Nothing particularly exciting happened on their way to meet Shepard’s old friend. In fact, besides a computer alarm that triggered when the Spectre was scanned by security informing the operator that she was dead, the trip was rather boring. The alarm was cleared with some quick talking by the Commander and no one had even tried to take Revan’s weapons… probably because they were so divergent from the norm here that the system didn’t even know they were weapons.

Still, Revan was rather disappointed with the lack of reception by the Council for their returning operative. From what she had researched, humanity had only just been included in both the Spectres and the Council in the past two years and yet only a quarter of them had made any sort of attempt to reach out and not having someone at the space dock to escort them could be seen as incredibly dismissive. Revan wasn’t sure if that was somehow requested by Shepard, but if this was Revan’s reception after a requested meeting quite a few politicians would find their careers taking very sudden and drastic turns.

That impression only solidified when the two of them arrived at Anderson’s office to find that three-quarters of the Council had decided to not attend in person, instead attending the meeting through a holopanel.

Revan wasn’t sure if this was the same as in her Galaxy, but attending by holopanel when distance and time were not a factor was seen as a deliberate snub to those attending. Considering Shepard had messaged back with their expected arrival time, unless things here simply worked differently, the Commander was being dismissed as not important enough to bother with.

“-oh, Commander. We were just talking about you.” Councilor Anderson greeted as they walked through the door. Revan’s first impression of the aging, dark skinned human was that he absolutely did not belong in politics. He had the body language of a military man, a kind of straightforwardness that didn’t mesh well with leveraging political influence to advance one’s goals. From what she had managed to find out about him before he was retired from active service, Anderson preferred a blunt approach to his goals and actual action to pretty speeches and platitudes. A direct opposite to the rest of his fellow Councilors if Shepard was to be believed.

“It’s been a long time, Anderson. I hope the last couple years have treated you right.” Shepard smiled back.

“There’ve been some rough spots. It’s good to have you back.” the Councilor said sincerely.

“We’ve heard many rumors surrounding your unexpected return. Some of them are… unsettling.” the Salarian Councilor interrupted the two human’s reunion.

“We called this meeting so you could explain your actions.” The Asari Councilor spoke up after her companion. “We owe you that much. After all, you saved our lives in the battle against Saren and his Geth.”

And just like that, any hope of Revan having a positive impression of the Council died a miserable death. Basing their judgement on mere rumors? Not even attempting to validate the facts and treating the opportunity of a simple explanation as repayment of a favor for saving their lives? Revan was impressed. That was a level of arrogance she had only rarely seen outside the Jedi Council.

“The Collectors are abducting human colonists in the Terminus Systems. Worse, we think they are working for the Reapers.” Either Shepard didn’t recognize the insult or ignored it for now.

“The Terminus Systems are beyond our jurisdiction! They knew that when they left Council Space.” the final Councilor, the Turian one, said dismissively.

“You're missing the important part, Councilor. The Reapers are involved.” Anderson pointed out but the Turian wasn’t having it.

“Ah, yes. ’Reapers’. The immortal race of sentient starships allegedly waiting in dark space. We have dismissed that claim.”

Anderson began explaining to Shepard that she and her team were the only people that had ever been directly told about or talked to a Reaper. The Council had been unable to retrieve a hologram Shepard had encountered on some planet called Ilos before it completely malfunctioned and decided there was nothing suggesting the Reaper they encountered was not a Geth creation.

The three members of the Council used that lack of proof as evidence that Shepard was clearly not sound of mind and had been manipulated by several parties. While all this was going on, Revan had started to tune out the delusional politicians but something they said struck a chord with her. She hadn’t thought much of the Geth when she first heard of them, considering them to be similar to the droids from her home galaxy, but with how the locals spoke of them as if a technologically superior starship was almost expected that might have been a mistake. Maybe not so surprising as Revan couldn’t remember if anyone back home had thought to create something like the Geth. And if some random Turian could convince them to follow him into a war with the Council races, why couldn’t Revan co-opt them into working for her? After all, a droid race as a workforce would be able to accomplish much more towards creating the fleet Revan had plans for than hiring random mercenaries. Looking into a way to contact them just jumped to the top of her to do list.

“That is too far.” Anderson snapped angrily after the Asari Councilor accused Shepard of treason by working for Cerberus. “Shepard is a hero. I’m on this Council too, and I won’t let this whitewash continue.”

Realising she had pushed a bit too far the Near-Human quickly backtracked.

“Maybe there is a compromise. Not a public acknowledgment, given your ties, but something to show peripheral support.”

She backtracked so quickly in fact that it was almost guaranteed that there was little chance Anderson’s reaction wasn’t planned for. Especially since it was the Turian Councilor who proposed the compromise.

“Shepard, if you keep a low profile and restrict your operations to the Terminus Systems, the Council is willing to offer you reinstatement as a Spectre.”

It was another token gesture. And Revan could feel Shepard’s burning desire to rage at the Council. Only with the help of one of Revan’s breathing techniques was the human Commander holding on to her temper by the skin of her teeth. Something the Sith Lord was actually proud of her part-time student for. Bearing insults of this magnitude wasn’t easy.

“I accept.” Shepard hissed with mostly concealed anger.

“Good luck with your investigation, Shepard. We hope for a quick resolution… and a quick end to your relationship with Cerberus.”

With that obvious dismissal, the three holo-panels cut out. Anderson swore and stomped off. Interestingly Shepard decided to turn to Revan instead of following after him.

“Yes, Commander?”

“You didn’t say anything.” She accused.

“Was I supposed to?”

Shepard narrowed her eyes and turned to Anderson, who had calmed down slightly. “Anderson, this is Darth Revan, one of the teammates that are joining me in my investigation. And yes Revan. I’ve heard your opinions about politicians. The last time you had an issue with them you created an Empire.” she finished with a look at the Sith.

“I had just finished reading your brief before you docked.” Anderson said, giving the Elven woman a nod. “You’re a long way from home from what I hear.”

Revan nodded back before answering Shepard. “I am, although I’d prefer if you didn’t shout that to every spy organization on this station in the future.” The two humans flinched but Revan reached into her robes and pulled out a small handheld device. “Don’t worry. The Whitebox should’ve stopped casual observation but just keep it in mind for the future.”

“A Whitebox?”

“A jammer of sorts. It broadcasts a large amount of ‘white noise’ that will get picked up by recording devices. I’ve tested it enough against the Normandy’s equipment to know it works.” Going by the look on Shepard’s face she wasn’t sure if she wanted one for herself or if she was more concerned with what Revan could get up to with no supervision whenever she wanted. “But to your original point, no, I didn’t speak to your Council. There is no reason to.”

“No reason to?!” Shepard said, shocked. “Revan, I know you’ve been selling Cerberus blueprints to some of your weapons. But even if we could trust them to not work against us or just hoard everything, they wouldn’t be able to make enough to matter when the Reapers attack. We need them.”

“Especially with this latest move from the Council. They may have supported Shepard rejoining the Spectres, but they won’t actually do anything.” Anderson added, inadvertently displaying his feelings of exclusion from the rest of the Council.

“And yet drawing attention to myself when they are determined to bury any hint about the Reapers wouldn’t benefit anyone. Not when the rest of the Council was determined to insult and discredit you so much.”

Revan was glad her face was hidden behind her helmet since the looks of absolute confusion on both Humans’ faces were adorable. She couldn’t help but smile at them.

“I can tell both of you aren’t good at politics, so I’ll explain.”

“Hey! I’d say I’m pretty good at getting people to work together!” Shepard objected.

“Personal politics.” Revan waved off. “An important skill, no doubt about it, but not what I meant by politics. No, what I’m talking about is the subtle gestures and double-meanings that allow politicians to warp any conversation to suit their agenda. Something I have an unfortunate amount of experience in since I, as you said, made my own empire.”

Anderson huffed. “I won’t argue with you there. I can’t believe they tried to discredit Shepard’s mental state. That was over the line.”

Revan shot another smile at the dark skinned human. “The Council was insulting you both before we walked in the door.” She revealed and proceeded to share her thoughts on the conversation with the Council. By the time she was done Shepard was snarling with anger again and Anderson was looking more and more tired with the whole thing.

“So they didn’t even show up because they were insulting us?” Shepard asked again, making sure she heard right.

Revan tilted her head. “Yes. Back home there were generally two- three reasons someone wouldn’t meet face to face for a meeting like this if distance wasn’t an issue.” Revan corrected herself. “The first is that the other party is not trusted enough to not harm the participants. If they really wanted to hear what you were doing they would have made the effort, any risks of security or safety would’ve been addressed. The second is that they had already made up their mind about what to say and refused to give you the power of being in the same room to throw off their narrative.”

“Dammit. Now that you mention it, they’ve dismissed a lot of concerns or proposals I’ve had in these remote sessions and ended the meeting when I’ve managed to counter their arguments.” Anderson ran a hand down his face. “But I don’t understand, why hasn’t Udina mentioned these things to me? He’s actually a career politician.”

“Because he wants your job.” Shepard snarled. “He was practically expecting it when the proposal for a Human Councilor went through. My recommendation is the main reason he doesn’t have the job right now.”

Anderson cursed again.

Shepard on the other hand took a few deep breaths and turned back to Revan. “The third thing?”

“Hm?”

“What was the third reason they didn’t meet us.” the re-minted Spectre demanded.

“Ah.” Revan mused. “That one is easy. Deniability. This meeting never happened.”

Both humans being military and N7s, neither one needed Revan to spell out what she meant by that. With more than half the participants in the conversation being virtual images any record would be suspected or discredited as a fake should Shepard’s status become an inconvenience. And in the event that someone tried to pull the official records? Well, a convenient data purge or failure would make sure they never saw the light of day.

“Alright… now what? Where do we go from here?” Shepard asked.

“Keep investigating the Collectors.” Anderson said firmly. “I’ll do my best to keep the Council and the Alliance off your back. Shouldn’t be too hard if you stick to the Terminus Systems.”

“I’d also recommend you reach out to some of the more disenfranchised races and try to bulk up their support. Perhaps sell off some of your older Starships to the Quarians in return for their aid.” Revan suggested to Anderson, recalling what she had read of the Migrant Fleet and their total dependence on space ships for their race’s living space.

Everywhere else in the galaxy they were treated as pariahs or thieves with little justification in the Sith’s opinion, so Revan was making plans to secure their help as well. She had rallied plenty of outcasts to her cause on several occasions and a race with an innate aptitude for engineering and shipcraft was too valuable to pass up. She would need to find a way to defuse the tensions with the Geth if she was able to recruit both however…

“We’re struggling to replace the ships we lost during the Sovereign incident. We can’t afford to lose more.” Anderson argued.

Revan shrugged. “Just an idea. Although any technology you get from me would likely require an extensive refit anyway so it might be worth their help in building new ships or refitting the old ones as part of any deals.”

“This sounds far out of my area of expertise. I’ll pass word back to the Alliance though, maybe someone else can work out that deal. I’d be too busy here to try it anyway.”

“All I can ask.” Revan accepted genially. The Alliance wouldn’t wind up under her direct control anyway, she wouldn’t demand they listen to all her proposals, though they might end up paying in different ways.

-o-

Back on the Normandy, the crew was preparing to leave the Citadel. After the meeting with the Council ended and Udina had dropped by only to be told off by Anderson for overstepping his bounds, Shepard had spent the rest of the meeting catching up with her old CO so Revan had retreated to a corner of the office to meditate a bit while they talked and the two of them had left shortly after even though the Commander obviously wanted to stay longer. It wasn’t a good idea to leave a Cerberus vessel in the open where someone with a grudge could take a shot at it.

“Revan, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Yes, Shepard?”

The ship was in it’s final departure check and it didn’t require either of them, so both women retreated to Revan’s quarters.

“What are you planning to do if you aren’t going to work with the Council? I’m not stupid enough to think you’re just going to be content tagging along on the Normandy forever.”

The Sith said nothing for a little while, organising her thoughts.

“The Council will never accept that the Reapers are real.” she said eventually. “They will refuse to accept that there is a superior enemy on the way because that would mean they aren’t on the top of the power pyramid. And if there is one thing politicians hate more than anything it is being proven wrong.

“A faceless enemy isn’t enough to spur them into preparing for war so I think I will need to give them something even they can’t ignore when their citizens point at it and say ‘we need to be safe from that’.”

“What do you mean?” Shepard asked, although she was getting a sinking feeling.

“I think I’m going to crush the Batarians.”

Revan’s response was so blunt and matter-of-fact that it took Shepard a few seconds to comprehend what she heard.

“You’re going to start a war with the Hegemony?!”

Revan shook her head.

“No, that would be too little. Just outside forces fighting. After this mission of yours, I’m going to go recruiting. The funds I’ve been gathering from Cerberus and soon from the Alliance should be enough to get started. Once I’ve gathered enough to outfit a fleet, I’m going to crush the Batarians so quickly and utterly that the Council population will demand that the Council takes steps so that the same can’t happen to them.”

“You're talking about murdering innocents just to get what you want!” Shepard spat.

Revan surprised the Spectre by removing her helmet and looking her in the eyes. Shepard could see the Sith’s utter determination and deep sorrow in her violet eyes.

“Yes. Civilians who likely have no idea what is going on will die. But they will be dead anyway when the Reapers arrive. The duty of a leader is to make sure those deaths count for something.”

“The ends can’t justify the means.” Shepard protested, fighting back a sting of betrayal at Revan’s words. This was the same woman who patiently helped her with her mental issues. Now that same woman was talking about killing thousands like it was nothing.

“Crushing the Batarians is an end to itself, Shepard.” Revan replied. “A culture based around piracy and slavery won’t help us when the fighting starts. They need to be removed before they can become a bigger issue than they already are.”

Shepard stood suddenly and walked to the door.

She paused at the threshold and looked back at the Sith.

“When I heard some of the stories EDI had managed to research about the Sith, I was convinced they were just made up because of how different you were from them. Now, I can see I was wrong.”

With that the Commander stormed out of the cargo bay, the door hissing closed behind her.

Revan didn’t let the comment bother her. She had heard much worse and much truer statements before and Shepard, for all her accomplishments, was surprisingly naive when it came to the realities of galactic level warfare.

Probably because she had never ordered the deaths of millions so billions could survive like Revan had.

Still, the Commander would see eventually. And if she didn’t then she could always dismiss Revan from the ship. It might even give her more time to rebuild the Empire she would no doubt need to fight the coming threat.

With one final sigh, Revan slipped back into a meditative trance. She had a feeling the next mission would be difficult and she would need to be at her best.