The Council looked at Shepard as she walked up to them. The air around the Citadel Tower seemed strange. The citizens looked at the Commander with fear. As she walked up to the Council, the guards stood with their backs ramrod straight.

She looked the Councilors in the eye, and said, "You're sending me after Saren. Can I count on you to trust me when it's needed?"

Sparatus looked at Shepard, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "Shepard so long as you don't come to us with insane theories we will support you. You are here to protect the galaxy. Your position as a Spectre is a sign of our faith in you."

The Commander nodded, then said, "You know what I mean, Sparatus."

"We will listen when that time comes. Though it will not be a popular position."
The soldier nodded, and walked away. A few feet away Miranda was leaning against a wall. She turned to the Commander, the look in her eyes asking all the questions that were needed. Sarah smiled and said, "They won't stick their heads in the dirt."
"Good." Miranda replied. "After everything that's happened I would be furious if they did."
"If they did I would probably have to kill them in the name of reducing the amount of stupid in the galaxy." Sarah said. "And if anyone is listening that is not an opening for you to frame me for the assassination of the council."
Miranda laughed, and said, "Getting a bit paranoid, Sarah?"
"Can't ever be careful enough."
"Who would be listening in on our conversation? We're just two women talking in the Citadel tower. The galaxy knows how notorious human women are when it comes to gossip."
Shepard laughed, and said, "Most don't do it in full combat armor and the sexiest uniform they'll probably ever lay their eyes on."
"I tell you that it's insane for you to wear that. I'm perfectly safe in this and it is far more comfortable."
Sarah laughed, and said, "You could say that I'm less comfortable with my body as I know for a fact that it's far from perfect."
"Give me two years with it on a table and I can fix that, Sarah."
"I don't think I'm going to have much choice on that matter."
"I'm sure you could preserve yourself."
"That would fuck the timeline so hard that you'd think I was into some sick shit."
Garrus shook his head, and said, "You done talking with your girlfriend, Shepard?"
"Geez, can't two ladies have a friendly conversation before getting started on a big job without you judging us, Garrus?"
"Remember, we've got a lot of Reapers to kill, Shepard."
"Whoa, don't say that. Someone might be listening."
"Just tell 'em I'm a crazy turian who saw some shit in his time."

"After all I've seen and been through I'm pretty sure that I've got no room to talk." Sarah replied.

"True. What's your plan?"
"I think the last one worked pretty well throughout the hunt for Saren? Why not relive history?"
"Didn't one of your crew get nuked?"
"Yeah. That did happen. But to be fair they turned out ok. Kaidan'll be fine. Even should his current body be destroyed."

Garrus nodded, as Miranda pushed off the wall and said, "I'm ready to go to the Normandy if you are, Sarah."
"I'm always ready to go to the Loft with you, Miri." Sarah replied, taking the Operative's hand.

"I don't think your ship has one, Sarah."
"Give it a couple of years and a bit of a remodel."
"I wish I could." Miranda replied. "Can't say I'm looking forward to that little cabin."
"Better than the accommodations others get."

"True. But a Loft would be far superior."
"If your organization ever makes a Normandy class vessel of your own you can be sure to put that request in. Afraid I didn't get any choice on the design of this one." Sarah said, laughing.

"You sure about that? You've done a lot in your time."
"It isn't even my ship. We're gonna feel like teenagers again having to ask cool Uncle Anderson to give us lifts across the galaxy. Assuming he'll even be able to do that. Who knows what the Alliance has planned for him."
"You think that he won't be able to help us hunt down the most wanted criminal in all the galaxy?"Garrus asked.

"Yeah."

The turian shook his head, as they headed towards the exit. There stood Ashley. She was glaring at the Commander and said, "What the fuck are you doing, Shepard?"
"Williams, I don't like that tone." the Commander replied.

"You're just standing around making jokes while we need to go hunting that sonofabitch Saren. Have you forgotten how he killed my unit?" the Sergeant asked, her fists shaking.

Shepard looked her in the eye, and said, "Williams, this is how you have to handle a situation like this. If you focus so strictly on the mission all the time it will lead to an overwhelming amount of stress and that leads to mistakes. However; if you can manage the stress of the situation you will get the job done.

"So, how about you take that attitude and shove it up your ass. After you take the pole out, of course. You're gonna need that to beat the enemy to death with."

Ashley glared at the Commander, who then continued, "Ash, I haven't forgotten what happened. But I know what I'm doing. I've gone after people like Saren many times before. I will find him, and I will bring him to justice. If I can pull it off I will even talk him into shooting himself in the head. And that's not a joke, soldier. I will talk that turian sonofabitch into suicide for what he's done."
Ashley sighed, her shoulders slumping down, as she said, "My apologies, Commander. I was out of line."
Damn straight you were. You need to relax Williams. Maybe find a cute girl to spend the night with and I'm sure you'll feel a lot better."
"I'm as straight as the pole up a turian's ass, Commander."
"Gotta think of what that pole is attached to, Williams." Sarah replied, laughing.

Ashley shook her head and Garrus said, "Well technically speaking it isn't attached to anything. It's just a natural weapon we evolved over the years to survive the threats on Palaven."

The three humans turned to the turian and just blinked at him in shock. Not sure how to respond. As he laughed, they sighed with relief and Sarah said, "I wasn't sure if you were joking or not, Garrus."

-=0=-

Halthas stood in silence. In the room stood the threat. It didn't look like much at the moment, but he knew that if Shepard got her hands on it, things could get complicated. As he examined it, he heard a follower say, "My Lord, will you continue to look at that accursed thing?"
"I must find how to ignore it."
"As you say, My Liege." the follower said walking away.

Halthas continued to examine it, almost reaching out to touch it. To see if he could control it. But as his hand drew closer to the danger he felt weakness flowing into him from it. He quickly pulled his hand back, and motioned for the barrier to be lowered onto the object.

Sweat beaded on Halthas's forehead, and he began to walk away. He wiped it away with one hand, only to feel it freeze on his wrist. He turned, and saw the danger still trying to grab him as the dark seal engulfed it once more.

He walked deeper into the shadows. Deeper into the chaos. As he did so he felt his power return, and he remembered the Creator's words, "You, child, are chaos. Where there is not order your power is absolute. But do not seek to strengthen your grip on this realm by spreading chaos. You are the natural state of this realm.
"But just as you must exist so must your brother. There must be a balance of chaos and order. And so you and your brother must co-exist. Chaos and order, two sides of the same coin."

Halthas sighed, that was the first and last time the creator had shown himself. Any attempts after that day to talk with him were met with silence. Even then only a voice had shown itself. But even then the power was clear.

And then as Halthas sat, deep in the chaos, a voice echoed in his mind. Loganis even now struggled. Tried to regain control. "I will recover my body, Halthas!" he screamed.

The Dark Brother silenced his voice, and said, "Soon you shall not be concerned with such things."

-=0=-

Sarah said, "Anderson, you sure about this? This is the posting you've worked all your life to get."

He nodded, and said, "You're going to need a good ship if you're going to take Saren down. You're going to be operating in the Terminus after all."

She sighed, and said, "Thank you, Captain."

He placed a hand on her shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, Sarah. I know how hard this mission is going to be for you. But I also know that if I were on board it would sabotage your authority. You've worked hard, and you've earned the right to have your own ship, Spectre."

"Don't call me that, David. If you do it might start getting to my head."
"With all the shit you've done, Shepard, I'm pretty sure that you've earned the right to be pretty cocky."

Garrus laughed and said, "Don't say that, or she'll start insisting that we start calling her The One and Only Commander Goddamn Shepard."

Udina sighed as the words left Garrus's mouth, and the look on his face showed that he was already starting to regret nominating Shepard for the position. At the same time, Sarah replied, "That was your idea, if I recall correctly. Mine was something along the lines of me going in solo."
"They wanted proof that you were the best humanity had to offer before they would consider giving us intel on that smuggler. I didn't think that a bloodbath was the best way to get a group of pacifists to give us the information we were looking for."

"It was the most efficient, and considering what my plans were at that point you should know damn well I just wanted everything to be over."

"Yeah, you wanted to take a shuttle and fly into a star with it after the job was done. You're lucky we never finished it."
"Yeah, I'd feel kinda stupid if I'd learned what had really happened on that station."

Udina asked, "What are you two talking about, Shepard? There is no record of these operations in any Alliance databanks."
She sighed, and said, "None of the missions Garrus and I talk about are Alliance or Turian missions. They're personal."

Udina looked to Anderson and asked, "Did you know about these missions?"
The Captain shrugged, and said, "They were unofficial tasks performed by a pair of old buddies. They never left enough evidence that anything had happened in any of their AO's"

"Yet you have her word about it?"

"All I know is her talking about some interesting missions." Anderson replied, "Something about a few places where some gangs had to be wiped out."

Udina shook his head, and said, "At least she's no longer my problem."

Shepard laughed, and said, "Glad to hear I don't have to worry about you getting in the way of me doing my job."

Anderson laughed, and said, "Go ahead and start hunting Saren. We can't let him get away with anything more than he already has."

The Commander nodded, and said, "Be sure to keep Udina in check. Don't let him start thinking he's part of the Council or anything crazy like that."
Anderson just smirked, and motioned for Shepard to board the Normandy.

-=0=-

Inside the ship, Joker said, "You ready to get going, Shepard?"
"First put me on the intercom."

He nodded, and pressed a couple of keys. Sarah took a deep breath and said, "The enemy thinks that it has gotten away with attacking humanity. It believes that we are just hunting down an agent blindly trying to preserve ourselves.

"It believes that it has won. It thinks its power has spread a little bit, that by trying to sever the order of our home it has won. That we are nothing compared to it. That even should its current manifestation be taken out another will rise.

"And perhaps that is true. Maybe they are necessary for our universe to still exists. But I also know that it can exist without the one pushing it. Attempting to make it all that there is in this life.
"We face a threat greater than anything this galaxy has ever seen appear in traditional combat. A foe that has always stayed behind the curtain, pulling the strings. An invisible puppet master that all life attempts to destroy. To strike down. But in the end, that is their realm. Hatred, cruelty, disdain. All birthed from evil." as those words left her mouth, she felt a booming voice echo within her. A voice of pure power so great that it shook her to her core. It said,

"He is not evil, but chaos."

Shepard shook as the voice seemed to leave, and she said, "No, not evil. Chaos. It spreads throughout our realm, and he believes that he will win for we cannot destroy him. For how can one destroy chaos?"
As those words left her mouth, she felt the ground disappear beneath her, and she found herself in the realm of the Lucis Entia. And on a throne of pure light sat an older man. Dark brown hair in perfect order and not a single natural wrinkle or fold in his bright clothes. He looked her in the eye, and asked, "Did He speak to you?"

-=0=-

A/N: Alright, this seems like a pretty good place to cut off this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it, and if you did please leave a review.