Mass Effect: Manipulation

Mass Effect: Manipulation is a Mass Effect fan-fiction novel by Gnostic. It is the story of how Emmanuelle Sharon became the Commander of the SSV Belgrade.

Synopsis
It's 2181 CE, and humanity is gradually finding its place in the vast galactic community of alien species, making friends with the elegant and stately asari and maintaining an uneasy detente with the hostile batarians. An exciting new era is beginning.

But for Cmdr. Emmanuelle Sharon, a disgraced officer in the Systems Alliance Navy, an era is ending. Depressed and on suspension after making some particularly bad choices, she is barely managing to stay clean on Illium, hoping that she can salvage what's left of her military career. But one night, Sharon makes another particularly bad choice, and the next thing she knows, she's being blackmailed into rescuing Siani, the eccentric daughter of a wealthy and powerful asari Matriarch. The daughter, a techie for a private contractor, has become stuck on the hostile colony world Zak'kon, and her mother wants her brought home safe and sound.

Though initially unhappy at being blackmailed, Sharon soon finds new purpose in trying to complete the task forced upon her, and new friends in hard-nosed career mercenary Arine Leoptos and the awkward but brilliant Siani T'Nair. And as her mission continues, Sharon even begins to make peace with her troubled past and look ahead towards a future that she might not have to face alone.

But as she starts to put her life back together, dark forces conspire in the background to take it away from her. Because Siani really is brilliant, and what she knows could spark a war that could engulf a galaxy...

Chapters

 * /Prologue/: In which plans are made and traps are set
 * /Misinformation/: In which an information broker sells out his client.
 * /Adrift/: In which Emmanuelle Sharon attempts to lose herself.
 * /Off and Runnin'/: In which what should have been a simple job becomes more difficult.
 * /The First Casualty of War/: In which Armand Roget learns that payback is a bitch.
 * /The Morning After/: In which a hangover turns out to be the least of Sharon's headaches.
 * /The Right Hand/: In which the right hand complains of its separation from the head.
 * /Synchronity/: In which Sharon and Skinner realize they're both being sent on the same mission.
 * /Lockdown/: In which Sharon and Skinner arrive to a chilly reception on Zak'kon.
 * /Arine/: In which Sharon meets an unlikely ally.
 * /Nairida/: In which our heroine takes off in search of the missing Operative Dantius
 * /The Mole/: In which Skinner meets his match.
 * /Rough Waters/: In which the ocean tests Leoptos' patience, and Sharon's stomach.
 * /Enclosed/: In which the batarians make their move, while Operative Dantius reveals the secrets of Nairida.
 * /Bare/: in which Sharon's deep dark secrets are revealed.
 * /Skinner's Tale/: In which James Skinner's past comes back to haunt him.
 * /Sold/: In which Sylvia Christian learns the value of loyalty.
 * /Sell-Out/: In which Kenira Pilasi gets hers.
 * /Tragedy/: In which Sharon and T'Nair receive an unpleasant warning.
 * /Preferential Treatment/: In which Skinner gains the upper hand.
 * /Revival/: In which Sharon wins T'Nair's trust, and more.
 * /Defeated/: In which Sylvia Christian begins to question the ethics (and sanity) of her employer.
 * /Unintended Consequences/: In which Sharon learns that mating with an eccentric asari prodigy can lead to one hell of a bad trip.
 * /Retreat/: In which Sharon and T'Nair flee Nairida
 * /The Lieutenant and the Operative/: In which friendship becomes love
 * /The Fall of a Matriarch/: In which the Matriarch makes a final stand.
 * /The Spoils of War/: In which Siani T'Nair accepts her destiny
 * /Penance/: In which Emmanuelle Sharon faces the consequences of her actions.
 * /Epilogue/: In which James Skinner breaks out of his shell.