Chapter 1-Plans
The metallic fingers of the gauntlet whirred as they flexed experimentally, testing its strength and grip. Malleus Scandarum looked over the bionic critically, once a component of his power armour, now part of his body as a whole, shifting it gently, before he looked up and smiled.
"I like it, Kullas," he said. "But the stump itches."
"A common side effect," the Forge Priest replied. "It should pass."
"I hope so," Malleus said, glancing at the metallic stump grafted into his shoulder. Even with his enhanced healing abilities, it had only been installed half an hour ago, and the flesh around it was angry and raw. "Will I need to wear the pauldron for this thing the whole time?"
"That? No," Kullas said. "Do not worry, the arm is still fully controlled by you Black Carapace uplink; the pauldron can be detached at will."
"I'm glad to hear," Malleus said. He looked over it once more, before a mental pulse of information disengaged the locks holding his shoulder pad to the greaves underneath, and he placed it on the table next to him, the crossed hammer and lightning bolt symbol of the Sons of Thunder gleaming in the light. "Kullas, you've outdone yourself."
"Thank you, brother-captain," Kullas said. "I also took the liberty of installing an onboard omni-tool, in case it should come in handy."
Malleus looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"They're useful," Kullas replied. "Besides, the model I used was made by a Terran based, human controlled company; there's no xenos-tech present, I assure you."
"Fair enough," Malleus said. "Actually, Kullas, what about my thunder hammer? Have you made any progress repairing it yet?"
"Not as such," Kullas said. "I'm somewhat torn, at the moment."
"What do you mean?" Malleus asked.
"As it is, I could rebuild the whole thunder hammer using the parts you gave me," Kullas said. "Which, while still powerful, won't be anywhere near as sturdy as it used to be; chances are it will simply break again."
"You can't tell me I can't use it," Malleus exclaimed, shaking his head. "Kullas, I've wielded that weapon for more than two and a half centuries. I'm not simply putting it away as scrap!"
"I know, I know," Kullas said. "However, there is an alternative."
"What?" Malleus asked.
In reply, Kullas picked up the top half of his hammer from where it lay on the workbench of the Normandy's armoury, and turned it so Malleus could see the bottom of its hollow handle, where wiring poked through.
"Here," he said. "I can simply do some rewiring of the weapon, and you can use it again. Admittedly one handed, but it is better than nothing."
Malleus looked at the weapon with a frown, his once noble thunder hammer now looking short and foolish in his eyes. Then again, he supposed having it consigned to a scrapheap was even more an ignoble fate for a weapon of such a fine pedigree.
"Very well," he said. "It shall have to be a mace, then. A pity I don't have anything for my free hand."
"What of that submachine gun you've taken to using?" Kullas suggested.
"It's useful, yes," Malleus said. "But it's hardly worthy of taking the place of a bolt pistol, is it?"
"I suppose not," Kullas said. "But, what about…"
The Forge Priest trailed off for a moment, shifting back on his heels slightly uncomfortably, as if he were concerned about making his suggestion.
"Speak freely, Forge Priest," Malleus said. "I will not judge."
"Gaius' blade," Kullas said, nodding towards the weapon where it lay on the shelf of the armoury, gleaming in the harsh glare of the overhead striplights.
Malleus sighed and stepped over to the power weapon, picking it up at the handle, holding it to the light, tip held in the finger of his other hand. He looked at it, examining its intricate inlaid gold filigree of an Aquila with its wings spread wide, while on the other side, hammers and lightning bolts interlaid over each other in a delicate, beautiful pattern.
"Dishonour not the dead, lest they speak against you when you come before the Throne," Malleus said. "It is Gaius' weapon; I take it without his permission now and I may as well find his corpse and spit on it."
"To be fair, brother captain, you did use it on the Collectors' station," Kullas pointed out. "You slew that Reaper with it, no less."
"That was a case of dire need," Malleus said. "And I should be forgiven for that. But simply taking it is now different."
"If you insist, brother captain," Kullas said doubtfully.
Malleus simply shrugged, his new arm whirring with the movement.
"I will make do with the hammer in one hand," he said. "In the meantime, I have a briefing to attend."
He left the armoury, doors sliding shut behind him, and entered the briefing room of the Normandy. Titus, Miranda and Cyralius, the members of the team he had come to regard as his more senior second in commands, were waiting for him as called, and Malleus nodded to them as he entered.
"Well, we've beaten the Collectors," he said, stepping forward to the table, resting his hands upon them. "But, unfortunately, we cannot stop yet."
"And here I was hoping for some shore leave," Titus muttered with a slight smile. "Everybody else gets to go out and enjoy the sights and sounds of Ilium, and here we are, stuck on the Normandy to have you talk at us."
"As I was going to say, congratulations on defeating the xenos menace," Malleus said, shaking his head. "And if it weren't for the fact that I needed you here, you would be welcome to go out and have some shore leave. But jesting aside, Titus, I've got you here for something important."
He sighed, before saying; "The fact is, we're still at war. Defeating the Collectors was a victory in our favour, but that was only a single battle; the Reapers are still out there, and I don't know how much time we have left before they decide to move against us."
"A pity these things just don't learn," Miranda remarked. "We've beaten them twice already, but they just keep on coming."
"They're xenos," Titus said. "They can't learn."
"Indeed," Malleus said. "As I was saying, sooner or later they will play their hand, and if we're unprepared then everything we've worked for will go to waste."
"So what's the plan?" Miranda asked.
"What we need to do is gather an army," Malleus said. "One that will be large enough to actually stand a chance against the Reapers."
"It'll have to be one hell of an army," Miranda said. "We needed the entire Citadel fleet, and the Alliance one, just to take down Sovereign; if that was a standard Reaper, we're never going to have enough firepower."
"We shall have to do our best," Malleus said. "Besides, the Normandy's cannons are based on a reverse-engineered version of Sovereign's, and the Illusive Man tells me that the salvage teams he sent out to the Collector base have already managed to recover a great deal of weapons technology. We shall have to do it swiftly, but can adapt this technology for ourselves."
"So we mass-distribute it?" Cyralius asked. "Make it available as freeware?"
"I'm not sure the Illusive Man would be too happy about that," Miranda remarked.
"I could keep it in human hands I'd be happy to," Malleus said. "But this is a matter of utility; we keep everybody as well armed as we possibly can, and we have a much better chance of victory."
"So what's our plan, then?" Titus asked.
"Two main stages," Malleus said. "For a start, we need to convince the Council that the Reapers are a real threat, and secondly, we'll need to recruit help from elsewhere."
"Where?" Miranda asked.
"For a start, we've already impressed the Krogan," Malleus said. "And Urdnot Wrex worked with Shephard; he should be willing to help us."
"What about the Terminus systems?" Cyralius asked.
"The Batarians?" Miranda asked. "They hate the council, especially since humanity was admitted to its ranks. They'll never agree to help us, even if it's a life or death situation."
"Not necessarily the Batarians," Malleus said. "I was thinking more about Aria T'Loak."
"Who?" Titus asked.
"Why Aria?" Miranda asked. "She's nothing more than a jumped up pirate."
"A pirate who just so happens to control Omega," Malleus said. "And whoever controls Omega controls the Terminus Systems. She has power; as much as the Council hate to admit it, they fear her."
"Let's not forget the Geth, either," Cyralius said. "If Legion's claims of the 'true' Geth's power are correct, then they'd be a considerable asset."
"We'll have to ask him," Malleus said, before shaking his head. "It, even."
"Alright, so what's our first move?" Miranda asked.
"I've been given logs, photographs and findings from the teams on the Collector's station," Malleus said. "That should be convincing evidence to help back up any case we put to the council. We convince them of the danger, get the Krogan on our side, mobilise the Geth and finally see if we can make Aria help us."
"And if the Council don't believe us?" Miranda asked.
"Then we take power for ourselves and start organising for this war immediately," Malleus replied.
"Not going to make many friends doing that," Miranda remarked.
Malleus shrugged.
"Nothing wrong with playing nicely, but if we're faced with extinction then as I far as I care, anything goes," he said.
"True," Miranda said. "But people here believe in democracy. They'll be upset about it."
"Then they will die," Malleus said bluntly.
Miranda looked at him for a moment, his face devoid of any sort of emotion, before nodding slowly.
"Right," she said, looking at Malleus with an expression of worry on her face.
"So we're going to the Citadel after the repairs finish?" Cyralius asked.
"That's right," Malleus said. "The swifter we can prepare, the better."
He nodded to them; "Feel free to enjoy the rest of the day on Ilium while we finish off fixing the Normandy. Ave Imperator."
He left the briefing room, and entered the Combat Information Centre. The room was empty, the crew of the Normandy currently out in Nos Astra, and Malleus headed through the airlock into the sunlight over the capital of Ilium.
Next to him, a small team of engineers and technicians were gathered at Normandy's port engine, where it had been damaged by the Collector vessel. A scaffold had been set up around it, and currently new engines struts were being welded to its length. Kenneth, who was standing at the top of the scaffold, seemed in his element, yelling out orders to the repairmen who clambered over it. Malleus noticed Kullas was already up there from their talk in the armour, welding part of the new engine strut in place with his plasma cutter, the servo harness implanted in his back shining in the sunlight of Ilium's star.
"Not trying to calm the machine spirit?" Malleus called up to the Forge Priest, his enhanced hearing picking up nothing in the way of binaric cants from Kullas.
"What machine spirit?" Kullas asked. "EDI destroyed whatever one inhabited this vessel when it took it all for itself. And if that thing feels any pain because of our work, then all the better."
Malleus rolled his eyes, before shrugging and asking; "How much longer do you think we'll need."
"A few more hours, at most," Kullas said. "Cerberus built the engine struts to be fairly modular, for upgrades. That makes installation far easier."
"Glad to hear," Malleus said. "Keep up the good work."
He walked to the end of the jetty, feeling the cool breeze on his face, looking out at the xenos city stretching before him. Part of him still itched to destroy it, and he wondered if, when the time came to rid humanity of the xenos that pestered it, he would raze this place with armies on the ground or simply via orbital bombardment. Perhaps with a ground force; they could use its resources, and considering the time he had spent here it would be more satisfying.
He looked at the cityscape as it bustled below him, air-cars flitting between buildings, before he noticed Thane Krios standing next to him. The Drell acknowledged his presence with a nod, before Malleus said; "I thought you would be out in Nos Astra."
"No," Thane said in his hoarse whisper of a voice. "As much as I enjoy the company of the others, I need time to think."
"How long have you been out here, then?"
"An hour, perhaps. I have been meditating, on what has just passed and what shall come to pass."
"What about it, precisely?" Malleus asked.
"When we first met, on the bridge of the Normandy, we agreed that I would help you defeat the Collectors," Thane said. "Now they are defeated, I have fulfilled my contract with you."
"That's true," Malleus said. "Do you wish to leave us?"
"I am unsure," Thane replied. "On one hand, I can see the work we are doing is vital. On the other, though, I wish to leave this line of work for good. I wish to die peacefully."
"Ah yes, your disease," Malleus said.
Thane nodded, still staring out at the cityscape beyond, green skin turned golden in the reflected sunlight of Nos Astra's great lake.
"I have never killed for profit, you know," he said. "I was employed by the Hanar government, to eliminate the dangerous, the corrupt and the unjust. I kept the balance, and I removed a great deal of evil from the world, and when I was paid it was all for the comfort and security of my son, even if he did not know of me. You do the same thing I do, Malleus, and through our work against the Collectors I cannot help but feel that we excised a great cancer from the world. But now, I am tired of this."
Malleus remained silent for a moment, letting the Drell marshal his thoughts.
"I have had enough," Thane said. "I have killed many, many people in my time, and evil as they were, to take life is still a sin. I am grateful for the chance you gave me to redeem myself, Malleus, but I want no more of this. I wish to die in peace."
"I see," Malleus said. "So you won't stay."
"No. Thank you, Malleus. Give my regards to the others."
Thane turned, and held out his hand. Malleus took it in his bionic, and shook it, the arm whirring with the move. Thane turned to walk away, before he said; "If you need me, however, you know an information broker who is very good at her job. I should not be too hard to find."
"Goodbye then, Thane," Malleus said. "May you find peace."
"I hope I do."
And thus, his work done, Thane Krios walked away into the streets of Nos Astra, to find himself a new life and escape the old.