I am Iron Man

by Colin Cook

  haze had reappeared and was now moving over to its center, coming to a stop at a perfect vantage point overlooking the Council Pit. Wedging her eyes shut in annoyance

  and rubbing her temple even harder, Tali gave an irritated sigh of agreement.

  "Yes, I'll definitely do that."

  After all, it was just a heat trace right? It couldn't have been anything other than a malfunction.

  "Oww…oww…owww…" I wheezed out through small pain induced gasps, awkwardly pressed sideways with my back against the wall, hanging off my left arm as the head

  of the grappling hook remained embedded in the wall itself.

  "Mayyyybe I should have mentioned the amount of power the auto retractor can have on this thing," Haxon remarked with another one of those audible winces in his

  voice, knowing full well what my reaction would be at the moment. Growling under my breath, I grimaced as I jerked my arm outward, causing the dart-hook to

  disengage its serrated edges from the wall and retract itself all the way back into my gauntlet barrel in a flash, disappearing entirely as the barrel also folded back up along

  with it. I gave a brief yell as this happened, the lose of my connection to the wall making me fall and roll down the side of the slanted roofing before I abruptly flattened

  myself out on my stomach, coming to a scraping stop right beside its sudden drop-off.

  "Yeah, that would have been nice to know before I smashed face-first into a steel wall," I hissed under my breath before my entire body cringed in pain, the throbbing

  bruises that covered my torso having become re-inflamed again after my recent impact. I could also feel a stinging cut going across the top of my right eyebrow, and a

  hot sticky wetness beginning to collect within its hairs. Raising a hand up, I wiped my thumb against this injury and found a moderate amount of blood smeared across it,

  it's dark red colour blending in with the black leather of my glove.

  "Great. I really hope this won't need stitches," I muttered with another wince as I wiped away more of it with the back of my hand.

  "This evidence is irrefutable Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status, and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes," the voice of the

  Turian Counselor suddenly echoed throughout the area nearby.

  My eyes shot wide as I quickly sprung up into a sideways crouch, turning around and carefully moving along the edge of the roofing.

  "Show time," I stated with a wince as I turned to the left and crossed over onto the main stretch of roofing that ran along the outside of the glass pit. Down below, the

  Counselors' and Speaker's platforms faced inward toward each other, giving me the most perfect vantage point I could think of for watching the rest of the meeting and

  tagging Shepard once he stepped out away from the rest of his squad.

  "Do you need a tutorial on how to fire the dart launcher?" Haxon asked after I stopped and quietly leaned against the roofing, sitting with my back straight and the

  bottoms of my boots pressed against the edging to keep myself stable. I winced again as I raised my aching right arm, pressing the button that would open the

  ammunition compartment containing the dart-belt.

  "I think I got the basics down. This button here should be the firing system right?" I asked as I pointed to a second button next to the one I had just pressed.

  "You got it," Haxon confirmed.

  "I recognize the other voice, the one speaking with Saren. Matriarch Benezia," the Asari Counselor had begun saying, continuing the meeting as if my scream hadn't been

  heard by anyone.

  (Wow. Way to show concern people. What if it had been a bomb going off?)

  "Who is she?" Shepard asked up to the Counselor, standing close beside Anderson and the rest of the Normandy squad. I blew out an annoyed breath at this as I reached

  in to the dart compartment, gently grabbing on to and pulling the miniature Replicator Dart out from the barrel of the launcher.

  "Come on. Hurry up and get to the good part," I began saying to myself under my breath, continuing to watch the meeting with keen ears and peeled eyes, eager for the

  moment I was waiting for.

  "What good part?" Haxon asked as the Replicator Dart slowly began extending its legs within the center of my palm, waking up from its apparent nap with its cute little

  movements and miniaturized noises.

  "Just wait for it, it's coming up soon. This was one of the side benefits of getting here on time; we get to watch a historic moment in this galaxy's history," I answered as

  I turned my attention from the Dart back to the Counselor, who was nearly finished answering Shepard's question.

  "…They serve as guides and mentors to my people," the Asari finished explaining before returning to the specifics of Benezia.

  "Matriarch Benezia is a powerful Biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren." Beside her, the Salarian Counselor semi-folded his arms

  and began stroking his white striped chin, staring off down into the Council Pit deep in thought for a few seconds before bringing his large black eyes back up to look at the

  Speaker's platform.

  "I'm more interested in the Reapers. What do you know about them?" he asked with a gesture down to Shepard.

  "There's that name again, Reapers. First you mentioned them when we faced against that Turian assassin in Chloe's hospital, then you spoke about them to Tali, and now

  the Council themselves are talking about them, what exactly are they?" Haxon asked after hearing the Counselor mention the title. I gave a heavy sigh, knowing that the

  A.I. wasn't going to like what he was about to hear.

  "Brace yourself, cause' you're about to find out."

  "Only what our Quarian expert here was able to extract from the Geth's memory core…" Capt. Anderson began saying, casting a respectful gesture of indication over to

  Tali. I couldn't help but crack a smile as everyone on the platform turned to look at her, causing Tali to flick her head between each person and nervously point to herself

  from all the sudden attention.

  "I assume then that you have some insight into the Geth's knowledge of these beings, Miss…" the Salarian began with a casual questioning tone. There was a moment of

  hesitancy as Tali took a slow deep breath and mustered her courage before moving up to the head of the group past Shepard and Anderson.

  "My name is Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya. From the memories I was able to extract from that core, I learned that the Reapers were an ancient race of machines thousands of

  years more advanced then the Geth themselves, and that they were the ones responsible for eradicating the Protheans. After they finished, they suddenly vanished from

  the galaxy never to be seen again." My eyes had already widened the moment she stepped forward, and now my smile of astonishment was widening to epic proportions

  as well.

  'Well…this never happened! This plot-line already had a few changes of its own even without me messing it up!' I thought as I watched her spread her hands and arms out

  in semi-dramatic gestures and continue explaining what she had learned from the memory core.

  "The Geth revere the Reapers as the Old Gods, the epitome of all synthetic life, and they believe that Saren is the prophet for their return," Tali continued with a nod up to

  the Counselors.

  "We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren's already begun searching for it. That's why he attacked Eden Prime," Anderson said from behind her.

  "Do we even know what this Conduit is?" the Salarian Counselor asked.

  "Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers. That's bad enough," Shepard answered with a serious nod. Tali nodded after that also.

  "Exactly. If the Reapers are using Saren as an agent to control the Geth by-proxy, then they will have already establ
ished a beachhead from which to allow the rest of their

  forces a quick entry back into this galaxy. According to the Geth, Saren only needs this Conduit device in order to complete that very plan," she said up to the high

  platform. Even as they spoke however, the Turian Counselor was already shaking his head in dismissal, throwing up a hand to emphasize that very point.

  "Listen to what you're all saying. Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible, it has to be," he began as Tali turned around and

  rejoined the rest of the group, obviously glad to finally be out of the spotlight.

  "Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we've found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found something," the Turian finished,

  looking between the Speaker's platform and the rest of his fellow Counselors. Immediately Shepard took a step forward, pointing a reminding finger up at the Council.

  "I tried to warn you about Saren and you refused to face the truth, don't make that same mistake again," Shepard said firmly, although slightly imploringly, as if he were

  subtly pleading with the Counselors to see the truth.

  'They're going to regret this in the end,' I thought sadly as the Asari held up a hand and shook her head.

  "This is different. You proved Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree he's using the Geth to search for the Conduit, but we don't really know why."

  "The Reapers are obviously just a myth Commander. A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A simple legend he is using to bend the Geth to his will," the Salarian

  spoke after, shaking his head softly as he played down the notion.

  A scowl formed on Shepard's goateed face after that statement, causing the Commander to take a step forward on one leg and direct his gaze up to the Counselor.

  "Fifty thousand years ago the Reapers wiped out all organic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it will happen again!" The Turian merely scoffed as Shepard pulled back in

  step next to Anderson.

  "Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre, the Council has stripped him of his position," the Counselor stated

  matter-of-factly.

  I gave a small chuckle as Ambassador Udina, as if right on queue, butted into the exchange with one of his classic outbursts.

  "That is not good enough! You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse, send your fleet in!" the Irishman barked, leaning forward aggressively and curling his fist out

  before himself in a symbolic show of military strength.

  "A fleet cannot track down one man," the Salarian retorted firmly with a calm shake of his head. This answer caused the Ambassador to huff quietly and drop his fist,

  shaking his own head in annoyance.

  "A Citadel Fleet could secure the entire region, keep the Geth from attacking any more of our colonies!"

  "Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus Systems. We won't be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few dozen Human colonies!" the Turian Counselor rebuffed

  immediately with a jab of his index talon. Right away Shepard spoke up with an obvious smirk on his face.

  "Alright, send me in then."

  "Bull's-eye," I uttered with a grin as everyone on the Speaker's platform jerked his or her heads over to him with a start of surprise. On the high platform, the Asari

  Counselor was slowly beginning to match Shepard's smirk, nodding in approval as she came to the same conclusion he had.

  "The Commander's right. There is another way to stop Saren that does not require fleets or armies," the Counselor stated to her colleagues. The Salarian was rubbing his

  chin again, this time with a look of thoughtful curiousity before he began nodding in agreement. The Turian Counselor however was looking over at the Asari with his cheek

  mandibles flared open and his jaw half dropped.

  "Are you out of your mind?! It's far too soon! Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres."

  Shepard, still with his knowing smirk on his face, loudly cleared his throat to regain the Council's attention.

  "You don't have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and the Ambassador gets his Human Spectre. Everybody's happy," the Commander said, nodding his head over to

  Udina's backside before staring back up at them. I grinned madly at this, now we were ready!

  "This is it!" I said before bringing my attention back to the Replicator Dart that was crawling in circles across my palm.

  "Okay buddy, I'm sending you on a mission now, a mission that'll probably end up being a few weeks long. Inside you there's a cloaking device, a tracker, and a listening

  microphone. I'm going to fire you out of this dart launcher and you're going to attach on to Shepard; once you do that you're going to turn invisible and stay within

  twenty feet of the Commander and his team at all times, day and night. Is that understood? The team and I are counting on you, can you do it?" I asked in the most

  commanding military officer's voice I could muster. The Dart stopped moving and was silent for a moment before it looked up at me and slowly nodded, getting into a

  ready crouch and retracting its legs back into its body-casing. Smiling at this, I picked up the Dart and gently slid him back into the open chamber of the dart-launcher's

  barrel.

  "Commander Shepard…step forward."

  The Asari's words caused me to snap my head back to the meeting in excitement, my right arm quickly extending forward and my left index finger coming to a hover over

  the launcher's firing button.

  With a nod from Anderson that he returned gratefully, Shepard took several steps toward the end of the Speaker's platform, coming to a stop standing next to Udina's left

  side, leaving his left side out in the open for the Dart to latch on to!

  All around the Chambers, on walkways, platforms, and another vantage points (well legal vantage points I should say) citizens and politicians of every race were gathering

  to watch this historic event, waiting in silence for the Council to make the announcement.

  "Wait a minute. You really weren't kidding? Shepard is going to become the…" Haxon began in shock before I suddenly interrupted him with a sly smile.

  "The First Human Spectre." With that I mashed my finger down onto the fire button, causing a sharp whistle to cut through the air as the Replicator Dart was fired out

  from the barrel!

  As it shot down across the width of the Council Pit, the Dart sprang open and extended its legs out to their farthest lengths, stabbing the sharp points on their ends into

  the material of Shepard's N7 shoulder-plate as it slammed and latched onto him without a sound. The Dart remained motionless for a second before quickly crawling

  several inches down the length of the Commander's arm and activating its internal cloaking device, vanishing from sight a moment afterward.

  Ashley blinked, stunned by what she had just seen. Narrowing her eyes, she scanned the side of Shepard's left arm intently, searching for any sign of the strange spiderlike

  thing that had just landed on the Commander and then disappeared.

  "LT, did you see that?" Ash whispered over to Kaidan standing beside her as she pointed to Shepard. Frowning, the lieutenant leaned over closer to her head, trying to

  match his line-of-sight with Ashley's.

  "See what?" Kaidan asked after failing to find whatever it was she was talking about.

  "For a second there was this small black thing attached to his arm, and then it just…disappeared," Williams answered with another gesture to the Commander, frowning in

  confusion as she kept looking him over. Kaidan cocked an incredulous eyebrow with a glance over at Ashley this time.

  "Chief, are you sure you're not feeling a bit, dizzy, after your injury?" Alenko asked with a nod down to he
r exposed left shoulder, spinning his finger in a circle near his

  temple to indicate what he meant. Ash only scoffed and rolled her eyes at that.

  "Shut up," she bit out in annoyance while turning her attention back to Shepard's induction into the Spectres, a bitter look now scowled on her face. Kaidan only gave a

  thin smile as he leaned closer to her.

  "What was that? Chief," he whispered to her in a humoured tone, taking an extra emphasis on her rank. Ash gave her own smile as she glanced back at him, elbowing him

  lightly in the ribs.

  "Shut up, sir," she uttered back in a semi-sarcastic, semi-playful tone, her mood already brightening up a bit after the fury she had felt at being injured in the first place.

  Seeing that his attempt at lightening her sour state had succeeded, Kaidan's smile only widened as he gave her a small nod.

  "Much better."

  "Haxon my friend, I'm pleased to say our mission here is a success," I stated gladly as I lay back against the roof and gave out a deep sigh of relief.

  "Indeed. The Dart's tracking device is fully operational and feeding Shepard's current position directly into my homing systems. But with this operation nearly completed,

  what happens now?" the A.I. asked intently, still viewing the spectacle with fascination. Giving a knowing smile, I gently laced my fingers together across my stomach,

  crossed my boots at their ankles, and nodded down to the Council Pit.

  "Now we simply sit back, relax for a bit, and watch the show." Within my head I could almost hear the epic notes of the Spectre Induction Soundtrack playing in the

  background, adding that same mesmerizing feel to the whole scene playing out before me that it had during this part in the game.

  "It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Branch of the Citadel," the Asari Counselor

  began saying. The Salarian Counselor folded his arms and straightened up, looking almost regal in his flowing black and red robes.

  "Spectres are not trained…but chosen. Individuals forged in the fires of service and battle, those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file," he said, nodding his