The delegations gathered aboard the<span style="font-style: italic">Normandy</span>in its CIC. Primarch Victus, Urdnot Wrex, and the salarian dalatrass had all brought their own honor guards for the proceedings in the event things went sour. The tension was so thick one could cut it with a knife. Shepard led the<span style="font-style: italic">Midway</span>delegation into the room. Except for Shepard, who wore her dress blues, the Exalted came in geared up for a combat drop. Curiously, Wrex had only brought one krogan. Then again, a single krogan in an enclosed space could probably murder every mortal in the room without a sweat. Was this one Exalted, too?<br/><br/>'Commander,' exclaimed the dalatrass, 'what is the meaning of this? Exalted, in full wargear no less. If this is an attempt to intimidate me, you will be sorely disappointed.'<br/><br/>'Intimidation?' Shepard raised a finely trimmed eyebrow. 'As Citadel Spectres, they're authorized to oversee this meeting as the eyes of the Council. And Dalatrass, I don't recall an honor guard consisting of a full STG kill-team.'<br/><br/>The two visible bodyguards behind the dalatrass shuffled uncomfortably. 'Okay,' said one, 'how did you know?'<br/><br/>Bau, stealthy as ever, popped up behind Shepard. 'You got sloppy with your cloaking. The movement of the dust and the slight shimmer of their stealth fields in this light makes them visible to anyone with an ounce of training. Disappointing, really, compared to the STG in my years of service.'<br/><br/>Wrex chuckled. 'Oh, I like this frog. He speaks plainly.'<br/><br/>Victus raised a hand in a placating gesture as the dalatrass seethed. 'May we begin this summit, please? We must discuss the matter of the genophage.'<br/><br/>'Damn right we do,' Wrex rumbled.<br/><br/>The dalatrass crossed her arms and simply nodded. It was clear she wanted nothing more than to order the krogans shot and vented into space. Probably everyone else, too.<br/><br/>'Very well,' Victus said. 'First of all, there is the matter of the Turian Navy. We may have the largest military in the galaxy, but while Palaven and our home systems are endangered, neither I nor our generals will be able to allocate resources to the rest of this war. Simply put, we need reinforcements, and there's only one force in this galaxy that I believe can turn the tide back home: the krogan. That brings us to the matter of the genophage.'<br/><br/>The dalatrass spoke, her tones carefully modulated to relay menace and accusation. 'Primarch, are you implying that you wish to cure the genophage?'<br/><br/>'Implying?' Wrex laughed darkly. 'Dalatrass, he couldn't have made it clearer if he put in an order for it on SpaceBay. And for once, I'm agreeing with a turian. You have fertile krogan females on Sur'Kesh. I want them back.'<br/><br/>'Lies!' the dalatrass exclaimed, 'Fabrication! You have no evidence of these females, Wrex!'<br/><br/>'Oh, but I do,' Wrex growled, planting both fists on the CIC hololith. He reached into a pocket and produced a datachip, which he handed to Shepard. The Commander slotted the chip into the hololith, pulling up what appeared to be an armorcam feed of a salarian laboratory. Helical DNA holos, lab-coated salarians, and containment tanks dominated the scene. In one tank lay a heavy, stocky silhouette garbed in what appeared to be traditional krogan female clothing.<br/><br/>The salarian politician was on the back foot now, struggling to maintain the persuasive tones taught to her by her ancestors. 'The trideo could have been tampered with--'<br/><br/>'You're grasping at straws, ma'am,' John interrupted. 'That was a female krogan and that was a bio-lab, plain as day.'<br/><br/>'You have<span style="font-style: italic">my</span>people hostage,' Wrex raged, 'and I'm going to get them back, no matter the cost.'<br/><br/>'Dalatrass,' Victus urged, 'we<span style="font-style: italic">need</span>krogan muscle if we're going to stop or even slow the Reapers.'<br/><br/>'Unacceptable!' the salarian yelled. 'There must be another way! I refuse to subject the galaxy to another krogan inva--'<br/><br/>Bau cleared his throat. 'There<span style="font-style: italic">is</span>no other way, ma'am. I was on Earth when the Reapers hit, and unlike you, this salarian knows what they're like up close.'<br/><br/>'You!' The dalatrass pointed a gnarled finger at the Spectre. 'You dare? Traitor! You swore an oath to--'<br/><br/>'--serve the Council and all of galactic civilization,' Bau finished. 'My loyalties are not just to the Salarian Union or to a single dalatrass, ma'am, but to the entire galaxy.'<br/><br/>'You tread on dangerous ground, Spectre.' It was clear that the dalatrass was close to violence. Grips on weapons tensed, fingers hovering ever so carefully over triggers.<br/><br/>'A Spectre treads on whatever ground he damn well pleases,' Bau added. 'That includes Sur'Kesh.'