.I. of any make, would vastly increase our chances against Cyber-Warfare tactics through ECM and by granting us our own Cyber-Warfare suites, as organic operators are incapable of utilizing such functions to their fullest."

It may have come across as foolish of me to make this request, shifting my weight from one broad foot to another, my tail betraying a calm, calculating thought pattern I simply believed that if we were being asked to almost give our lives to "the cause" that at least we be given the option of going down fighting with the best possible support there was, and for a tecnician like myself, robotics, cybernetics and off course A.I. technologies were the finest form of assistance one could get, anywhere, such was my upbringing around such marvelous technologies after all.

[Shade Leshyr]

"It's funny you should make that kind of request Ishida..." Anderson said, amused at something. Garven looked directly at Alex as he spoke, "The council has reviewed your file several times and we've run across rumors of an accomplice... a rather unorthodox accomplice." Teshta stepped in before Garven could cause another fight, "Yes, many reports of your activities speak of a technologically sound accomplice that wreaks havoc within ship systems."

Ever the blunt Turian, Garven pointed at Alex, "You carry an illegal item, where is it!?" Clara had had enough, a small biotic field appeared around his mouth, effectively silencing him, "That is quite enough out of you councilor, these people are our allies, and will be treated as such. If you can not do that, then remain quiet until you actually have something worth saying." She stumbled a little, her outburst giving her a migraine. Anderson supported the off balanced Asari while Teshta fixed Alex with his knowing stare, "As unnecessary as my fellow councilor's demanding was, we are interested in seeing the 'accomplice' of yours, if she is indeed with you at the present time..."

Robert looked over confused at Alex, lifting a scaly eyeridge in question.

[Buzzwolf]

"I..." he started to say, his voice marked just how off guard he was caught by the inquiry to his 'companion' "I'm sorry to tell you then, those 'rumors', are exactly that...rumo--" he'd stood back and crossed his arms, utterly defying the councils 'rumors', until his ear twitched, as though he was listening to another voice speaking with him "...but, yo-- no no, not like th---" he sighed "alright, alright...sheesh" he was talking to 'himself'....again. he moved toward the tables holopad as he spoke again, this time directed toward the councilors

"If this were up to me, the files that even mention her as a rumor would be gone, but she seems to love the image she's created for herself" he put a massive gloved paw on the holo pad, both of which lit up with the connection, as he removed his paw, a small form appeared, no more than a foot or two tall, VERY distinctly female, and fox vixen, in form. long deep blue hair that flowed over her shoulders and down most of her back. her form glowing a deep bluish purple in color, and covered in ancient symbols she claimed to be 'lost to time'. her long, luscious tail curled neatly around her feet. "Necrotis Jade," he continued, watching her closely "The first, and the last, of the man made, sentient AI's." she made a very elegant bow for the councilers, a very fine dress forming around her in the process, the 'ancient symbols' slipping out onto the surface of it "Most know of her as the infamous, Neon"

"Destroyer of worlds and hearts of men," her voice had an edge of both knowledge and mischief about it "What fun you must have planned to be in need of my assistance" she smirked and stood strait once more "how may I be of service?"

[Nelle Kozera]

Isis was more or less confused by the "^^" sign that she saw from the Altinian, she figured it was a native symbol for something, what though she did not know so she merely smiled and filed it away for later. Who knows it might come in handy. Then her attention was brought to the hologram that appeared. It perked her interest to say the least.

"Hmm, I bet this reminds Garven of someone special, hell the hair is the same color." She it without spite and offhanded it seemed like she thought it nothing more than a plain fact to accepted without question. "Though I do have a Question, how did you come into possession of such a thing, and is the blue box on you, or is it somewhere else and merely broadcasting?"

[BIos_Reaper]

Observing quietly I gave a small, obviously concealed by my facial mask, smile of approval. Artificial Intelligences were amazing constructs, I ought to know, I had a SMART V.I. running part of my brain, not quite an A.I. but I guess you would call it a cybernetic intelligence.

I was curious however, Quantum Blue Boxers or QBB's weren't portable, at least, I had not seen a portable version outside of Altinian technical laboratories, they were in the experimental phase and hopefully could be introduced to active functions within a standard galactic year but, this A.I. intrigued me, raising my firewalls and alerting my SMART V.I. I ran a passive, non-invasive scan on the A.I. Avatar, standard holographic nano-pixel emission off course, I had seen few A.I.'s that bothered to make an Avatar for themselves, though this one was quite artistic.

"I see a member of this team has wisdom beyond the fear of technology other species seem afflicted by." I stated, my voice a monotone, partially synthasized electronic emission. "I have not heard the name Neon, then again I come from deep within Terminus, not exactly a place for a marvel creation like yourself to show up at." I complimented the A.I. as to me she was a beautiful construct, and if she offered to help on the mission I'd do whatever I could do to ensure she'd have everything she needed aboard the ship, I wouldn't tolerate any uneccessary "safety precautions" either that these somewhat narrow minded citadel species seemed to consider "the norm of things" at all.

Shutting down my scan after getting a few interesting readings I'd worry about later, nothing conclusive, but a few readings to give me ideas, I'd never dream of harming an A.I. if I could by any means avoid it, though if things came to pass, I'd more than be willing to put a slug through someones brain if they thought destroying an A.I. was better than reasoning with it.

[Shade Leshyr]

Garven shot Isis a glare of all glares, mandibles clicking angrily. His fellow councilors, however, were deeply intrigued by Neon, Clara and Teshta actually leaning forward to get a better look. Anderson gave a curt nod to her, "It is a pleasure to meet the infamous Neon herself. You were a cause of much deliberation of the council."

Clara brought herself out of her stupor, "Yes, indeed. However, after much deliberation and the advice of Councilor's Anderson and Teshta, it was agreed that your services would be extremely beneficial to your organic counterparts. That is, of course, if you don't have a problem working for the council."

Teshta looked at Clara, "I'm afraid that we have exceeded out time councilor and the ambassadors will be back at any moment. We need to wrap this up, so for the time being, we will have to assume that Neon works with Alex, who has already agreed to aid us," he turned his attention to the newly formed team of Spectres, "we will be awaiting any reports you feel you need to convey spectres."

Clara nodded, "you will most likely need to speak among yourselves. This meeting of the council is adjourned." As the council moved away, Robert cleared his throat to his fellow spectres, "Well, I hope I'm not the only one who didn't see that coming when I woke up the s'morning."

[Dusty]

Lorik sank back to attention as the meeting carried past his objections. He silently fumed at the whole situation. It defied his every instinct to move on mere speculation, both as a soldier and as a C-Sec investigator. Assuming got people killed, and it also didn't help his confidence as the rest of group appeared to lack any of the finesse and skills needed to survive a Spectre mission, especially one with such long odds. I don't think any of them even know how to aim a weapon, he grunted to himself.

The presence of the AI was definitely a complicating factor. He knew the laws and the risks of course, the Geth were one of the largest topics of Galactic history and he had tracked down more then a few Quarians who had been exiled from the flotilla for attempting research into AI, smugglers liked picking them up for their mechanical skills. As the meeting adjourned he followed the rest of the group out.

One of the gene modded humans was the first to speak, "Well, I hope I'm not the only one who didn't see that coming when I woke up the s'morning."

Lorik's clicked his mandibles again, then his shoulders fell, "In truth, I was hoping to shut down one of the largest smuggling rings between here and the terminus system but it appears the council had other plans."

[Nelle Kozera]

"I was hoping to hire out my services to a few clients, but then this job shows up on my omitool with more zeros than I have seen before. So no I didn't see this coming, but i'm damn glad that i'm here. I can finance my little experiment." She yawned, though contrary to her voice her expressions show little interest in the subject hand it was apparent that the dragon's mind was else where at the moment, what it was though was something that could not be determined at the moment. "So do all of you think that we should check out the ship we have been given for this mission with all the shinies that are bond to be on the ship?" She said, it was apparent that by shinies she was talking about prototype technologies.

"I guess we might as well get this meet and greet over with as well. I'm Isis, A biotic specialist and apparently the only female of the group, aside from our resident AI of course, though i'm not entirely sure if we can assign a gender to the an AI because they don't have a physical body, but then again I guess that they have a perceived gender Identity and thus can be considered female, even though neon has no physical body. Joy, I have been rambling, whose next?"