Spectre Bk 01 Ch 13

A/N - This is the final chapter of 'Book One'. Tying up final loose ends before the story heads into 'Book Two' which will cover the main plotlines of Mass Effect 2.

Australian / British standard English. There is a good chance of reading the following: lots of profanity, characters drinking, typos, and bad grammar at times.

Proofreading and editing suggestions provided by OhDave1. Any mistakes are still mine.

Comments are appreciated as always.

Feedback by email is always welcome. Enjoy chatting with anyone who likes my work.

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Shepard, the interview and the end of Book One.

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There are few things better in life than waking up in the morning to find a beautiful asari snuggled into your side. What could be better than that? Having a second asari also snugged into your other side. They both felt me wake up and they woke up with me. Kira smiled at me before kissing my cheek, sliding off the bed as I knew she needed to shower before heading out to attend to matters regarding the Citadel and the galaxy as a whole.

Benezia's hand moved from its position on my chest down towards my cock. "I'm a little tender after last night but I can't get enough of this," she whispered into my ear.

I rolled her over and made her moan softly as I slid my cock inside her rather easily. We'd made love enough by now that it was only seconds before we were moving together, my cock sliding as deep as possible with each thrust, Benezia moaning into my ear as I pumped her harder and harder. I felt her legs lock at my lower back as she started to beg me.

"Goddess... I'm going to cum already, Shepard..."

"Sometimes you asari are just amazing."

"Liara told me... She enjoys an orgasm so fast each time that you're intimate. When she's sucking your cock and you caress her crest, she experiences what she calls mini orgasms."

"Well, you should know that I love making my girls orgasm and hearing them cry out as they do."

Kira walked out of the bathroom to find me with my cock buried inside Benezia. She chuckled as Benezia cried out louder as I knew we were both getting close.

"I'm not sure I could handle more after last night," Kira said as she slid on some underwear before leaning over to give Benezia a kiss, "Though I know you're making most of the time before we go home to Thessia."

"Exactly why he's inside me now!" Benezia moaned.

My interview with Emily wasn't until that night. As soon as Kira left, Benezia ensured that my cock remained hard for most of the day. She sucked me off. I ate her out. And we fucked up a storm around the apartment. I loved fucking her against the window with the spectacular view of the Presidium. Even within a short space of time, the keepers had been hard at work. Asari, turians, salarians and humans had arrived in vast numbers to help with the clean-up. We were too high up for anyone to watch us unless they had binoculars.

"I'm going to miss you, Shepard," she whispered when we were sitting back naked on the couch later that afternoon, "I haven't felt so much love for someone since... Well, to be honest, the birth of my daughter." She paused and I heard her laughing to herself. "Goddess, I can't believe that I'm being intimate with the same man that my daughter is with."

"I'm a little glad we haven't done a lot of melding considering that."

"I know you love her, Shepard. I know you'll always treat her right. And to be honest, you're the main reason that's helping our relationship grow closer again. She talks about you all the time. She loves you so much... I actually worry about the future when the inevitable happens."

"Because she'll live for so much longer?"

"Some asari love so deeply that first time, it makes things difficult for whoever comes after as they will always be compared to that first love."

"What about you? Liara called herself a pure blood... She explained what that meant. What happened with you?"

"I loved Liara's other mother, but that love couldn't overcome the major differences in outlook regarding our own lives and our opinions on so many other things. We ended up arguing more than talking. And let's be honest, sex is such an important part of a relationship. I'm a sexual being, Shepard. I'm sure you've realised that. My sex life with her dried up completely. With that and everything else, we agreed to part, and Liara remained with me."

"I know she loves you, and I know she had many regrets about the fact you stopped talking."

"She was my child, Shepard. I should have been supporting her, no matter what. I forgot that was my role as her mother, that I was allowed my opinions but what mattered most was her own happiness. And I guess she proved me wrong anyway. The past truly does matter. Did she enjoy your surprise?"

"She absolutely loved being back on Ilos. And I know she's learned so much already. It will really help us should the Reapers find a back door into the galaxy."

"Will they?" she asked quietly. I turned my head to meet her eyes, and I saw the fear. I understood as she'd seen the images. She'd been indoctrinated.

"Not if I can help it," I replied, caressing her cheek, "And if they do arrive, you know that I'll fight the bastards until the end."

Kira arrived home... Huh, funny that I think of Kira's apartment as one of my homes... She arrived just as I was dressing myself in my Alliance blues. My interview was going to be beamed out live across Council space. Thessia. Palaven. Sur'Kesh. Earth. All the colony worlds. It would likely be transmitted even further to the home worlds of the volus, elcor, hanar, drell. The quarians might even receive it at the Migrant Fleet. Tuchanka, the homeworld of the krogan? I guess anything is possible.

Benezia wanted to come with me and Kira to the studio though she was still incognito. I was amazed that she wasn't going stir crazy in the apartment though I knew that Lady Tessia had been a regular visitor, often bringing one or two other friends, all agreeing that they must visit in secrecy until she was returned to Thessia.

Kira was with me as I walked into the studio. Captain Anderson was there, shaking his hand after greeting each other. I'd already been told by both the Council and the Alliance that very little was considered top secret. The only thing that I wasn't to do was talk in-depth about the Reapers. They didn't want to cause a mass panic by talking about a race of sentient machines that would bring about our doom. For the moment, that would remain a secret.

As Kira and Anderson took their places in the audience, I was in make-up when Emily Wong walked in just as the lady was finishing up, sitting next to me. I glanced her way, and she dazzled me with a smile. There was no doubt she was a beautiful young woman. Doing my research, I knew she had a relaxed interview style though didn't pull any punches if she smelled bullshit.

"I'm glad you agreed to this interview, Shepard. First one?"

"First one that's televised. I did some for the print media after Elysium."

"What are you expecting?"

"A fair interview though I'm sure that you'll have some tough questions for me."

"That's about right. I'll try not to piss you off too much though I'm hoping you might agree to one thing for me."

"Shoot."

"Dinner and drinks afterwards?"

I met her eyes again and the smile had only brightened on her face. "Sure. Are you sure that you'd want to do that after our interview?"

"I'll be interviewing you as a professional. The dinner and drinks afterwards are a purely private matter." She paused and leaned closer. "Shepard, every woman in this place would love dinner, drinks and so much more."

I couldn't help snorting though I knew what she meant. Just ordering a coffee earned me a phone number and some not-so-subtle suggestions of what we could do for fifteen minutes should I have the time available. Women were fine. It was the asari who were blunt about what they wanted from me. I'll admit that the attention was flattering, and considering most asari were gorgeous to insanely gorgeous, I could only imagine some of the possibilities should I ever call any of them.

"I'm guessing you've heard about my reputation then," I finally replied.

"This goes nowhere else. Are you fucking the asari councillor?"

"Yep. I pretty much live with her when I'm on the Citadel."

"How good is she in bed?"

"Oh, she's wonderful. Having a woman with a few centuries of experience certainly helps improve my own performance."

"Damn..." She slid out of her chair. "Right, we'll be on air in ten minutes. Nervous?"

"Nah, she'll be right."

I waited off-stage as Emily introduced the program and gave a quick news bulletin of the big events taking place around the galaxy at that time. It was nice hearing that most of the races of the galaxy were pulling together to help repair the Citadel. Eventually, she stood up and introduced me by listing off many of my achievements. As I strode onto the stage, I already knew the majority of the audience was asari. They were ever so loud in their applause, cheers and whistles as I greeted Emily with a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you for coming, Commander."

"My pleasure, Emily."

I took a seat in the opposing armchair to her. I noticed that her skirt was short and she was wearing stockings and heels. I think she'd spoken to Jane about things that I loved to see on a woman. Her shirt was buttoned up the middle, and the top two were open to show off a hint of cleavage. Frankly, I'm surprised that she didn't colour her hair red.

We talked in general terms about my life on the streets as a kid and I answered everything honestly. Yes, I'd been a petty criminal and gang leader. Nearly all of our crimes were non-violent until the day that I did take a life. Yes, it was an accident, but I took responsibility for it. I was thankful to the Alliance for giving me a second chance.

"To be honest, I found the family that I was searching for within the Alliance," I explained.

"The Roughnecks?"

I couldn't stop the smile forming. "We all came from the wrong side of the tracks, but you couldn't have asked for a better group of comrades. And the relationships I formed..."

"Until Elysium?"

"No, until Torfan. I was only on Elysium through circumstance. I'd been given some R&R as my superiors knew that I hadn't taken any leave since I had joined up. I'm not even sure why I chose Elysium. I think it was just the closest place that would provide the entertainment that I was after."

"It's been noted that you don't think highly of the batarians, but it's been established that the person responsible was turian. Yet you seem to hold no ill will towards them. Why?"

"A turian might have organised it all, but it was batarian boots on the ground. Batarian weapons killing humans. Batarians taking slaves. Add to that, the Hierarchy has completely disavowed his actions and are working in conjunction with the Alliance to hunt him down."

"Can we speak about Torfan?"

"Of course."

"The batarians refer to you as the Butcher of Torfan. The Alliance have released more than one report regarding your actions during that mission and cleared you of any perceived crimes. But we've never heard your account of what happened. I guess that I should ask if you consider yourself as the Butcher or as something else?"

"I think the best term to use is that I was an avatar of vengeance."

"Vengeance?"

"Frankly, the batarians should be glad that the Alliance restricted their counterattack to a singular moon. It was only thanks to our friends in the Council that prevented the matter from turning into a full-scale war. What we did on Torfan was just. It was correct. We went in to save as many lives as possible while putting a dent into their slaving operations. Even to this day, we have no idea how many humans are being kept as slaves. Frankly, I'd love nothing more than to go in and find out. Personal opinion only, of course."

"So the Butcher moniker?"

I stroked my cheek. "I probably earned it for two reasons. First, I gave the batarians no quarter. I wasn't the only soldier to do that. Second, most of my squad was wiped out as the fighting was ferocious." That's when I paused and glanced away. "I did lose someone special. Held her in my arms as she drew her last breaths."

I heard more than one gasp from the audience. "She was special?" Emily asked softly.

"We were both from the streets. Found something in each other. And given that fraternisation is no longer a problem... A batarian shot her in the back. I made sure I shot him back."

"You qualified as an N7 and were starting on the road to become a Council Spectre when the attack on Eden Prime happened. I understand that after that event and returning here that the Council..."

"Didn't believe me?" I managed a laugh at my own expense. "Upon reflecting back on things, I certainly can't blame them. On one side they have Saren, their loyal Spectre with decades of service behind him being blamed for an atrocity by an upstart species still looking to spread their wings and show their strength. Then there is me, who was on his first mission as a prospective Spectre, the Spectre watching him ends up dead and the beacon destroyed. They probably thought that I was a complete idiot and wondered why the Alliance had put me forward as a candidate."

"But it worked out."

"Thanks to some help from others in an investigation into Saren that proved his guilt."

"Because of the work, most of what you were up to was top secret though I understand now that the mission is complete, and Saren is dead that you can reveal some secrets?"

"Some. Not all."

"Your first mission was to Therum. What did you find there?"

"Way too many geth and..." I stopped and smiled. "That's where I found Liara."

"And she is?"

"A doctor of archaeology. A close friend and colleague. Incredibly intelligent. Beautiful."

"And your relationship with her is intimate?"

"I'd be incredibly stupid not to be intimate with her. Our feelings for each other are strong."

"She must be incredible if someone like you..." Emily paused and must have realised she was fawning. "She was by your side the entire time?"

"She's a civilian though has never wavered in her commitment to the mission. She's currently on Ilos assisting the salarians in their investigations of what we found on the planet. I can't go into further details than that. Let's just say what we discovered may change many things about what we know about the galaxy."

"What did you find on Noveria?"

"Well, first of all, Binary Helix is now being investigated by the Alliance and I believe the Council wish to add their weight. Putting it simply, they were researching a way of bringing the rachni back from extinction."

"There are rumours that Lady Benezia of the T'Soni family was involved. Is that correct?"

"It is."

"What was her fate?"

"She's alive. She was... Well, let's say that Saren had control of her in a certain way. Benezia was just one of his many pawns in what he had planned for the Citadel."

"Do you know of her location now?"

"I do though I'm not at liberty to share that. I'm sure what I've just announced will come as a shock back to those on Thessia and across the Asari Republics. It was believed as the best course of action as Lady Benezia needed time to recover from what happened to her. It was not easy on her conscience. When she returns home, she will throw herself on the mercy of her people. I hope they will be kind."

Emily gave me a curious look and asked, "You have seen her since Noveria?"

"I have. We have talked many times. She is... She is an extraordinary asari. It just boggles my mind how easily under Saren's sway she fell."

"I understand further crimes were found on Feros?"

I snorted in disgust. "Noveria was bad enough. Feros was worse. What ExoGeni was up to disgusts me to this day. Thankfully, I received reports from the Zhu's Hope colony that they are making great strides. I must give my heartfelt thanks to both the Alliance and the Asari Republics for helping them survive. If not, I don't believe the colony could have been sustained."

"News has filtered through that the Alliance is also investigating matters regarding ExoGeni. Criminal charges are pending against certain executives. Your thoughts?"

"Good. What happened on Feros was criminal, putting it simply. Those who authorised what happened should be behind bars."

"I guess we need to discuss Virmire. Everyone I spoke to has been tight-lipped about what happened there though I'm told you are free to discuss everything now that Saren has been defeated."

"It went pear-shaped from the start. An STG team had arrived, sustained numerous casualties, and had been expecting an armada to relieve them. Instead, my ship and crew arrive. Time was of the essence so we did what we could. We split into small teams and infiltrated Saren's facility. We found that he was breeding krogan there."

"How is that possible?"

"He sold the krogan on the idea of curing the genophage. It was a ruse, of course. They were just another means to an end. Anyway, I finally got close to Saren though I'll admit that he was good. And he pressed home his advantage. Before making our escape, STG and my squad knew that we couldn't leave the facility intact. So we made sure it was blown up. It was while we were escaping that..." I paused and took a moment. I just felt sad because of what happened. And I still missed him. "Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko had stayed with the bomb to prepare it. With everything that could go wrong going wrong, he sacrificed himself so that the rest of us could go. I stayed in communication with him until the final second. He died a hero. He deserves to be remembered by everyone for what he did that day."

"You respected him immensely."

"He was courageous, loyal to a fault, but had the kindest of hearts. On the battlefield, he was ferocious. Talk to him on the ship, and he was softly spoken, considerate, and a wonderful confidant. I miss him. We all do. He was a good friend."

"You returned to the Citadel and things then took a turn?"

I glanced into the audience as I knew where Kira was sitting. I smiled at her as I knew she'd be doing the same. We could laugh about it now. At the time... Well, not exactly.

"The Council wasn't particularly happy to hear that I'd detonated a nuclear bomb. It's quite the thing to do. There were some... decisions taken, let's call them, that resulted in my ship being locked down and I was told to take a back seat as others would now handle the issue. Let's just say that such a decision did not sit easily with me." Emily met my eyes, and I chuckled. "Okay, I'll be honest. They pissed me off. Particularly Ambassador Udina. He was completely out of his depth regarding this matter and interfering in things that should be left to those who know what the f.... I mean what the hell they're doing."

"And then everything happened up until you faced down Saren on the Citadel?"

"I was always one step behind Saren. That's how it felt because that's how it was, but I also felt that I was getting closer, so close. He'd been planning this for years, even decades. He was organised. He was intelligent. He was resourceful. And he was tough. I could respect his talents though he was a complete bastard. He'd have sacrificed everyone to achieve his goals."

"How did he convince the geth to involve themselves?"

"Of that, I'm not sure." That was a complete lie. I'm sure Emily would have picked up on that. "All I know is that Saren must have had one hell of a convincing argument to convince the geth to involve themselves."

"Everything led to the battle on the Citadel and some decisions. You chose to save the Council..."

"And ten thousand other lives on the Destiny Ascension, Emily. Ten thousand innocent lives. The three councillors are civilians, non-combatants, therefore they are also innocent. We sign up to serve in the Alliance knowing that we may give our lives in the line of duty. That is what those who served in the Fifth Fleet knew when they signed up. We are now part of a galactic community. Humanity proved during the Battle of the Citadel that it is willing to make sacrifices to protect its friends."