High Admiral Kazimir Aleksey Miroslav walked calmly into the Citadel Council chamber, flanked by a pair of Marines clad in SPEAR-II semi-powered armor suits. The sight of the intimidating matte black armor was more than enough, never mind the medals and campaign stripes decorating the front of Kazimir's uniform. The High Admiral ascended the steps to the podium, leaving his Marines behind. The gold and platinum trim stood out against the black and red dress uniform.
Kazimir pulled the cap from his head and held it in front of him; he bowed respectfully to the Council and waited for them to speak.
"High Admiral," The Asari Councilor spoke, "you claim to be unaffiliated with the Systems Alliance, but your actions seem to dictate otherwise. Would you care to explain?"
"Councilor, I have said this before, and I will say this again. My fleet is lost, and I am acting in interest of getting us home."
"So why continue to assist the humans?"
"I would have done the same with any race, human or non-human."
"Very well then." The Asari Councilor said, "Will you help us by reducing your fleet's size to the ratio dictated by the Firaxen Treaty?"
"As well as hand over all of your antimatter and directed energy weapon technology?" Said the Turian, "And surrender all of your 'supercapital' class warships?"
Kazimir swept his eyes over them, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes for a moment.
"I must respectfully decline."
The shock was audible. The Turian set his 'jaw' and the Asari nodded grimly. The Salarian Councilor looked like he was extremely disappointed. It took a few moments for the Citadel Council to calm down.
"Can you at least elaborate?"
"I might as well." Kazimir took deep breaths and spoke, his voice carrying clearly in the deathly silent chamber. "Councilors, I fight wars that necessitate the development and deployment of weapons as destructive as the ones we use on our warships. To us, the combined numbers of your Turian peacekeeping fleet are only equivalent to one Cruiser Battlegroup."
The Turian seemed to sneer, apparently believing that Kazimir's words were a bluff.
"If that is the case, High Admiral." His tone carried a hint of venom, "Shouldn't you be dead by now?"
Kazimir shook his head sadly.
"I am. My heart might still be beating, but the wars I fought have killed me on the inside."
Kazimir tapped at his wrist computer and brought up a holographic projection. It was large enough to be seen clearly throughout the entire chamber. Kazimir's Marines and his assistant hung their heads in silent mourning. The Council saw a white, blue, and green planet against a black backdrop, illuminated by a bright blue star. The planet's surface and its two moons glowed brightly with the light of civilization where the star's rays couldn't reach.
"This was my homeworld." The High Admiral said sadly, "Play video data."
The ring of lights around the planet's equator began to move, as well as the streaks of plasma that connected the three bodies. A large, blocky ship moved past the camera, its drives burning brightly. The Council could see large triple-barreled turrets swing around to fire at an unknown target. The camera swung around and revealed the familiar, twin-bowed profile of a Confederate warship, a heavy cruiser to be exact.
The two ships exchanged fire, shields flared brightly as white-hot streaks of tungsten were traded with searing particle lances. The heavy cruiser's shields flared brightly, brighter than what mass accelerator rounds could manage, flickered, and failed in a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The heavy cruiser took several rounds; large trenches were gouged into its armor. Missiles streaked from its VLS cells and arced gracefully towards the large ship. A gold beam seared into the ship's armor, radiating from the cruiser's forked bow.
Secondary explosions rippled along the lengths of both ships. The cruiser seemed to be disintegrating under the barrage of railgun slugs. The upper bow eventually broke off; a titanic burst of plasma blossomed from the new cavity and momentarily blinded the camera. The light faded and showed the cruiser slamming into its opponent; both ships spun away as their frames melted into one, and then vanished in a new star.
A burst of static and corrupted data flickered into the hologram, clearing only to reveal hundreds of warships locked in battle. Momentary stars grew and faded from both lines. The blinding violet-white beam of an antimatter projector crossed the gap and obliterated a dozen ships. The corrupted data flashed again. The Confederate lines seemed to be faltering under the pressure of nearly five hundred ships. The line broke and the attacking fleet surged into orbit.
Their ships began firing at the surface, creating canyons from mountains, reducing cities to dust and ash. Charcoal black and burning red slowly spread over the planet, glittering under the clouds of dust that now veiled the surface. The oceans boiled away, the atmosphere began to burn into nothing. Hundreds of hours of data were collapsed into one agonizing minute.
Kazimir's finger hovered over the stop icon, as he blinked back tears. And then new suns blossomed over the burnt, shattered surface. Shockwaves spread over the entire planet, tearing the crust away and exposing the mantle. More shots were fired, each blossoming into a radiant star. The mantle flew up and escaped into space, coalescing into tumbling globules of magma. The hologram vanished.
The Asari was pale, nearly white from the horror of what she had been exposed to. The Salarian seemed to reconsider taking the technology of the High Admiral's fleet. The Turian however, seemed to be wearing a sneer.
"That would make an excellent scene for an action feature."
Kazimir snapped. He had the urge to unholster his sidearm, point it at the Councilor's head, and pull the trigger. He almost went through with it. A Marine raised his assault rifle; its 9mm hypervelocity rounds would pulp the Turian, and then shakily lowered it.
"Councilor," He said, "tell me how you can replace the billions of lives lost in the wars. Tell me how you can bring your loved ones back after they've been broken and used by the enemy for pleasure and sport! Tell me how you can turn back time, and I will give you the full right to call this bullshit!"
His shout echoed through the silence. The Turian gave the equivalent of a harrumph. Cries of outrage flew from the mouths of the assembled, but they weren't directed at Kazimir.
"You have gone far enough Councilor!" The Asari could hold back blows, but wasn't able to hold back tears as the full weight of Kazimir's words hit her.
The Salarian was catatonic.
"You are hereby ejected from the Citadel Council." Venom dripped from the Asari's words. Kazimir's aide was crying into a Marine's shoulder. The man was trying to comfort her, but tears were also running down his face, his helmet had been taken off in mourning.
"We offer you an Embassy," The Asari said, regaining her composure, "as compensation for the Turian's words."
"I am sorry, Councilor." Kazimir wiped a tear away with a handkerchief, "But the only compensation is time."
"I understand." The Asari nodded.
Kazimir turned around and left. His war had claimed more victims.
So, lol. I harbor a particular dislike towards the Turian Councilor. I wrote this in one or two hours, crossing ME over with my original universe. So, tell me what you think!
