[Pre-Plot] The Salarian's Stratagem (Nytessia)

[Syri]

councilor leethe

For days, Councilor Leethe had been working on a plan. Well, she had been working on it for months, really, but only in the last few days had she finally decided on the details. It was the Normandy: that ship that the turians and humans had built together as a friendship-building exercise, that also happened to be the most advanced spy vessel in Citadel space. This was something that couldn't be given over to the humans. They had only arrived nearly 30 years ago! Her older siblings were children when the humans had entered the galactic stage.

They were still too young, too immature... not to mention they were aiming for a seat on the Council. That would compromise the balance of power, which threatened herself and her people. What would a human care about salarian interests? They hardly understood how the galaxy worked in the first place! At least the asari and turians had been with them long enough to understand when certain measures had to pass, but these humans? Half of them were power hungry, the other half were so self-righteous and uptight that she couldn't stand them. Humans were too unpredictable. They couldn't even rely on each other to do the best for their own race, so why should they be allowed to determine the fate of the galaxy?

Well, after many late nights, Leethe had perfected a plan to sabotage their ownership of the Normandy. Blackmail the humans - the Council had helped fund the project, after all. She knew she could rely upon the support of the turian councilor, after all, he hated the humans, and she could use that in order to convince him to support her plan. As for the asari councilor? She was much more level-headed, but she always had asari interests in mind. Which was why her plan involved a large benefit to the asari race... she couldn't outright deny the chance to improve her people's standing, could she? As long as it kept the humans away from the galactic political stage, it was worth it, even if salarians did not particularly benefit from the action.

The salarian councilor approached the door of Nytessia G'Rilok's office, "Councilor, I need a word with you."

[/color] She spoke softly, calmly, a tone of voice only a rare few ever heard her speak in. Then again, the last thing she wanted to do was appear like she had other motives for the visit, since that would probably make Nytessia suspicious. Which was a bad thing.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[The Illusive Man]

Nytessia G'Rilok

[/color][/right]

The Normandy was almost ready to be launched, and it was the most advanced crusier in the Citadel-controlled Space. It had been funded by the councilors of the three prime races, those that had been the ones that cemeted the laws and goverment of the Citadel and all the space it controlled. Nytessia's own people were the first ones to discover the Citadel and gradually brought the other races to this seat of galactic community.

The question was, who would be the one person to control the ship in all its advanced glory? That was what was on Nytessia's mind as she gazed out of her office's windows to look down at the Tower, deep in thought. The other councilors would want someone from their respected species to be the one to be the commanding officer of the Normandy. The humans were vying hard for the spot though, thinking that it was their best home to get a councilor on the Council or even a Spectre. The building between the humans and turians was meant to look like a good will offering between both races after the war they fought years ago, but the comraderie stopped there. Now the races wanted their own race on the seat of power.

It caused Nytessia's brows to furrow in thought. The humans were looked at as bullies by many and greedy by others, still too young to know anything about galactic politics. While she was still a salwart protector of the Asari's best interest, she did want equal opprotunities for the other races, being the most level-headed of the councilors. Though she was still a tad wary about humans. They were new and fresh, they possibily could not handle the pressure of handling the most advance ship built in recent years.

Her attention was brought from the window to her desk's comm system where she heard a familar voice. Leethe, the salarian councilor. Her voice was calm and soft, a rare thing to hear for those who wern't familiar with her. It struck Nytessia as odd but so far thought nothing of it. She went over to the door and pressed the unlock button, the door swooshing open. "Councilor Leethe. Please come in," the asari stepped aside for her robed councilor-in-arms to step into her office. "What brings you here to my office?"

[Syri]

councilor leethe

Leethe made her way into Nytessia's office, with that same dignified, 'I'm-better-than-you' stride that she always had. The salarian did not care to be invited to take a seat by the asari councilor, and instead stood near her desk, waiting for her to lock the door again. "Important matters, Nytessia."

[/color] The two didn't have frequent friendly talks, and so the fact that Leethe had simply called her by her first name was more the product of her arrogance than her friendliness. Simply addressing the asari by her first name implied something along the lines of her being less significant than Leethe, in her twisted opinion, and so she had simply referred to her as 'Nytessia'... though hopefully the asari wouldn't see things the same way she did.

"We both know that this new stealth reconnaissance prototype ship... the "Normandy" as the humans insist on calling it, is soon to be revealed to the public."[/color] She paused, glancing out at the windows in Nytessia's office. She herself preferred a room with artificial lighting to one with a window view. Windows were easy to break in to, and Leethe was the queen of paranoia when it came to such things. "But the humans have not yet decided on who will be the Commanding Officer aboard this ship, have they? Too inconsistent to choose one of their own..."[/color] She sneered, like the racist she was.

"So a... solution has come to mind. The Council supported this venture. We funded it with money earned by our people. It would be a shame if we got nothing out of this deal, wouldn't it?"[/color] Again, Leethe paused, taking the time to do one of those troubled pacing movements before she returned to her normal position. "The humans are vying for a spot on the Council, but they are not ready for it. My top scientists have run several simulations as to what would happen if humans gained a spot within the next twenty years, 89.794% of which end in the complete and utter chaos of a violent revolution. I do not want that happening to the galaxy."[/color] Maybe there had been a little exaggeration on her part, and she had lied about having scientists run simulations... but the point still stood, so long as Nytessia didn't know there was no evidence to back her claims. If Nytessia became suspicious she could always fabricate the "evidence".

"So I propose a plan: let the humans keep their ship. Let them keep their silly name, but this was a project for the Council, after all. We need someone in charge who we can trust. Who will listen to us... not rebel against our orders simply because we are not of their species."[/color] Leethe briefly glanced over at the window, still paranoid that at any point someone could simply break in and kill the both of them. She had guards nearby, of course, but windows were still unnerving for her. One of the few things that could break her confidence... but she made sure not to show how much the presence of the windows disturbed her. "I was looking through files, for a suitable commander... and I believe I have found quite a few. Unless you have your own input on this problematic situation?"[/color] Leethe asked, seeming genuinely interested in whatever Nytessia had to say.

She knew she had to get Nytessia to agree with her. The turian councilor was easier to manipulate, but that went both ways. Nytessia could easily sway him to her side with all of her smooth talking, and what Leethe needed was a strong, reliable opinion... one she could count on when the vote came to pass. The turian councilor would do anything that didn't support the humans, and Nytessia would do anything that supported asari interests. She could combine these two prime interests in order to further her own goals... by having an asari in charge of the Normandy crew instead of a human, she could put away the threat of them encroaching upon galactic politics for at least a few more decades.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[The Illusive Man]

Nytessia G'Rilok

[/color][/right]

The asari glanced at the salarian woman from the corner of her eye when she moved into the office. Nytessia was the most level-headed of the councilors and very little actively annoyed her. The turian councilor, while being like most of his species, was an annoyance but she did like him slightly. Leethe was not so lucky. Nytessia thought that the salarian walked around like she was the best and that everyone was beneath her. An attitude like that usually saw the person harboring that attitude have a very short life, since they tended to piss others off. Salarians lived short enough already and the attitude practically filled Leethe's body.

Nytessia locked the door behind her with the glowing interface on the door showing up as a red hue. In her dealings with Leethe, Nytessia understood that the woman liked to talk fast (again like all of her race) and didn't like being interrupted. So, the asari waited and listened to what the other woman said when she took the seat behind her desk. She didn't get as far as she had in politics by not listening and having to hide her true feelings about things. Her face was smooth and receptive to what the salarian spoke about, while inside she wanted this meeting over and done with.

The human race had indeed been vying for a spot on the Council and for a person from their species to become the first human Spectre. The only canidate they had for that was dead though, so it left the humans little to bargin with. Her green eyes watched Leethe pace before settling again in her former spot. The scientist's results sounded highly illogical. The humans might be the bullies of the galaxy but Nytessia doubted that the galaxy would fall into such galactic turmoil that rapidly. Asking for the data would probably also have Leethe fabricate evidence. Nytessia wasn't stupid to not think that.

Leethe would probably want a salarian to be the commanding officer of the Normandy. The turian would want a turian and while Nytessia wanted equal opprotunities for all, she wanted an asari to command. It was only fair, right? "We are in a sticky situation politically, this is true..." She started, speaking for the first time since Leethe started, "The Council has invested a lot of money into the Normandy and it is only fair that one of our races command the most advanced ship to date. However, I think we should give the humans a break, at least a small one. Test their worth."

The asari stood and turned to look out the window, thinking, "What canidates do you have available? Some of them have to be humans, since they have such an interest in it. Why not let the humans take the executive officer position, so they don't feel like we are stonewalling them. We don't need a riot in the streets or protests against us by humans."

[Syri]

councilor leethe

Leethe was kind of shocked that Nytessia agreed that one of the Council races should command the ship. She knew that Nytessia was someone who supported equal opportunities for all, and had expected her to be a lot more hesitant, especially since she knew all about the salarian councilor's scheming personality. But at least Nytessia still had some sense, and wasn't the benevolent, peace and sunshine asari that Leethe had suspected she was. No, one of the Council races deserved to be in charge, because the ship would not have even existed without the funding they had dropped on the Normandy project.

Leethe couldn't help but smile (in a terribly concealed smirk) when Nytessia recommended the humans get a position as the Executive Officer, just to give them a little something for all their hard work. In reality the Executive Officer was just a replacement Commanding Officer (as far as Leethe's knowledge of military workings went), which made them seem like they had some sort of power on the ship, while they were instead rendered virtually useless. She herself had planned for the same thing to happen, but now that Nytessia had suggested it herself, there was no need for anyone to shift the blame onto her this time, or call her out on her devious plotting.

"You make an excellent point, Nytessia."

[/color] She said, feigning surprise at how smart the suggestion was. "All the problems the humans would cause if we didn't... it is just an even better reason as to why they should not be allowed anywhere near political power."[/color] Because Leethe just had to beat that point over the head, on top of her fake data indicating that humans would cause a huge galactic war within a few decades if they were given a spot on the Council. Or any power whatsoever. She was a shameless, control-freak racist of a salarian, who didn't want humans possibly compromising the power the salarians had over galactic politics. That was all it boiled down to, really.

"I have a list of candidates with me here, Nytessia. I had a feeling you would ask."[/color] Leethe stated, withdrawing a concealed datapad and delicately placing it upon the desk in front of her. The list was somewhat extensive, organizing the candidates by race. The salarians by far had the most (since she was a biased creature), whereas the turians had a bunch of mediocre and not-ideal candidates listed, the humans had only a few candidates listed but they didn't really matter for the CO choice anyways, and the asari were mostly inexperienced and not fit to command, save for one. If Nytessia reacted how Leethe assumed she would, she had a feeling that Nytessia would instantly gravitate toward the only competent asari on the list, that one being named 'Saliya Alerei'. After looking through a handful of warriors the asari had to offer, she by far seemed like the one Leethe would most prefer to have in command (her sometimes ruthless tactics were extremely appealing to the more ruthless salarian councilor).

Leethe waited a few minutes for Nytessia to become acquainted with who she had chosen for the CO candidates. After allowing her to read over the lists, Leethe spoke up, asking, "Well, Nytessia? Do you find any to your liking?"[/color][/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]