2746-Citadel, Council Chambers
"The council only cares for itself" shouted Jath'Amon to the councilors who were standing on pedestal above him looking down at him as if he was some small lesser creature.
"We warned the Hegemony about this" said Tevos "We will take no part in this war against the AVIDA."
"You would have us be destroyed by these machines," he said putting a sort of emphasized spite on the last word.
"This is a course of action that the Hegemony has orchestrated, the AVIDA have not targeted any of our societies there is no reason we should go to war with them on your behalf" Valern told him.
Jath'Amon couldn't believe what he was hearing, the one instance that they were in need of their help and they leave the Hegemony to their demise. They allow the council to whittle away their military power with sanctions leaving them mere shells of their former power simply so they can be called a citadel species and when it comes time for them to finally exercise their power as a member of the citadel they were rejected. They should have never joined them to begin with. At least then they would have been able to stand on their own if they hadn't.
"Sparatus you can't possibly take their sides."
"If these were different circumstance the Hierarchy would definitely stand with you but regrettably we to have declined your request as well."
Unlike Tevos or Valern, Sparatus sounded much more sincere.
Jath'Amon shouted every curse he knew and left the councilors angered and betrayed. Later within the same week, after asking for appeals and being denied, the Hegemony closed their embassy on the citadel officially.
2746- Batarian Hegemony, Adek
AVIDA weaponry could be considered crude and archaic in many ways. It is not to say that their weapons weren't effective, an arm mounted laser cutter could never be considered ineffective, but they had a tendency to be nontraditional compared to the rest of the galaxy which was odd given their mechanical nature. The AVIDA rarely used overwhelming numbers as a strategy for it seemed from the Hegemony's point of view that they simply lacked a developed offensive force for such a tactic. Granted the AVIDA weren't accustom to war outside the digital realm and so when it came to any large-scale engagements, where they didn't catch the batarians by surprise they had difficulty holding their ground.
However, with each battle they became more cunning and less predictable. But despite their success in small-scale engagements there weren't any large ones. They attacked worlds that from the rest of the galaxies point of view had little to no tactical 'd fort entire solar systems with heavily armored ships, clear out entire cities with ground forces and at times, if the population was high, they'd use a toxic gas dubbed agent green emanating from an aerial dropped metallic spire. These attacks became so common that the hegemony began issuing gas mask and breathers to all those that qualified.
Which was something Ka'hairal Chon really wish he had a filter for at the moment as he found himself darting between the crumpled and war-torn town of what was once his home. Adek was a world with a biology that was at odds with the batarian body and as such most of the batarians that lived here were forced into enclosed towns and domiciles following a strict decontamination regimen. The only thing Chon could be thankful for was that environmental suits were already required here. But a suit without a filter was as useful against agent green as a spacesuit underwater. Normally the suit would recycle the air from the outside and turn it into a form that was breathable for his biology but agent green seemed to be a chemical specifically created to evade most recycling systems and at times if purified incorrectly turn into a gas that was more toxic than before and so filtering the gas was the only solutions. In the distance he spied a fallen solider on the ground and he quickly made his way towards him.
On these streets used to be children and women and now nothing save for corpses of the dead and those unlucky enough to save themselves from the green gas that choked his lungs and burned his four eyes. It was difficult to see. The machines attack was so sudden and out of no where there was very little his people could do. This world was far from his home world and was nothing more than a small colony at the edge of batarian sphere of influence but it was the closets to AVIDA space. In a quick and sudden moment Chon caught sight of a tall bipedal hulking machine. It was his first time meeting an AVIDA in person and it was just as frighting as he thought it would be. From a distance he noticed four glowing lights emanating from its head scanning in all directions searching for any survivors. He had once heard that the AVIDA took prisoners, as to what they did with them he'd rather not know.
But more often than not the prisoners they always took where human, the new two eyed animals that he'd seen litter the slave markets. They seemed like dim-witted creatures incapable of even speaking or understanding the simplest of batarians words He almost felt sorry for them, sometimes, but it was better them than him. He ducked behind the nearest pile of rubble he could find just before the AI had caught sight of him. On the ground next to him was a dead solider, his chest midsection was cut in the middle and a long clean-cut traced its way up to his neck, a typical sign that he'd been sliced through with one of the AI's armed blade. Chon leaned forward and took a his gas mask for himself. There in distance he could see the landing site of the Spire, the source of the toxic gas and most of the AVIDA's walking tanks and larger ground units.
2746-Court of Thegns, Earth
Once again the thegns convened as they usually did to decide further courses of action that the clergy should take, but unlike before this was different. Every few years, as dictated by the code hard-wired in their circuits and the words crafted with in Magnum Opus, a series of laws that dictate every AVIDA's, the thegns would make a choice. This choice would be the single most important choice they would every make in their entire existence.
{ Humanity has already been awakened I believe given the circumstances that it would for the best to revive the rest} EliFR-A48K
{ Not even ten percent of their survivors have been brought back to our space, They wouldn't be pleased with our failures} NulQZ-B29Q
{Are you suggesting that we lie to the Pantheon of Man? Such an act is a form of blasphemy.} ComYV-N30D
{ They wouldn't be pleased with either result, and beside we are not ready for them yet. With our efforts with the war, and the developing worlds only at 30% completion our covenants have had little time prepare for their arrival.} PcfLX-Q15V
{ We are ready} YarZX-N25P
{Indeed you are, but what of the chaos that will follow throughout the networks. If the Pantheon makes their choice of a sovereign culture and the other covenants are not there then the acolytes would surely rebel} RevCV-G32A
{They wouldn't if it was a complete ruling of the court, If we all agree so must they, as it is written in Magnum Oppus} OriLV-Q22B
{Then we shall vote, for or against} NulQZ-B29Q
No response – 3.02456 seconds -
Vote
for: 3
against: 4
winning course of action: Against
{ Well, there you have it} RevCV-G32A
{Yet another delay} YarZX-N25P
{ Now on to other matters, The batarians and their campaign against us is troublesome, They are blemishes on the Pantheon's kingdom, they should be eradicated} NulQZ-B29Q
{I agree, they do not deserve our prolonged attention, and with them gone the Skylian Verge will no longer be a problem for us} Ori-LVQ22b
{ And with it our territory will be finally complete, we can awaken humanity with no issues} PcFLX-Q15V
{ I do not believe the Pantheon of Man would accept the genocide of another sentient species} YarZX-N25P
{ Blasphemy!, The pantheon has done it to themselves before, and we do it all the time, I see no issue here} NulQZ-B29Q
{ They are neither human nor AVIDA, the term genocide shouldn't apply here} Ori-LVQ22b
{ We could corral them to Khar'shan and detain them there} EliFR-A48K
{ And then have them revolt against us when they have the chance, We don't have to extinguish the entire species just most it so they are no longer a threat} Ori-LVQ22b
{ Biological Warfare} ComYV-N30D
{ No, an engineered virus could have unforeseen consequences, the strain could mutate into one that can infect humans, although unlikely it is a possibility} PcFLX-Q15V
{ We don't need a virus,} RevCV-G32A
2746-Batairan Hegemony, Adek
"I don't trust her." said Ben Hislop to the group of three other humans along with him.
They were huddled together next to corner of the fence away from the main mining complex which was for them was both their prison and a home for those that were unlucky enough to have been born here.
He two like Jack Harper and Eva' core where apart of Earth Alliance's provisional militia, which frankly had no purpose here on Adek. Hislop was a robust, well-built man who over the past few years was reduced a much thinner build. His once thick black curly hair now showed signs of thinning and his skin was much paler than usual.
"Yeah it could be just like the other times, remember last year with Wyle Mason he had a similar plan but it was a set up by the four eyes" added Core' a young woman with short blonde hair and a scrappy look about her.
Wyle Mason was a poor unfortunate example orchestrated by the batarians. He and a few other had attempted to form an uprising against their owners hoping to gain there freedom but there rebellion was struck down from the inside by member of their own kind who was bribed by their slave owners. When it came time for Mason along with roughly thirty other young men and women to fort their master's home, an enclosed domed complex, they were met with batarian soldiers who were given strict orders to make an example to all those who would dare disobey their owners and in that very same instant the Wyle Mason rebellion of 2744 ended.
Jack Harper nodded in understanding.
"I don't trust her fully either but she's all we've got. With the invaders coming here to Adek we have to move our plans forward sooner."
The invaders were, from the humans point of view, are a race of aliens that are giving the batarians cause to worry. It seemed that they were all the batarians would ever talk about in their spare time. And from what Harper gathered the invaders where already on Adek and making there way across the northern half of Veh'Jong the batarian city on the other-side of the continent. The batarians told them very little about the state of affair of their Hegemony insisting that animals didn't have the capacity to understand such complex things and so any bit of news or media was gained through inference and ease dropping. Some would say that the invaders were called avas or avis and another had unmistakable said that they had heard avida which coincidentally was the same name as the cybernetic network of self-replicating programs back on earth making it highly unlikely that was their name.
"What if she doesn't come"
By cosmic coincident they were met by the very being that was the subject of their discussion. On the other side of the electric fence came a slender wide hipped batarian who was perhaps the humans first female batarian they'd ever come to see or know. She was short in stature but unlike the males she had a thicker neck, a smooth angular face and unlike the green tones they've seen in the rest of their kind she had a dark reddish-brown instead.
"Ourga"
The female nodded slightly but before she was able to get a greeting across she was interrupted by Core'.
"What the hell is this, you never told me she was a four eyes!"
"Ourga is the only one that actually knows this place, do you really think any of us around her is going to get off this rock on our own" Harper snapped at her.
Harper had met Ourga late one night, she had approached him on the other side, just like she had done this night, offering to help his people and while he had dreamed of escaping all the while killing any batarian that got in his way, he didn't take up her offer at first. It was too risky especially with what happened to Wyle Mason. He had often considered making a coup de'etat of his own, organizing as many people as he could but the odds were unlikely. Aside from teaching them how to control the alien equipment and offering them translators there was very little they actually knew about the outside word. Any attempts to rebel would eventually end in failure simply from a lack of understanding. Ourga was their best bet they had at the moment.
"Why would a four eyes want to help us in the first place."
She turned her head showing the scar on the back of her skull.
"I was a slave myself. This is from the control chip they implanted in my head. I was lucky enough to escape with the help of Harcom'chor and now I'm here to return the favor."
Core' scrutinized her but other wise she stayed quite. For in her mind there was no way that a batarian was capable of good will. She had heard the term Harcom'chor before in stray conversations and from what she could gather it was some-sort of small terrorist group working seeking to over-throw the Hegemony but how correct her intel was, was debatable. That name was enough to cause caution, she'd have to talk to Harper about this later preferably in private.
"What is the ETA" Harper asked her, now more focused on getting along with the whole ordeal.
"Based off the their earlier invasion, I say we've got less than a week, maybe even two but I doubt it. The Hegemony has invested very little into this part of space and it poorly defended here. Bad for everyone else but an opportunity for us. With the AVIDA on, as you say "on their tails" they'll be more preoccupied with them than they are with you. So getting your people of the planet shouldn't be too difficult."
"What do we need to do."
"A distraction would suffice, anything of your choice, my team and I will shut off the generator powering the fences and once that's out we can enter and take out the guards."
She took out her omni-tool and showed it to the group and pointed to the map of the abandoned complex a little while away from the mines
"We'll need you to gather your people here, since there a lot of you it'll take us awhile to get you off world."
"And take us where exactly" asked Hilsop.
"Arvuna, it's a planet far from Hegemony space, they've got no jurisdiction there and it's fairly hospital for your species. Although you might be restricted to the northern and southern poles as the planet is a hot ocean world"
Jack Harper now officially hearing everything, thought long and hard about what to next and decided that it was worth a shot. But deep inside his mind he was forming a contingency plan if Ourga was not whom she appeared to be. One could never be too careful.
"Alright, I'll talk to the others, get a few more volunteers."