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Imperial Glory: Prologue.

Arcturus Station, Private Chamber 0071, March 1st, 2193.

Eric Hackett was enjoying his drink, a strange sickly sweet asari concoction that he was almost addicted to.

Finishing off his second glass of the liquor, and silently thanking the military for the implants that allowed him to enjoy such a drink, he turned to the man sitting opposite to him. "Remind me again, Senator Udina, why we're doing this?"

Udina sighed, "Simple High Admiral, the Empress has ordered us to."

"Fine, then explain to me again why the Empress thinks this is a good idea." Hackett asked.

"The Empress thinks that it is time to begin reintegrating the former council races into the galactic fold. We've already lifted most trade restrictions on the Volus. She feels this is the next step." Udina finished.

Hackett pondered this, "I can understand that, to a certain extent. But where in the name of all that is and is not holy did the idea of reactivating the Spectres come up?"

"I assume the same place your drink came from Admiral."

"The Mess hall?"

Udina glared at him for a moment before breaking into laughter. "Tell me Eric, how long have you been waiting to use that one?"

Hackett grinned, "I'll never tell. But in all seriousness, there is a reason we shut the Spectres down in the first place. Unsupervised agents with the freedom to ignore any and all laws in their quest to achieve 'galactic peace'?

Udina nodded, "True, but we do have our own equivalent more or less, the Inquisition is bound by little law not of their own making. Besides, the Spectres are going to be reorganized, they'll swear loyalty to the Imperial Family and the Empress and be bound by covenant and blood-oath."

"I suppose that's enough. Empress Sativia feels the possible gain is worth the risk, that's all that matters in the end." Hackett stated.

The doors opened, "Ah, Senator, High Admiral, I see you started early." Commodore Anderson observed.

"Nothing important Commodore, sit, let's begin. I assume both of you reviewed the files. High Admiral, why don't you start, I'm sure you have a favorite." Udina said,

"What about Prince Taylor? He has a distinguished service-record with the Fleet." Asked High Admiral Hackett.

"We need a ground-pounder, a Soldier or Marine. What about Field Marshall Avante-Gotha? He's well connected." Commodore Anderson countered.

"That's insane." Hackett said, "He's the Commander of the First Army Corps, there's no way he'd accept without the Empress herself asking, and there isn't a chance in hell we could convince Her."

"Gentlemen" Began the third member of the group, "We're going about this the wrong way."

Anderson stared at him, "What are you saying Senator?"

"I'm saying" Udina replied, "That we're looking for a Spectre. A Special Operations soldier, someone visible to the populace and popular with the other races, but not an interstellar celebrity."

"Senator Udina is quite correct." Stated a new figure entering the room. "I apologize for my tardiness Senator, Commodore, Admiral." finished Baronness Asalia.

"It's alright Lady Asalia, now could you elaborate on that?" Hackett asked.

"To be plain, High Admiral, the Spectres are supposed to be visible enough to identify, but not enough to be known at sight across the galaxy. They are meant to be known as agents of the council, or now I should say, agents of the Empress. A proper Spectre should be able to negotiate as well as kill. Spectres were meant to take care of problems using any means necessary, and keep galactic peace at any cost." Asalia finished.

The Humans in the room considered her words. Lady Asalia might be an Asari, but she was a member of the Imperial Court and was one of the greatest advocates for Terran-style reforms in Asari territory.

Commodore Anderson spoke next, "Lady Asalia is quite right, we need a soldier that both showcases the best we Terrans have to offer, and shows that we're serious about protecting the races under our care."

"Hrm" Hackett mused, "What about Alan Avante-Gotha? He's a Force Recon Marine, well connected. AND he's half-Krogan, if that doesn't show we're serious about unity nothing will."

"While that may be true, he would not be a good choice." Lady Asalia started, "Some races still feel uneasy about the Krogan, and to be quite frank, a few believe the Empire doesn't realize just what it has unleashed by curing the genophage."

Senator Udina checked the datafiles that had been uploaded to his Neural Net again, "What about Captain Shepard? He was born on Terra, House Shepard has blood-ties to House Taylor and onto the Imperial family."

Anderson peaked at that name, "Shepard's an N7, the best of the best. He saved the Akuze Outpost when he was 16, he's served in a dozen different sectors with distinction."

Hackett agreed, "Shepard served alongside Krogan, Batarians, Quarians and Asari. He's done tours in Salarian and Asari territory. He earned alot of respect from the Salarians when he took out the Lystheni. He just finished retraining in the 'Bastion' program, he'll be ready for anything that comes his way."

Lady Asalia spoke up, "The Asari would be overjoyed at this. Captain Shepard saved the daughter of a Matriarch during his first tour in Asari space. He's well known, and known well among the Asari Republics."

"It's settled then. Captain Shepard will be the premier member of the re-formed Spectres." Udina said, excitedly, "I'll send the recommendation to the Empress, and make the necessary

arrangements."

End of Prologue.