A/N: So this is my first fanfic. I'm a huge sucker for alternate realities, and thought I could apply it to one of my favorite universes of all time, Mass
Effect.

Saren, to me, seemed to be one of the most underdeveloped characters in the series. He was the main villain for one game, then died. We never really got to understand his drive, his motivation, or his true feelings. This is Saren's Effect on the galaxy. And it's a big one.

Chapter 1: Revelations

Loud, metallic steps echoed down the hallway. A turian strode forward with an almost arrogant air about him. His head was held high, and his mandibles bristled with tension. Though he had gone over his plan many times in his head, the execution needed to be perfect. He had never tried to deceive the Council before.

Sparatus would be behind him no matter what; the naïve and bigoted turian Councilor would believe anything coming from the mouth of one of his own. Tevos would be somewhat easy to convince. As long as he presented his facts calmly and logically, he would be fine with her. Valern, however, was another matter. He knew that the salarian councilor had spent time in STG, despite his age. Manipulating a former intelligence officer would be a challenge, to say the least. The salarian had never really approved of his methods, but would not speak out unless he had the support of the other two.

But how to handle the human ambassador? Saren knew little about how the new species handled themselves in politics. The turian braced himself to expect the unexpected.

However, his time with the human soldier had given him a little insight. To him, humans seemed very similar to turians in terms of their psych. Stubborn, and demanding. A bit more flexible, not as 'by the book' as most turians. They were upstarts, always wanting more. It was as if they thought that they were protheans themselves, with how they expected to be received by the galactic community. But handling them as if they were turians would be a mistake he couldn't afford to make. He had to succeed, if the magnitude of his discovery was as massive as the doctor had made it sound.

The doors opened, leading into a majestic platform in the heart of the Presidium. The citadel council stood at the far end, waiting patiently while he entered the scene. Two humans, a male and a female, stood on a lower platform. The latter, dressed in the smart, professional look of a politician, looked as if she had just finished speaking and was gripping the handlebar with white knuckles.

The former was dressed in clean cut military attire, but his face was covered in scratches and his leg gave away a slight limp, most likely from his encounter with the krogan. He stood at attention, and turned to note the turian's entrance with a nod. The turian ignored him, keeping his eyes focused on the councilors.

"Ah, Saren. It seems your arrival is most timely. The human ambassador and Lieutenant Anderson have just finished giving their report," the turian ambassador said warmly.

"However, as a member of the office of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance and the Council's liaison on this mission regarding an artifact that pre dates known Prothean activity, we would like your report on the mission and the performance of Lieutenant David Anderson on the mission in relevance to his candidacy as a Spectre." The salarian councilor spoke quickly.

He's staying neutral, for now. Sticking to the script, Saren thought. The asari councilor, Tevos, remained quiet, in anticipation of Saren's report.

The turian cleared his throat. "Our mission objective was to recover the data about the artifact by the human Dr. Shu Qian. Though the safety of Dr. Sanders was a concern, the main priority was the data," Saren said. Stay calm, he thought to himself.

"However, the lieutenant seemed to dismiss this notion, deeming the life of his comrade more important than millennium old data that could possibly explain everything we know about protheans, and more."

The reaction was instant. Anderson scowled, and the human ambassador, Goyle, fumed up instantly.

"Councilmen, please! This turian," The word was riddle with animosity. "has been nothing but racist and antagonistic towards humans-"

Sparatus cut her off. "How dare you try to blackwash the word of a renowned Council Spectre! Saren has proven time and again to be a dedicated agent of the Council, and an enforcer of the galactic law!"

Saren smiled smugly to himself. The council was being so predictable, it was almost laughable.

"In any event, we ask that Saren at least be allowed to present his full report before accusations are thrown," Tevos said.

Asari. Always trying to play peacekeeper.

He glanced sideways at Anderson. The human was staring at him with a frown, obviously enraged at the fact that Saren was screwing him over. However, the human soldier was smart enough to keep his emotions in check.

Maybe this wasn't such a good-no, no. The data was too important. Cool, calm professionalism. He had done this dozens of times before. Never falsely, but still. Why was this so hard? He tried to remember a drell meditation technique he had learned on Kahje. He breathed in, and recalled the story he had created.

"While the Lieutenant was playing the hero, I went after the batarian, Had'dah, and the doctor. I killed the batarian, but I couldn't get to the data cache in time. The doctor committed suicide and the cache was destroyed after the complex exploded." Saren faked a grimace. "The spirits dammed paranoid terrorist rigged a bomb to his Omni-tool; if his vitals dropped, the complex was set to detonate. We just barely got out in time, without the Intel."

At this, Anderson scowled, and tensed up. The human politician, Goyle, sighed. Tevos looked sideways at her companions. The salarian locked eyes with her, then spoke.

"Though we can see that all efforts to succeed did not work as planned, the council does commemorate the Lieutenant for his bravery in the pursuit of the conservation of life, a quality we hope can reflect upon the entirety of humanity."

Valern glanced at the turian councilor. Sparatus had been smug during Saren's exposition, and, with the green light from both Tevos and Valern, issued the final verdict almost gleefully:

"However, in light of the clear insubordination from a superior officer and deference from the primary objective, this council deems that Lieutenant David Anderson is ineligible from Spectre Candidacy"

Several obscenities poured out of Goyle's mouth that even impressed Saren, who knew several krogan who would simply blush at the ruckus she made. Anderson just looked shocked. The marine knew Saren was lying, but he had the common sense to keep his mouth shut. No one would believe him, anyway.

In the middle of Goyle insinuating that Sparatus' father had committed adultery with a mentally handicapped hanar in a very specific part of the body, Tevos interrupted.

"Ambassador Goyle, please restrain yourself!" Goyle shut her mouth, but glared at Saren with extreme distrust. Tevos continued.

"The council's word is final. However, if the Human Embassy can come forth with another possible Spectre candidate in the future, this decision will not bias the council against that person." Goyle made as if to speak, but Sparatus cut her off.

"You and the Lieutenant are excused, Ambassador Goyle."

Saren didn't meet Anderson's gaze when he passed.

The second the two had left the council room, Valern pressed Saren for details. "Are you sure the data was destroyed? Did you procure any of it before the explosion?" The salarian's eyes locked with Saren's. The turian stared right back.

Saren raced down the hall. Several guards already lay dead, and sirens were blaring. The bug he planted on Anderson allowed him to hear the fight between him and the krogan. Saren had to admit, what the marine lacked in tact, he made up for it guts. His decision to go after Sanders was too good to be true. With a quick glance at his Omni-tool, he confirmed that the room ahead of him was where he wanted to be.

The green light flashed and the door slid open, revealing a heavily armored batarian and a smaller human scientist at a terminal. Almost immediately, the batarian roared, and a shotgun blast resonated against Saren's shields, staggering him. The scientist lunged to the side as Saren rolled over behind a nearby desk. The batarian bellowed, "Damn turian! I'll blow your fucking brains out!"

Another shot punctured a whole in the table. Saren breathed in. The batarian was getting closer, trying to flank him on the left.

As Had'dah rounded the corner, Saren pushed with all his strength and flipped the desk over onto the batarian. A cry of pain signaled his success, and he stood up abruptly, aiming his pistol. Unfortunately for him, the Had'dah was tougher than he looked. Though Saren had succeeded in disarming him, the batarian still charged headfirst and caught Saren in the gut, ramming him against the wall. Saren's pistol was knocked out of his hand.

Crazy bastard thinks he can match me hand to hand? We'll se about that.

Batarians were known for brute strength, but, even though they weren't as agile as, say, the asari, turians were more flexible and versatile in close quarters.

The charge had knocked the wind out of him, but his armor had stopped the razors protruding from the batarian's arms and shoulders. Had'dah threw a fist aimed for Saren's head, but the turian twitched his head to the side and maneuvered so that he was to the batarians left, outside the extended arm.

Two quick blows to the ribcage stunned him, and another blow to the extended elbow shattered Had'ahs left arm. While he cried out in pain, Saren grabbed him head and slammed it against the wall. The impact left a dent on the wall, and a nice scratch above the batarians upper right eye. Saren moved efficiently, dodging another blind haymaker from the Had'dah. Without wasting time, he pulled out a short, serrated hunting knife and pinned the batarians good hand to the wall. The batarian was swearing to every god he knew at this point, but Saren paid him no mind. He strode briskly over to where his foe had dropped the shotgun, and picked it up, examining it.

"You know, Had'dah, if I wasn't here to kill you, I'd have to arrest you for possession of this gun." Saren spoke with unnerving calm, though the batarian was writhing in pain trapped against the wall. "Even in the Terminus, these mods are frowned upon. Want to know why?"

"Go fuck yourself!" Had'dah spat.

Saren's mandibles twitched. "Wrong answer."

He pulled the trigger, and Had'dah's torso exploded into thousands of tiny fragments of flesh. The batarian never even had time to scream.

Saren went to detach his knife from the disembodied arm, and sheathed it, along with his fallen pistol. He glanced around at the rest of the room, and noticed the terminal that Dr. Qian had been working at. It was still open, and operational. Excellent.

Before he could access the terminal, he heard a scuffle behind him, and pivoted, only to come face to face with the barrel of a pistol, in the arm of Dr. Qian.

Saren had been at gunpoint before. It usually ended badly for the person holding the gun. Bu this time, he hesitated. Something had caught him completely off guard.

He prided himself on being an observant person. His instructors chastised him for focusing on the details of a situation in training, but, in his experience, the smallest details were usually the most important. Saren had looked over the doctor's dossier on the trip to Camala. In the doctors profile picture, his eyes were dark brown, a typical color for humans, he figured.

As Saren stared into the Qian's eyes, hard, metallic blue irises stared back. They shared a cold, threatening, almost…evil gaze. Saren had never shivered with fear before. He didn't like the feeling.

He forced himself to snap out of it. As Qian's finger twitched on the trigger, Saren lashed out, directing the gun upward. The bullet bounced off the ceiling and Saren delivered a quick blow to break Qian's neck. The doctor's inhuman eyes rolled back into his skull, and he collapsed. Saren released a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

Get a hold of yourself, Arterius. Saren moved toward the terminal, confident at last that he was alone.

What he saw changed his life forever. The Doctor had uncovered an artifact that pre-dated the protheans. It was technology the doctor had theorized came from machines that had supposedly wiped out the protheans fifty thousand years ago. The name Qian had given the machines stemmed from his fear of them, but held no meaning for Saren. Nevertheless, it stuck in his head like glue: Reapers

These 'Reapers' seemed to be incredibly powerful, and numerous. Qian's notes also mentioned a 'cycle', that the Reapers were supposed to return very soon. The latter half of his notes tuned more and more into gibberish. More like praise for the Reapers, instead of fear. To Saren, it seemed like the artifact was doing something to the man's mind. Perhaps that was why his eyes had changed color. Maybe this brainwashing, this 'indoctrination', affected physical appearance as well as mental functionality.

Saren gave a quick prayer of thanks for his soldier mentality. If he had brooded on this topic for much longer, he was quite sure he would go insane with fear. Fortunately, years of training had helped him focus. He quickly saved a copy of the research onto his Omni-tool, and, with a second thought, placed an explosive on the bottom of the terminal. The surge from the bomb would carry through the wires, and hopefully destroy the half the factory. He glanced around the room one last time, and left.

"I did not save any of the information. There simply wasn't enough time."

Saren spoke with a level voice. Valern didn't look away. Sparatus looked unconcerned. He had never really appreciated the prothean mystery, anyway.

Tevos sighed. "Such a shame. I know a young archaeologist who would have loved to get her hands on the data. In any event, we thank you for your assistance, Saren. You are dismissed."

Valern's eyes never left the back of Saren's head as the Spectre exited the room. They also didn't fail to notice the turians tense body relax with relief as the door closed behind him.

Later, in his apartment on the citadel, Saren committed the information he had taken to memory, and then wiped the Omni-tools databanks. He was right not to reveal this information to the council. In hindsight, he had wished he hadn't killed the doctor. He could have been the proof he needed. No one would believe him. Data from a scientist the human woman had already claimed was half crazy? Even if it wasn't about these Reapers, many would be skeptical of Qian's claims. He had committed himself to hiding it, now. The council would be furious that he withheld information. Going to them now would be a waste. Even Sparatus would laugh him out of a job.

The tone on his door rang. Saren stood up abruptly. "Come in,"

He tensed up when Councilor Valern walked in. Then he berated himself for tensing up, and tried to act natural.

"Councilor, what a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Saren tried to be polite as possible.

"You may cease the façade, Agent Saren." Valern spoke bluntly. "You may have the others convinced that the data from Dr. Qian was lost, but they aren't me."

Saren was silent, working hard not to betray his emotions. Slippery bastard. Once a spy, always a spy.

"It's obvious you don't feel like talking, so I will," Valern stood closer to Saren. The councilor was not as tall as him, and Saren held his ground, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge such a challenge. "I would very much like to know what it is about that information you value such that you would keep I secret from the council. I hope you know that despite your Spectre status, I still have friends who would all too willingly pry that information from your cold, dead body if I so desired."

Saren's mandibles bristled, but Valern continued undaunted.

"Fortunately for you, I am not so inclined. You are an excellent agent, Saren. You have never failed over the course of your Spectre career, so I trust your judgement on this matter."

Valern turned to leave. As he passed through the door, he said, "I just hope it is worth denying a good man the chance of a lifetime. Good day."

Saren watched the Councilor leave.

Spirits, Valern. If only you knew.

A/N: If you've never read Mass Effect: Revelation, I recommend it highly. It's an excellent prequel to the games. If you have, please forgive me for taking some...creative liberties with the actual events. This is an AU, after all.

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