No POV
We begin this chapter with Shepard's team, with the new additions of Wrex, Garrus, and Tali as they walked into Ambassador Udina's office where they were met with him, James, Anderson, and Torg. The first one to speak being Udina
Udina: "You're not making my life easy, Shepard. Firefights in the Wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many--"
Torg: "That's enough, Ambassador. Now, Y/n, Shepard, I assume you two have good reason as to why this has happened?"
Y/n: "Indeed Councilor, we've recently come into possession of some new evidence that proves Saren was behind the attack on Eden Prime and the cause of the firefight was due to hired mercenaries hired by Saren to deal with us"
Torg: "Is that so? And where is this evidence? And how did you come into possession of it?"
Y/n then gesture to Tali as she stepped forwards, now standing next to Y/n as he spoke up again
Y/n: "This is my friend, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. She's uncovered information that links Saren to the Geth, leading to her being a prime target of his"
Torg then looked to Tali and stepped closer to the two, easily towering over them with his height and spoke up, his eyes focused on Tali as he addressed her
Torg: "In that case, I think it's best if you were to explain everything, Miss Tali'Zorah. Why are you no longer on the Flotilla? Are you perhaps on a Pilgrimage?"
Tali: "Yes, I am"
Shepard: "I've heard Y/n mention it before, but I don't know what it is, mind explaining?"
Tali: "It is 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 once we have discovered something of value. In this way, we prove ourselves worthy of adulthood"
Shepard: "What kinds of things do you look for?"
Tali: "It could be resources like food or fuel. Or some type of useful technology. Or even knowledge that will make life easier on the flotilla. Through our Pilgrimage, we prove that we will contribute to the community, rather than being a burden on our limited resources"
Shepard: "Interesting, sorry for going off topic, I let my curiosity get the better of me, can you tell us what you found?"
Tali: "Of course. During my travels, I began hearing reports of Geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the Geth have never ventured beyond 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"
Y/n: "You did all that by yourself? Good job Tali, I knew you were good with machine when I left, but not that good"
Tali: "Thank you, I've had plenty of time to improve in the last four years"
Anderson: "I thought the Geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some kind of defense mechanism"
Shepard: "How did you manage to preserve the memory core?"
Tali: "My people created the Geth. If you're quick, careful, and lucky, small caches of data can sometimes be saved. Most of the core was wiped clean. But I salvaged something from its audio banks"
Activating her Omni-Tool, Tali then started to play an Audio recording she had recovered from the Geth as Saren's voice could be heard speaking from it
Saren: "Eden Prime was a major Victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit"
Anderson: "That's Saren's voice! This proves he was involved in the attack!"
Shepard: "He said Eden Prime brought him one step closer to finding the Conduit. Any idea what that means?"
Anderson: "The Conduit must have something to do with the beacon. Maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology... like a weapon"
Tali: "Wait...there's more. Saren wasn't working alone"
Continuing the Audio clip, we now got to hear an additional voice that spoke after Saren was finished, this one being female
???: "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers"
With that, the audio cut short as it had now ended, letting the others speak up and speculate as to who it could be
Udina: "I don't recognize that other voice. The one talking about Reapers"
Shepard: "What about these Reapers? Are they some kind of new species?"
Tali: "According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago. The Reapers hunted the Protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished. At least, that's what the Geth believe"
Udina: "Sounds a little far-fetched"
Hearing all of this was turning cogs in Shepard's mind until something clicked for her and she remembered the visions she saw from the beacon, rubbing her temple from thanks to remembering the headache she had after such an event
Shepard: "The vision on Eden Prime, I understand it now. I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers"
Tali: "The Geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of non-organic life. And they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back"
Torg: "I'll have to look more into these Reapers another time, what matters right now is that Saren must be brought to Justice and answer for his crimes. Follow me, I'll gather the other Councilors so that we can get the formalities out of the way"
Wrex: "What about her? The Female Quarian?"
Tali: "My name is Tali!"
Tali then looked towards Shepard as she began to speak her case and try to convince her to come with and help stop Saren
Tali: "You saw me in the alley, Commander. You know what I can do. Let me come with you"
Shepard: "I thought you were on your Pilgrimage?"
Tali: "The Pilgrimage proves we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good. What does it say about me if I turn my back on this? Saren is a danger to the entire galaxy. My Pilgrimage can wait"
Y/n: "I agree, Captain Cutter. I would like to request permission to serve aboard the Normandy and assist Commander Shepard with her mission in stopping Saren"
James: "Is that so?"
Shepard: "I'll take all the help I can get, Captain"
James could only sigh with a smile still on his face as he looked at the ODST who was saluting him
James: "I guess that ruins the surprise"
Y/n: "Surprise?"
James: "Lance Corporal, we've already got your pod installed on the Normandy. This mission is of critical importance and so it was already cleared to have you serve aboard the Normandy for the duration of this mission. Make us proud Y/n"
Y/n: "I won't let you down, sir"
James: "I know you won't"
Torg: "Let us be going now, I'll inform the other Councilors of the new development and organize the meeting, meet us when you're ready"
Torg then started walking out of Udina's office while the others were about to follow after him, until Udina spoke up
Udina: "Shepard, before we go, I think I'm not the only one here who thinks it would be best if you didn't bring everyone with you to this meeting, only choose two to bring, everyone else should make sure their ready to depart"
Shepard: "In that case, Y/n, Tali. you two can come with. Everyone else, I'll see you aboard the Normandy"
James: "I'll have some people bring your belongings to your room"
With their new orders, they nodded their heads and then made their exit while Shepard, Y/, and Tali made their way towards the elevators that lead towards the Citadel Tower and entered it and began to ascend to the top, Tali taking the time to speak with her old friend
Tali: "So Y/n, I don't mean to be rude, but... how did you lose your arm?"
Y/n: "I lost it during the Battle of Harvest, not too long after I had begun my Pilgrimage, the building I was in collapsed and some debris landed on my arm, had to be cut off so that I could get pulled from it, probably the most painful thing I've ever felt"
The Elevator soon came to a stop before the doors opened, letting them out and into the Citadel Tower as they made their way towards the other end of the room where they met with Anderson
Anderson: "Come on. Udina and Torg 'Gransamee have started presenting Tali's evidence to the rest of the Council"
Following Anderson, they made their way towards the platform that Udina was standing on while The Councilors were all standing at their podiums with the Audio recording of Saren, the audio coming to an end once everyone was there
Udina: "You wanted proof? There it is"
Sparatus: "This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes"
Tevos: "I recognize the other voice, the one speaking with Saren. Matriarch Benezia"
Shepard: "Who's she?"
Tevos: "Matriarchs are powerful Asari who have entered the final stages of their lives. Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as guides and mentors to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren"
Valern: "I'm more interested in the Reapers. What do you know about them?"
Anderson: "Only what was extracted from the Geth's memory core. The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans. Then they vanished"
Shepard: "The Geth believe the Reapers are gods. And Saren is the prophet for their return"
Anderson: "We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren's searching for it. That's why he attacked Eden Prime"
Valern: "Do we even know what this Conduit is?"
Shepard: "Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers. That's bad enough"
Sparatus: "Listen to what you're saying! Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It has to be. Where did the reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found something!"
Shepard: "I tried to warn you about Saren, and you refused to face the truth. Don't make the same mistake again"
Torg: "The Commander is right, Sparatus. If these Reapers are real and a threat, then we should act now and put a stop to Saren's plans before he succeeds"
Tevos: "This is different, Shepard. You proved Saren betrayed the Council. we all agree he's using the Geth to search for the Conduit, but we don't really know why"
Valern: "The Reapers are obviously a myth, Commander. A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the Geth to his will"
Not liking what she was hearing, Shepard the spoke up again, obvious irritation in her voice
Shepard: "Fifty thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it will happen again!"
Sparatus: "Saren is a rouge agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The council has stripped him of his position"
Udina: "That is not good enough! You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!"
Valern: "A fleet cannot track down one man"
Udina: "A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region. Keep the Geth from attacking anymore of our colonies"
Sparatus: "Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems! We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen-
Torg: "Silence!"
Hearing Torg shout, everyone went silent as they looked at him while he began to speak
Torg: "Are we just going to stand here and bickering amongst each other like the Unggoy or Jiralhanae? No! Time is of the essence here, the longer we spend here arguing about whether Reapers exist or not, the more time Saren has to finish his plans, more time to attack more Colonies, who says that it's just Human Colonies that could be attacked next? What if the next one is a Turian one? Or an Asari? A Salarian, or even one of my own people's? We need to act now. We may not be able to send in a fleet. But there is one thing we can do"
Udina: "And that is?"
Torg: "What we need is a Spectre, and I know a suitable candidate"
Sparatus' eyes widened as he realized what Torg 'Gransamee was going to suggest, along with Tevos who was nodding her head in silent agreement to herself as she realized what was going on
Sparatus: "No! It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres"
Shepard: "You don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and the Ambassador gets his human Spectre. Everybody's happy"
The rest of the Councilors looked at Sparatus, having agreed to the idea, and he slowly nods his head, finally agreeing to the idea before they all pressed a button on their terminal and spoke
Tevos: "Commander Shepard - step forward"
Hearing her name and rank being called, Shepard then stepped forwards, while Udina moved to the side to let her be at the front now for this important moment in human history and the bystanders that watched the meeting play out were now paying full attention as they witnessed the first ever human join the Spectres
Tevos: "It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel"
Valern: "Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file"
Torg: "Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, self-reliance, and honor. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will"
Sparatus: "Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both out first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold"
Tevos: "You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species"
Shepard gave a short bow of respect and gratitude towards the four Councilors before standing up straight again
Shepard: "I'm honored, Councilors"
Valern: "We're sending you into the Traverse after Saren. He's a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him"
Shepard: "Any leads on where I can find him?"
Sparatus: "We will forward any relevant files to Ambassador Udina"
Tevos: "This meeting of the Council is adjourned"
With a nod of her head, Shepard then turned to face Anderson and Udina, the former giving her a handshake to congratulate her
Anderson: "Congratulations, Commander"
Udina: "We've got a lot of work to do, Shepard. You're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies"
Torg: "I'll be able to help with any of those if you need any assistance, Commander"
Hearing Torg's voice, they looked to see him walking up the steps towards them with Captain Cutter alongside him while Anderson spoke up
Anderson: "You'll all get access to special equipment and training now. You should go down to the C-Sec Academy and speak to the Spectre Requisitions officer"
Udina: "Anderson, James, come with me. I'll need your help to set all this up"
James: "Very well, Y/n, I just wanted to let you know, everything has been delivered to your room aboard the Normandy"
Y/n: "Thank you Captain"
James: "You're very much welcome, good luck with your mission"
Torg: "In the meantime, I'd like to talk with you, Commander"
Udina and the two Captains then walked away, leaving Shepard, her team, and the Sangheili Councilor on their own
Tali: "I thought the Ambassador would be a little more grateful. He didn't even thank you"
Shepard: "Until I find Saren, I haven't done anything. So, Councilor, what would you like to talk to us about?"
Torg: "I'd like to recommend one more person to join your team for this mission and has volunteered herself personally"
Shepard: "Of course, who would you like to recommend?"
Torg: "Our Arbiter, she's an excellent warrior and I believe would make a good addition to your mission"
Shepard: "What's an Arbiter?"
Torg: "The Title of Arbiter, is one of extreme importance to the Sangheili, it's considered the highest possible form of honor, military, and political rank one could attain. You may think of it similar to that of the Spectres, albeit only the Sangheili may have such a title and one can be given the title at a time"
Shepard: "She sounds important, I'd love to have her onboard, but are you sure that it would be alright to assign her to our mission?"
Torg: "Indeed, the missions an Arbiter are given, are ones that are of grave political or religious importance, no matter how dangerous they are, this will be similar to ones she has completed in the past"
Shepard: "Then in that case, I'd be happy to have her aboard"
Torg: "Excellent, she will be waiting by the Normandy"
Shepard: "Very well, Y/n. Do you think you can greet our new addition while Tali and I gather some equipment from the C-Sec Academy?"
Y/n: "Of course, I'll see you two soon, When you're done with this Tali, I'd like to catch up again. Sound nice?"
Tali: "Y-Yeah, of course!"
Y/n: "Great! See you both soon then"
With that, Torg had already wondered off and Y/n now departed, leaving Tali and Shepard alone as they began to walk to the Elevator, a small smile on Shepard's face as she watched Y/n run off and take the Elevator first so that he could get to the Normandy
The scene then changed to show Y/n as he was now stepping off of another Elevator and onto the Docks of the Citadel where the Normandy was parked, a large view of space with the only thing protecting the people on the dock from the cold vacuum of space being a forcefield
As he walked along the dock to the Normandy, he was met with the sight of a rather tall Sangheili woman who was looking out into space, she reached a height of 238.8cm (7'9") her back turned to him letting him only get a sight of the shining silver armor that looked ancient in design, beneath the armor there were glimpses of a tight, form-fitting bodysuit that was held with blue restraining straps while located on her rear was a long purple cloth with the symbol for the Swords of Sangheilios on it
(Just ignore the energy sword and broken master chief helmet, also, I can't find the original owner for this artwork as apparently the DeviantArt page for this doesn't exist when I tried through Pinterest and SauceNAO doesn't have any results either)
Hearing the elevator's doors and Y/n approaching footsteps, the Arbiter then turned her head towards Y/n before turning around to face him completely and walking over to him, the size difference being immediately obvious with how she towered over him
Y/n: "You must be the Arbiter, a pleasure to meet you. I'm Lance Corporal Y/n L/n vas Moreh. We'll be working together for a while"
Y/n then stuck his hand out towards the Arbiter for a handshake, leading to her to look at it for a quick moment before accepting it, her hand almost crushing his with a tight grip before she softened it upon seeing him wince
Arbiter: "Theya 'Vadam, Kaidon of house 'Vadam, it's a pleasure meeting you, Lance Corporal vas Moreh"
(The 'Th' in Theya's name is pronounced like one would pronounce the 'Th' "Thank")
Y/n: "Please, call me Y/n. If we're going to be working together, I'd like it if you'd call me by my first name instead of rank, makes things easier"
Theya: "Very well, then you shall call me Theya or Arbiter, if it will make communications easier. Where is your Shipmaster?"
Y/n: "Shepard is currently gathering more equipment from C-Sec Academy and has tasked me with making sure you get settled on the Normandy, if you'll grab your things and follow me, I'll lead you to your room"
Theya nodded her head before she returned to where she was standing before and grabbed a large purple, oval shaped crate and picked it up in her arms before she started to follow Y/n into the ship. Thankfully, taking the consideration of others when they built the ship, it was tall enough to accommodate individuals as tall as Theya. Making their way into the crew quarters, they were met with dozens of rooms, some of which had their doors open and crew members talking amongst each other or standing in the halls, only for it to go silent upon seeing Y/n and Theya step into the hallway as they stopped and stared at the two in silent awe
Y/n: "These here are the Crew Quarters; this is where you'll find your room. Each room has enough for two people, although the Normandy has a small sized crew of 50 people, including marines who have their own Quarters. That leaves a few empty rooms to choose from. Some have rooms on their own, and others have chosen to bunk with one another, they're all soundproof as to prevent any noise from the ships engines from disturbing them at night, and to prevent noise from within that could disturb the others during their time off"
As they walked through the hallway, the crew slowly started to return to their original activities, talking, laughing, and playing games before Y/n and Theya came to a stop at a T-shaped intersection, on either side being empty rooms, with the exception of one in front of them that had Y/n's name on it
Y/n: "Go ahead and choose a room, take your time since there's no real rush right now, if you need anything or want to chat, feel free to come and get me"
Theya: "I will, thank you Y/n"
Y/n: "No problem, happy to help out"
Despite the helmet that was on Y/n's face and the visor tinted to prevent anyone from looking in, Theya could tell by the tone of Y/n's voice that he had a smile on his face before he turned and entered his room, leaving Theya on her own to choose a room for herself as the screen faded to black
And that's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it, and sorry it hasn't been getting updated as much, I've been focusing on my Cyberpunk story as that one's chapters are much longer than my usual stories and after I write them, I take a break between each one.
But anyway, as you saw, yes, I decided to include a Genderbent Thel 'Vadam, better known as the Arbiter from the Halo games and there may be more from the Halo aliens that I might add, not sure yet. I know there's a couple more canon people I might add to this book, some might be genderbent to add to the harem, some might not, no promises except for Grunts, they will be left alone.
Either way, let me know your thoughts on the story and I'll see you all next time, bye for now