Chapter 181

Shepard and Harry quickly arrived at Joker's location, the helm of the Normandy, Joker heard them arrive and wasted no time speaking with his friends and letting them know of his opinion "That was some crazy shit on Virmire huh guys?.

Things got a bit dicey too, but at least everyone came out of that mission okay, I would have hated for something bad to have happened".

Shepard nodded "Yeah, but at least we also got the information we needed as well, despite the craziness that happened on Virmire, we came out winning out of there".

Joker nodded and grinned "The fact that Harry beat Saren's behind with ease was just the cherry on top, though I can't help but cringe every time I hear what Harry did to Saren.

Don't get me wrong, Saren deserved every bit of what he got, but damn Harry, that was brutal".

Harry just shrugged and smirked at Joker "That's nothing, I was going to pop his eyes out and pour sand in his eyes sockets, but Sovereign came to save Saren's ass".

Both Shepard and Joker cringed at what Harry was planning to do to Saren, the mental image wasn't pretty at all and left them feeling a sense of dread, Joker sighed and shook his head "Ouch".

Shepard chuckled and shook his head as well "Well, Saren was able to get away, but we'll catch him again and when we do, he'll continue to suffer".

Harry nodded, and Joker just laughed a bit "Damn, starting to feel a little bad for the bastard, but in any case, we're all safe and sound and ready to get going!".

Shepard nodded "That's right Joker! Let's go get this mission over with!".

Joker grinned and nodded to Shepard, he then loudly said "Yes sir!".

With that said, Shepard and Harry walked out of the cockpit of the Normandy and headed to the galaxy map, as both commander and dragon god walked there, Shepard started a conversation with Harry "It's time to go after Saren, we have to beat him to the conduit and put a stop to him and Sovereign".

Harry nodded "We're all ready Shepard, let's go get those two wankers!".

Shepard smirked at Harry and gave him a determined filled nod, soon after, they both arrive in front of the galaxy map, Shepard immediately walked up to it but Joker suddenly called out to him via comms "I forwarded the mission update to the Citadel, Commander, we've got confirmation on those reinforcements.

Ambassador Udina wants us to report back to the Citadel, the Council is massing a joint species fleet to deal with Saren and his geth".

Shepard raised an eyebrow "That sounds suspicious... " the commander exchanged looks with Harry, who nodded to him and gave him a thumbs up, Shepard now knowing that Harry can handle things if they go sideways decided to go back to the Citadel "Alright, back to the Citadel, Joker, I want the Normandy at the head of that fleet!".

Joker immediately responded, "Yes sir!".

Shepard nodded and turned away from the galaxy map and walked away, Harry joined him, and both went to their respective rooms to get ready for what was to come.

-----

It didn't take long for the Normandy to arrive at the Citadel, Shepard and the squad then immediately headed to meet with the Council, once they got to the meeting, they met with Udina who was already in front of Sparatus, Tevos, and Valern.

When Udina heard Shepard and his squad step forward, he quickly turned his head towards Shepard and said "Good job Shepard, thanks to you, the Council is finally taking real action against Saren!"

Tevos nodded and began to explain "The Ambassador is correct, if Saren is foolish enough to attack the Citadel, as you believe, we will be ready for him".

Sparatus nodded and then began to explain a bit more about what the Council will be doing "Patrols are stationed at every mass relay linking Citadel Space to the Terminus Systems".

Shepard and the squad frowned, what Sparatus just explained wasn't enough, not for stopping Saren, the geth, and Sovereign, Shepard narrowed his eyes at the turian councilor and then gave him his opinion "You think a blockade is going to stop him? He's on Ilos looking for the conduit right now! What are you doing about that?".

Valern quickly began to explain hoping to calm Shepard down, he discreetly looked over to Harry, to see how he was reacting but didn't see him do or react in any way "Ilos is only accessible through the Mu Relay, deep inside the Terminus Systems, Commander, if we sent a fleet in there, the only possible outcome is full-scale war".

Shepard huffed in annoyance, he understood the situation, he really did, but things were more severe than the Council believes, they were taking this entire ordeal too lightly, and not doing something about it was going to bite everyone on their ass soon enough.

Udina noticed the discontent on Shepard's face, so he quickly turned to face him "Now is the time for discretion, Commander, Saren's greatest weapon was secrecy, exposed, he is no longer a threat, this is over".

Shepard glared at Udina, Harry scoffed at the ambassador and shook his head in disappointment "Why I am not surprised that you're ready to push this aside like this Udina.

What a spineless and useless being you are".

Shepard nodded in agreement to Harry's opinion, while Udina scowled at Harry but said nothing, he knew full well what would happen if he did, so he bided his time.

Shepard turned his head away from Udina and addressed the Council once again "One ship going into the Terminus Systems won't start a war, I can be discreet".

Sparatus scoffed "Do I have to remind you about Feros? Virmire? The sheer chaos and destruction brought to those planets was immense! I wouldn't call that discreet!.".

Harry glared at Sparatus and then spoke up in defense of Shepard "Those were me, I did that, are you telling me that I'm too noisy?"

Sparatus flinched and frowned, but said nothing else in fear of what Haery would do and say, Tevos raised a hand and then calmly began to speak "Your style served you well in the traverse Commander, we recognize that, but Ilos requires a deft touch, we have the situation under control".

Shepard frowned as he stared at Tevos, the asari looked nervous and Shepard knew why, she was worried about Harry's reaction to whatever this was, but he wasn't about to relent on this.

Not after everything they went through to get here and everything they learned "What about the conduit? That's Saren's greatest weapon, we can't let him get to it".

Valern sighed and then piped in "Saren is a master manipulator, the conduit is just a distraction from his real plan to attack the Citadel".

Shepard couldn't believe what he was hearing, in fact, he was shocked at the sheer denial and stubbornness of these people, Harry though, was more annoyed than anything "This is getting ridiculous, are you three stupid on purpose or are you trying to piss me off, cause its working...

I've met ignorant, useless, and foolish leaders before, but you three take the cake, I'm starting to get tired of this nonsense".

Tevos, Valern, and Sparatus began to nervously sweat, it was evident that they were now getting really nervous about Harry's growing annoyance, Tevos shook her head and tried to calmly explain to Harry the situation in hopes that it would calm him down "Lord Potter, you have to understand, we can't just move on hearsay and speculation, we already explained that we just don't have any evidence that proves that Saren is going after this conduit.

Please understand that we really are doing what we think is best at the moment, we all want to stop Saren after all".

Harry frowned and stared at Tevos, the poor asari councilor began to pale thinking that she had earned Harry's ire, but the dragon god just scoffed at her, Shepard then asked another question "What about Sovereign? He's the real threat here, in the end, Saren is just a slave to the reapers".

Tevos tiredly sighed "Only you and your squad have seen reapers, we just don't have enough evidence to invade the Terminus Systems...".

Shepard grunted and shook his head in disappointment, he then turned his head towards Udina "If Saren finds the conduit, we're all screwed! We have to go to Ilos!".

Sparatus frowned and shook his head in annoyance, his pride and arrogance finally got the best of him and he made a very bad mistake "Ambassador Udina, I get the sense that Commander Shepard isn't willing to let this go"

Udina nodded, this was a great opportunity, he could use this opportunity to make things better for himself and humanity, so Udina decided to forgo common sense and immediately began to speak "There are serious political implications here, Shepard, humanity's made great gains thanks to you, but now, you're becoming more trouble than your worth".

Everyone gasped in surprise and shock -except Harry, who was now quietly glaring at Udina- Ashley growled in anger and then loudly exclaimed "You bastard! You're selling us out!".

Udina shrugged and walked up to the Council "It's just politics Commander, you've done your job, now let me do mine, we've locked out all of the Normandy's primary systems until further noticed, you're grounded".

Shepard scowled at Udina and then pointed at him "Nobody stabs mean the back, Udina, nobody!".

Udina sighed and then responded with "I think it's time for you and your team to leave, Commander, this no longer concerns you, the Council can handle this, with my help, of course".

Shepard tighten his first and glared at Udina, who looked mighty smug right now until a godly pressure fell upon him and the council, Tevos, Salern, Sparatus, and Udina immediately dropped to their knees with a gasp of pain and shock.

All four knew who was the one doing this to them, so they all turned to look at Harry, only to gape and tremble in fear, when they saw him standing there, engulfed in some sort of energy while glaring at them with his green glowing eyes.

Harry, silently stood there and glare at the council, until he suddenly raised a hand and pointed it at Udina, the ambassador choked and gasped as he was lifted off the ground by the neck by Harry's telekinesis.

The annoyed dragon god watched as Udina squirmed and struggled to breathe while being held up into the air, Harry coldly began to speak "I've had enough of these political games you four are playing.

Things are more serious than you believe... this entire galaxy is at risk of being destroyed and all of you are just playing around with this situation and I for one, have had enough.

If you want to sit on your ass and do nothing, that's fine, you're useless to us anyways, but I will not let any of you get in our way, now, you will unground the Normandy Udina and soon.

Otherwise, I'll show you just how much I can make you suffer before I rip your soul out and then torture it further!".

Harry waved his arm to the side and harshly threw Udina towards Sparatus, the human crashed into the turian and both were sent flying back for a bit before crashing onto the ground.

Harry then glared at Tevos and Valern "Get the things I asked done in an hour, or war with the Terminus Systems will be the least of your worries...".

With that done, Harry turned around and left the council room, Shepard and the squad immediately turned around and followed him out, leaving the salarian and asari councilors scared and nervous, and Sparatus and Udina unconscious and very hurt.

-----

The squad quickly arrived back at the Normandy, but everyone wasn't in the mood for anything and instead, they all went to distract themselves for a while, Harry went to go take a nap and the girls went to join him as well since they knew a bit of cuddling would cheer him up a bit.

Shepard sighed and headed to his locker to do some cleaning up to distract himself, some time after, Shepard sat down on the floor and leaned back against his locker to think.

Until both Liara and Ashley suddenly joined him on the floor by sitting at his side, Liara sadly frowned at Shepard and shook her head "I can't believe they tried to do this to you, Shepard...".

Ashley scratched her head in frustration "Bastards, after everything we've done, they go and try to pull this crap on us!".

Shepard sighed and tiredly rubbed his eyes "I can't believe it either, I always knew that Udina was an asshole, but for the greedy bastard to try to do this to me?".

Liara nodded "Greed is a powerful motivator... but to think he would be foolish enough to try this in Harry's presence, did he truly believe he would get away with it?".

Ashley scoffed and rolled her eyes "He's an idiot, he knows what Harry is and what he's capable of, he knew what would happen and he still tried, I bet he thought Harry would see things his way or something ridiculous like that".

Shepard shrugged "I really don't care about all of that, Udina can go to hell for all I care, what worries me is the fact that they won't go after Saren if we don't stop him from getting the conduit we're all dead.

I shudder to think what would have happened if Harry wasn't with us, the council are just too stupid and passive to see reason after everything we told them!".

Liara looked down and then leaned her head on Shepard's shoulder and sighed "We owe a lot to Harry, I don't think we can ever repay him".

Ashley grabbed Shepard's hand and tightly intertwined her fingers with his "Yeah but I bet he doesn't even want our thanks... Harry is just that nice".

Shepard chuckled "Yeah, but it's thanks to him that Udina didn't get what he wanted, I bet the bastard saw this as an opportunity to further increase his political power".

Liara nodded "Yes, I believe Udina saw this as an opportunity that he couldn't ignore, foolish as it was to do so".

Ashley suddenly giggled which made Shepard and Liara turn their head towards her and stared at Ashley in confusion, Ashley just shook her head while still laughing "Sorry! It's just... did you guys see Udina and Sparatus's faces when they crashed against each other!? It was hilarious!".

Liara and Shepard soon joined Ashley in her laughter, a few moments later, Shepard stood up and gave both Liara and Ashley a kiss, which caught the girls by surprise but soon accepted.

Shepard then nodded to his girlfriends and said "Let's get ready, we'll soon depart after Saren and I want to end this as soon as possible".

Both Liara and Ashley nodded, the trio then walked together to the elevator to get their stuff ready for their next mission.

-----

The hour Harry gave to Udina and the council to stop their nonsense was almost done, so Harry and Shepard got together by the galaxy map and waited, however, Joker suddenly called out to Shepard via Comms "Commander, got a message from Captain Anderson".

Shepard and Harry looked at each other as the commander asked the question to Joker "What did he want?".

Joker immediately responded, "He said to meet him at that club in the wards, the Flux I think".

Shepard raised an eyebrow and then gave Harry a look, but the dragon god just shrugged and shook his head, letting Shepard know, that whatever he wanted to do he would support him.

Shepard closed his eyes and thought about this for a few seconds, he doubted Anderson would help Udina in any way, the captain is a trustworthy ally after all, so wanting to know what he wanted, Shepard decided to go meet with him.

Though before he and Harry left to meet with Anderson, they told Joker to keep them informed of the Normandy's locked status and to let them know when it gets unlocked so they can leave.

-----

Shepard chose to take Tali and Liara with him this time, while Harry and Valerie went with them, soon enough, the squad quickly arrived at the Flux but before they could go inside to look for Anderson, an unknown man stopped them "Soldier, I've got a major situation and I need help from somebody with humanity's interest at heart".

Shepard sighed already knowing that whatever this was, was going to be annoying, and then spoke to the unknown man "It's Commander, actually, what do you want?".

The unknown man nodded to Shepard and then began to explain his situation "Of course, right to business then, that's why Earth has the best damn fleet in the galaxy.

My name is Elias Keeler, I'm an Alliance negotiator, we've got a big session coming up with the salarians, you wouldn't believe what's riding on this, I'm fighting for humanity on this one, just like you are!".

Harry scoffed and then whispered to Valerie "I didn't see him fighting armies of geths, krogans, and whatever else Saren has thrown at us".

Valerie nodded "He's full of hot air Harry, just ignore him".

Tali heard the couple and giggled in amusement, while Liara just smiled, Harry was being a little mean but she did agree with his sentiment about Elias.

Shepard just rubbed his eyes, he was definitely not in the mood for this sort of thing right now "Don't try to sell me on this, just tell me what you want...".

Elias looked around and then whispered to Shepard "I need you to buy me a mental stimulant for me, it's legal but restricted, I've purchased the monthly limit, and I need more from the med bay".

Harry raised an eyebrow at the new word he just learned "Mental stimulant? What the hell is that?".

A good question, one that Shepard was wondering himself, Elias looked a bit surprised at the sudden question but answered it right away "I don't know the medical terms, but it increases mental capacity, short-term recall, that sort of thing.

It helps me stay focused, and it keeps me sharp, nothing gets by me when I'm on it".

Harry frowned and inspected Elias closely "Though you seem quite twitchy already".

Valerie nodded "Yeah... if you know the monthly limits, why did you go over them? Isn't that stupid and dangerous?".

Elias looked a bit nervous but explained nonetheless "The negotiations were supposed to be last week, but the salarians stalled it, probably deliberately.

If I don't get the stimulant, I'll be a wreck, my assistant will take over, and that would be a disaster".

Shepard shook his head, what Elias was saying, wasn't making any sense "You should put some trust in your assistance, didn't you train him?".

Elias looked a bit surprised at Shepard's question, more than likely he didn't expect the commander to ask him about that "My assistant wants to bend over back for the Citadel races, he wants to show them were reasonable!

No race will respect us until we show them who's in charge! That's what it took with the turians, forget my assistant".

Shepard didn't look convinced, Valerie however, was curious about the whole situation "What's is this deal of yours that's so important?".

Elias quickly began to explain "The salarians want to set up long-term agreements, there are billions of credits at stake, if I don't get the drug, my assistant will take over and mess up the whole deal, it would be a disaster".

Shepard just shook his head and sternly told Elias "Keeler, you've got a problem, you need to get treatment".

Elias shook his head in denial and then tried to convince Shepard otherwise "It might look that way from the outside, but this is just a one-time slip-up... all the top negotiators are on stimulants close to the legal limit, it's the way the game is played".

Shepard crossed his arms and scowled at Elias "I don't see all the top negotiators soliciting help to go over the legal limit, Keeler".

Keeler stared at Shepard for a few moments later, but eventually sighed and nodded "Maybe you're right, I've been trying to keep humanity strong, and maybe I've pushed myself too hard...

I'll tell you what, this is the last time I use the stimulant, after this deal is finished, I'll get treatment...".

Shepard shook his head "No trade negotiation is worth ruining your life for, let it go and get help".

Elias began to get desperate and upset "You don't understand! Humanity needs me, and I need that stimulant! Without it, I'll... I don't know anymore, I get so tired when I run out of the stimulant, I just need one more boost".

Shepard sighed and then calmly began to speak with Elias "There's no shame in having a problem, but you have to get treatment".

Elias looked down and looked very tired and defeated, but in the end, he nodded "You're right, I... I'll go tell my assistant, I shouldn't be working like this... I'll get help, I'm just sorry it came to this".

Shepard nodded and clapped Elias on the shoulder, Elias smiled and nodded to Shepard before leaving the club and hopefully get the help he needs.

-----

With the whole situation with Elias resolved, Shepard and the squad headed into the Flux and began to look for Anderson, however, Rita noticed Shepard and immediately walked up to him "Hey, Jenna came back looking for work, thanks for getting her out of Chora's Den".

Shepard smiled and gave Rita a nod, he felt glad that Jenna was no longer placing herself in danger "I was glad to help out".

Rita smiled and then said, "Yeah, everyone seems really happy to have her back".

Liara noticed something and pointed it out right away "I sense that you are less than pleased with her return".

Rita sighed and nodded "I'm glad she's out of the Den, I'd just forgotten what it was like to have her around... I haven't had a decent tip since she got back".

The squad shared a laugh, while Rita deadpanned at them, seems like her worry for her sister, backfired on her.

-----

After the small conversation the squad had with Rita, they quickly found Anderson nearby, so the group quickly walked over to him, the captain smiled at everyone and signaled them to take a sit at his table.

Everyone did so and Anderson wasted no time in explaining why he summoned Shepard "I'm glad you came, Shepard, I heard what happened".

Shepard rubbed his forehead in annoyance, not at Anderson, but at what Udina tried to do "They tried to pull me off the mission, just like when they forced you to give up the Normandy, if it wasn't because of Harry, things would have gotten very difficult for me".

Anderson nodded "I know, I'm sorry that happened to you Shepard, you didn't deserve it after everything to have done and accomplished.

I know you're pissed off, but you still have things to do, the Council and Udina fully believe that everything is done, we all know it's not, you have to go to Ilos, and you have to stop Saren from getting the conduit".

Shepard nodded "As soon as the Normandy gets released, we're heading straight to Ilos, the hour Harry gave to the Council is almost up as well, it's only a matter of time before we go after Saren".

Anderson gave Shepard and nod and then leaned back on his chair "Udina was screaming and yelling for the past hour, he's angry and scared, plus he's in a lot of pain as well.

He foolishly believed that Harry would see reason and side with him, he thought he knew him better, and that he wouldn't want to risk war and innocent lives, all because he got greedy... the idiot chose to believe his own nonsense and ignore everything else.

He has been trying to find a way to stop you and Sparatus has been helping him, however, Tevos and Valern are scared out of their minds, especially after I reminded them of what happened to the batarians and they quickly changed their tune.

So, they'll be unlocking the Normandy's system soon, both do not want to further anger Harry, though Udina and Sparatus aren't happy about it, but Udina can't do anything and Sparatus is also scared.

They both might kick and scream as much as they want, but they won't be getting their way anymore".

Shepard grinned at Anderson, the captain then stood up and saluted to Shepard and crew "I just wanted to see you off before you left the Citadel, everyone, give Saren hell!".

Shepard and the squad yelled the same thing at the same time "Yes sir!".

Anderson nodded, Joker suddenly sent a notice to Shepard, letting him know that the Normandy's system were unlocked, with that news, Shepard and the squad said their goodbyes to Anderson and then went back to the Normandy via Harry's dark corridor.

Leaving a bunch of shocked spectators and an amused Anderson, who laughed when a turian looked down at his drink and then threw it to the side thinking it have been the cause of what he had seen Harry do.

-----

Once in the Normandy, Joker immediately took the ship out of the Citadel and headed to open space, meanwhile, Shepard and squad got ready to go to Ilos, the commander soon headed to the galaxy map and ordered Joker to take them to Ilos.

Joker immediately took the Normandy to the Pangaea Expense and into the Refuge System, it didn't take long for Joker to then take the Normandy to Ilos.

While Joker took the Normandy to Ilos, Shepard went to his room to mentally get ready for this mission, while Harry and everyone else did last-minute preparation as well as rest a bit, well except two members of the squad, these two had other plans after all.

-----

Shepard was in front of his computer looking through some information on Ilos, when he heard the door to his room open and both Ashley and Liara walked in.

Shepard turned his head towards his girlfriends and raised an eyebrow at them, he was a bit surprised both decided to visit him at the same time, but didn't really mind, Ashley grinned at Shepard and then said "Do you have sometime Shepard? Liara and I want to speak with you a bit".

Shepard nodded "Of course, I'm always glad to talk to the both of you".

Ashley smiled at Shepard while Liara looked very happy and said "We both have been thinking about you and what we're about to face.

I know we don't have to worry about anything thanks to Harry and the girls, but who knows what will happen... Saren will be stopped and I hope that will be the end of it, so we both wanted to tell you something".

Shepard smiled and stood up from his desk, he quickly walked over to Ashley and Liara, once he was in front of them, he grabbed their hands and held them tight "Okay, what do you want to tell me, girls?".

Ashley blushed a bit but soon got her confidence and grinned at Shepard "Well skipper, you're about to get really lucky, I hope you're ready, cause Liara and I will be showing you how much we care about you~".

Shepard widen his eyes and looked at each of his girlfriends, he began to sweat a bit, he was really happy and excited about this, but having two girlfriends means double the work.

He had wondered how Harry can handle himself with multiple partners, but it looks like he was about to find out himself, though, when both Liara and Ashley walked up to him and began to undress, Shepard couldn't help but send a little prayer to his dragon god friend asking him for strength.

-----

Harry was making some extra healing gels with the girls when he suddenly heard Shepard's prayer to him and began to laugh so hard that he almost fell off his chair, Valerie, Kunou, and Le Fay looked at him strangely.

But Harry was too distracted by the fact that someone had actually prayed to him for something like what Shepard is going through, though, Harry being a true bro, decided to answer Shepard's request and give him the strength and stamina he need to come out victorious in this most important mission.

-----

Sometime later, Joker announced to everyone that they were coming out from the Mu Relay and into Ilos airspace, so everyone got ready and met at the galaxy map, Shepard looked a bit haggard but walked with a proud step in his walk.

Liara and Ashley looked tired but happy and for some reason, Garrus, Wrex, and Kaidan felt proud of Shepard, they had an idea what the lucky bastard just accomplished but decided not to make a fuss.

Though Harry did give Shepard a thumbs up, which the commander returned, Kunou, Valerie, and Le Fay immediately noticed and knew what happened and gave a very mischievous grin to Ashley and Liara promising a very embarrassing interrogation later.

But right now the mission was more important and everyone needed to get their head in the game, so everyone joined Joker in the cockpit of the Normandy.

But as soon as the squad got there, Joker had bad news for the squad "Uh... Commander, we've got company".

Liara immediately got a serious look on her face and then asked Joker a question, "Had their sensors picked us yet?".

Joker shook his head "No, and with Harry's enchantments, they won't even get a visual, they don't know we're here".

Tali, who was working on a terminal to the side of Joker's seat, suddenly said, "I'm picking up some strange readings from the planet's surface guys".

Shepard nodded and then issued orders to Joker "Take us down, Joker, lock in on the coordinates".

Tali shook her head and called out to Shepard "Negative on that, Commander, the nearest landing zone is a few miles away".

Ashley frowned "We'll never make it in time on foot, can't we get closer?"

Tali once again shook her head "No, I've looked, but there's nothing closer, Ilos is filled with trees and buildings, there's just no space to land nearby".

Harry grinned and then walked forward "I'll give you guys a ride on my dragon form, we'll get there in no time".

Tali cheerfully smiled and then excitedly said "That's perfect! We don't have to worry about landing with Harry since he can fly in his dragon form!".

Ashley grinned "Oh! I like that idea very much!".

The entire squad grinned in anticipation, riding a massive dragon into battle was something straight out of myths and books, something everyone wanted to do very much.

Shepard nodded and then yelled out his next orders "Alright, head down and get ready for a drop! Right on top of that bastard!".

Everyone roared and quickly ran towards the elevator, the squad was more than excited and ready to get to Saren and the fact that they were doing it on top of Harry's dragon god form was the cherry on top.

Shepard just chuckled and shook his head in amusement as he watched everyone run towards the elevator to head down, he then decided to join his friends and took off running to the elevator as well.

Joker grinned as everyone left and then loudly told his opinion "Lucky bastards, that actually sound like a lot of fun".