Citadel Tower, Citadel, Widow, Serpent Nebula.
September-28-2179
8:15 AM local time.

Spectre Nihlus Kryik was annoyed. He was sitting in an uncomfortable chair, in a waiting room watching the Counsel's receptionist preform a series of inane tasks; while he tapped away on his leg with one of his talons. The source of his ire however was not the chair, nor was it the asari sitting behind her desk. No, Nihlus was annoyed because he had arrived five minutes early for his in person, secure meeting with the Counsel; while they were no less than fifteen minutes late.

What's worse, Nihlus knew, as a matter of fact, that he was their first appointment of the day. Finally, the asari looked up a said. "The Counsel will see you now."
Before she had finished speaking, Nihlus was walking toward the door that led to the Counsel's secure meeting room. Once inside, he saw the three Counselors sitting on the other side of a table, opposite them was a single unoccupied chair. As soon as the door closed, he snapped to attention, saluted and said.

"Counselors, thank you for meeting with me so soon." Counselor Tevos acknowledged him and replied.

"Not at all, Spectre Kryik. We apologize for the wait. An unexpected matter demanded our attention this morning. Please be seated."
After he sat down Counselor Sparatus said. "Before we get to the reason you requested this meeting Nihlus, we would first like to know what you found on Torfan?"

Nihlus' mandibles twitched in amusement, and he responded. "As you wish. My full report is on this OSD, but in summary. There was more to the event than the Alliance said, but all evidence to that is circumstantial at best; and just instinct at worst."

Counselor Valern then spoke, saying. "We can read the rest in your report. Now, why did you request this meeting?"

Nihlus waited a moment before replying. "Too put forward a candidate for the Spectres."

Counselor Tevos leaned forward and said. "Very well Spectre Kryik, who did you wish to recommend?"

Nihlus hoped their reaction wouldn't be as bad as he feared. "Leftenant Commander Andrea Shepard of the Alliance."

The room was silent for a moment as the Counsel processed what he had just said, and then Counselor Sparatus yelled as he rose from his chair. "No! Unacceptable! The humans are not ready for the Spectres!"

No, their reaction wasn't as bad as he feared, it was worse. "Counselor Sparatus, calm yourself. I for one would like to hear why Spectre Kryik put this person forward."

Counselor Tevos said in a firm voice. Nihlus nodded his head to the asari Counselor and said. "Thank you Counselor Tevos. This OSD contains everything I could find on Commander Shepard. She was first brought to my attention by the Skyllian Blitz. She was the commanding NCO of the marines on leave, who led the defence of the city, and was one of the few to walk away from that fight; and she was one of only three to not need medical attention afterwards."

He paused then continued. "The other two weren't on the front line though, she was. After that she was promoted to Lieutenant, or sometimes its Leftenant, it seems to depend on who's saying it. Not long after she began training in the Alliance Special Forces program, which she finished early last year; gaining the N2 designation. Approximately eleven months ago, she was a section leader in the platoon that led the assault on Torfan. They were the main assault force for that operation. Most of the units there just blocked the pirates escape routes; hers was the only one that went into the tunnels. During the operation, her CO was severely wounded and was relieved of command by the then Leftenant Shepard, who then led the operation to its completion."

Nihlus took a moment to look each of the Counselors in the eye, and then continued. "Though her unit was heavily outnumbered and sustained severe casualties; not a single enemy survived the battle. That combined with her leading role in the termination of the criminals abetting the pirates of Torfan earned her a promotion to the rank of Leftenant Commander, her designation raised to N4 and the moniker 'The Butcher of Torfan'. In the intervening months, she has been leading an Alliance task force on a classified mission, which, regretfully, I was unable to find any details on. However, three months ago her designation was raised to N7, the highest special forces designation the Alliance uses to denote experience and skill. Everything I can find on her shows that she is loyal, determined, intelligent, resourceful, skilled and ruthless. All traits desirable in a Spectre. In addition to that, there is also my belief that whatever the Alliance is hiding, Commander Shepard is a part of it."

"If she's part of an Alliance conspiracy," Began Counselor Sparatus with a note of restrained annoyance in his voice. "then why would we even consider her for a position of high trust and authority?"

Nihlus kept his face carefully neutral as he answered, knowing this was the weakest part of his argument for Shepard's recruitment. "Because Counselor, in my experience there are few ways better to find a secret, than to put someone who knows said secret on your payroll."
Nihlus then shrugged his shoulders and continued. "Besides, it's Citadel Space's worst kept secret that you're considering elevating the Alliance to the Counsel. Naming a human to the Spectres would allow you to test their suitability for the role, test the reaction of the associate members, potentially uncover what the humans are trying to hide, all while being able to continue to publicly deny that the Alliance is being considered for elevation."

After a moment of whispered conversation amongst themselves, Counselor Valern said. "We will take your recommendation under advisement. Was there anything else, Spectre?"

Nihlus shook his head and answered. "No Counselor, that was all."

"Then you may leave Spectre Kryik." Nihlus stood, bowed his head respectfully and said.

"Thank you for your time Counselors." Turned and walked out of the room.

Citadel Tower, Citadel, Widow, Serpent Nebula.
September-28-2179
8:32 AM local time.

As soon as the door closed behind Spectre Kryik Counselor Sparatus turned in his seat to look straight at her and said.
"Why are the two of you even considering this? The humans are hiding something from us. And the two of you think it's a good idea to give someone allegedly aware of this conspiracy, UNLIMTED authority to do as she wishes, IN, OUR, NAME?!"

Tevos gave Sparatus a sharp look and replied. "Counselor Sparatus, it is our job to carefully consider all recommendations brought to us by active Spectres and to not let our personal biases get in the way of sound judgement. As far as I know, everything Spectre Kryik said was true. Including this Counsel considering the Alliance for elevation. The relay 314 incident proved their military prowess and their fleet was nearly half the size it is now that they've reached the limits of the Treaty of Farixen. If we don't bind them to the Counsel and soon, then it's quite possible that they will leave Citadel Space, expand their fleet beyond the Treaty of Farixen and turn that power to fully subduing the Attican Traverse. Have you read the human's history? Do you really believe they will be content staying an associate member for much longer? If they leave, do you think they will sit back and watch as their colonies in the Traverse are attacked and raided be the Termius Systems? No, they will manipulate the worlds of the Termius Systems against each other and use their larger fleet to conquer the isolated systems. It may take a century or two, but sooner or later, they would be the masters of both the Traverse and the Termius Systems. From there, with two thirds of the galaxy under their control, what do you think their next step would be? And all this you would allow to happen, because you're concerned about what they may be hiding from us? Counselor, what we know for certain about the humans is already more than enough to cause concern. And that is precisely why we need to consider any proposal that can bring them closer to this Counsel."

Counselor Valern cleared his throat and said. "While I do agree with you Sparatus that we must exercise extreme caution in our selection of Spectre candidates. I also agree with Tevos, in that the humans are both too valuable and too dangerous to be left to their own devices. We must take all reasonable steps to integrate them into the Counsel. That includes naming one of their species to the Spectres. For that reason, I believe the best course of action would be to proceed with our consideration of this Commander Shepard. At the same time, we should begin actively looking for other human candidates for the Spectres."

Tevos nodded her head at that and said. "I agree with both of your propositions Counselor Valern. Is this matter unanimous Sparatus?"

Sparatus' mandibles flicked in annoyance. "I clearly can't stop the two of you, so I will save you my protestations."

"Very well." Tevos acknowledged, then turned back to Valern and asked. "Counselor Valern, will you contact STG and request that they collect all of the information on this Commander Shepard that they can?"

"Of course. I'll contact them as soon as I get back to my office."

"Then unless either of you have something else to add, I believe that this meeting is adjourned."

Alright the poll has spoken. Given how many of the people who took the time to vote chose a codex, even though a new chapter won by a slim majority, I threw together an entry that covers the two most important changes to the setting. You can find it in a separate story on my profile page, or search Codex for the Great Anomaly.