Author Note-From here on out I'm going to try and keep the AN's fairly spartan, I just want to thank everyone for their pleasant words and let you know the reviews help me write faster and at a better quality so thanks. This chapter plays two roles, setting the stage for the Quarians and giving readers who hadn't read my original (and much rougher) story insight into the royal families backgrounds, I felt it was a much more organic way of doing it then a thousand word AN. Also I really think this chapter should have been named "In which everyone but Joanna gets drunk for good or ill", eh oh well, enjoy and as always review!
Night Club 'Flux', Presidium Commons at the time of the Emperor's attempted assassination
The thrumming bass of the generic space techno reverberated its way through Luluka vi Britannia's core with a tedious repetition as she glowered from her dark booth, the only illumination offered in the shadows was the smoldering cherry of her cigarette and the unhealthy green glow of her drink. As she exhaled a puff of smoke that was briefly illuminated by the black lights she observed Suzaku playing some weird alien variant of darts with a bunch of Salarians and Nunnally having a drinking contest with a pair of young Asari.
On the dance floor Kallen and Ceceliana were grinding against each other seductively both of them drunk beyond words and doing their best to not think about the one thing that was occupying their minds, Naoto was dead. Sighing for her sisters in law she ashed her cigarette in an empty batarian ale bottle while doing her best to remain objective, she was here to have fun and make an impression; sadly she was failing on both accounts.
As her gaze panned across the room the hapatic glasses perched on the tip of her nose gave her live feed information on all the sweaty alien drunks currently in the club; Asari, Turians, Salarians, Elcor, Batarians, hell even a handful of Krogans, Quarians, and a couple Drell all drank themselves into thinking they were having a good time. As she downed her drink she waved down the Asari waitress for another while giving her a wink, blushing darkly the blue alien beauty refilled her glass and moved on.
While she was lighting a new smoke she watched a Batarian walk past her and "accidentally" bump into her table, quite cleverly dropping a couple pills in her drink as he apologized and stumbled away, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at the attempted drugging. Shaking her head she contemplated how it it didn't seem to matter what end of the galaxy you were at or what a persons base amino acids were, clubs attracted a special kind of low level scavenger. Picking up her glass to down the spiked drink her wrist was grabbed by a strong three fingered hand encased in what felt like warm leather, glancing up at a semi-opaque breath mask a stern male voice was emitted from its front speaker,
"Wouldn't do that ma'am, Yarok over there is known to compensate for his lack of social skills and romanticism with raw chemicals if ya catch my drift," the chiding Quarian said. As an inquisitive eyebrow rose she couldn't help but cackle inwardly, here was her in to the Quarian fleet,
"Hmm, would have thought the galaxy at large would want something to happen to the royal family after the show we put on." She'd managed to phrase her statement to sound like a question and the large Quarian took the bait, letting go of her wrist he sat down on the opposite side of the booth.
"Hell ma'am, after the way you folks stuck it to those bosh'tets on the Council? Least I could do, names Jayne, Jayne'Reegar vas Dakka," Smiling at the young man she offered him her hand and he accepted it while shaking it gently,
"Call me Luluka, and not gonna lie, we had a bit of fun with that one, we lost some good people...and family, but the Council lost face and the Turians are gonna be hurting from this one for awhile." Even though she could only see his glowing eyes through the mask she could tell by their shape he was smiling,
"Yeah, I'm sure everyone back on the fleet is either doing a dance over the Council getting theirs or salivating over your fleet; me I'm kinda stuck here on my pilgrimage, the ship I booked passage on got pinched for smuggling so I'm kinda in limbo." Twirling a lock of her raven hair she asked,
"Whats a pilgrimage?" knowing perfectly well what it was due to her time with the Codex, he cocked his head and then laughed,
"Wow, no one usually cares, uh to put it simply its a journey of adulthood, you find something useful to the fleet to offer to the captain of whatever ship you wanna serve on and if its good enough you become crew." Nodding the princess began playing with her Omni-tool,
"So what like medical supplies, food, ships and the like?" He tilted his head left to right making an odd 'eh' noise,
"Kinda sorta, anything of value really, since our immune systems are utter crap from living in a sterile environment for generations everything from a new supply of environment suits and air scrubbers to anti-biotics and bandages can have value in the right quantity. Personally I was trying to get my hands on newer rifles for our Marines but I've kinda got a one track mind in that department, Marine in a Marine family, bit self serving I know." She smirked at that while finally finishing with her Omni-tool which displayed a three dimensional rendering of her nervous, digestive, and implant systems; as this was happening she took her tainted drink and downed it in one gulp. Gasping the young man tried to stop her but was far too late, grinning she gestured at the holo,
"So yeah, your immune systems are not in the best condition, so tell me if this strikes your fancy," as she said this dozens of chemical compounds began scrolling across the info panel listing everything she had just consumed, four groups of chemicals became highlighted and the words [Purging] began flashing. The Quarian glanced at her and she just grinned while stating, "I need to hit the little girls room, stay put," after that she returned a few minutes later still smiling.
"What." Ah damn did she love Marines, didn't matter the species they were a very strait forward bunch,
"The entirety of our bodies are infused with nanites that build implant systems to enhance specific areas, digestive regulation, allergen shunting, strength and sense enhancement, enhanced healing, you name it." Eyes widening he was starting to get what she was saying and she could tell he was interested,
"That's...quite interesting ma'am...Luluka...what would a man need to do to acquire something along those lines for his people?" Grinning wide enough to make one of Suzaku's manga anti-hero's proud she tapped a button and dumped the entire implant database to his cheap omni-tool, at the same time she asked Yui to build up some better firewalls in the piece of shit. It was quite the gamble and if they didn't bite Kallen was going to kill her for wasting a trade item, ah well whats life without its risks,
"They're yours, all I want you to do is let the Fleet know we wish to...negotiate with them for greater things," gasping in shock he stared at his Omni-tool for a moment then sat silent as he collected himself.
"Ma'am...if you don't mind me saying you are easily the most smoothly manipulative woman I've ever met, I like you," barking out a sharp laugh she toasted him with a new not drugged drink and tipped it back.
"Believe my dad told me that a few times, more cursing though, anywho tell them we have a mutually beneficial relationship available and to not get hung up on our use of AI citizens, if they can handle that for a few minutes we can help you people get back on your feet." Nodding thoughtfully the Marine met her violet gaze with his glowing silver orbs and began chuckling lightly,
"I'm being played and I don't even mind so long as it helps my people, all right Luluka, you have yourself a deal I'll get a message out to the fleet as soon as I can." Still giving him a mischievous grin his Omni-tool display popped up with a direct line through the comm buoys hooking to the wandering fleet while bypassing entire libraries of Citadel red tape and fees.
"Young man, welcome to the big leagues where we are the masters and commanders, how do you like this small taste of twisting the galaxy to your whims?" The young Marine blankly gazed at his Omni-tool for a moment longer then glanced up to meet her eyes,
"Huh, well...Oorah, ma'am," as the pilgrim played his part Yui contacted her and by the way her siblings reacted the rest of the family got the same message as well, activating her auditory and sub-vocal implants she keyed the comm open,
"I'll keep it short, Uncle Lelouch was assassinated in front of the Councilors," Staring at the small avatar of her adoptive niece she couldn't help but snarl out,
"Already?! Ugh...is it under wraps?" Nodding sharply the little girl gave her an apologetic smile,
"If its any conciliation I sincerely doubt the Council had anything to do with it, incompetent they may be but they're not suicidal, Uncle Lelouch just blew the whole thing off, if I were to be honest he seemed more angry about his jacket and cigarettes getting ruined then anything else." Nodding to herself as she could understand that being an annoyance for an immortal, as Jayne was wrapping up talking to whoever it was he was discussing things with she covered her mouth with her near empty glass and muttered,
"Got an in with the Quarians, tell my brother to send one of us a recall order to Damocles when he's done with his business," winking Yui then vanished once again leaving her with the slightly bemused smirk; making eye contact with her husband on the other end of the bar she blew him a kiss then leaned back in her seat throwing back her fourth drink. Sometimes it was pretty awesome being a manipulative, conniving bitch, truly it was the little things in life that made a code bearers existence worthwhile.
Councilor Tevos Office two hours after the assassination attempt
It has to be said that while she had a positive working relationship with her fellow Councilors they did not make a habit of being incredibly social outside of their work, so seeing the three of them sprawled out on her expensive couches and recliners surrounded by empty bottles was memorable.
"So..is it like...space magic? I mean, really what are these people what...spirits..." Dravis muttered as he finished his second bottle of Turian brandy, Merig glanced to him nursing some foul smelling Salarian beer as he shook his head despondently.
"They're an unknown quantity, militant, domineering, oddly accommodating and irritatingly flippant, we need more data..." Tevos for her part just muttered near silently in reply as she sipped her whiskey laced tea. If that boy was actually an immortal, hell she'd have to reevaluate the 'boy' moniker soon enough, anyway if he was what he appeared to be it explained a great many things not least of which was why he didn't care about a council seat. All things considered, he could literally wait it out, and seeing how artfully he played them with only a few weeks planning she shuddered to think what he'd be up to in the coming decades.
"We thought they'd just been attempting to save face and limit damage to their infrastructure by making peace but that isn't it at all, they're led be a manipulative immortal with an armada bigger then all ours combined. Its becoming more and more obvious whats going on here," she lamented, glancing to her colleagues she smiled sadly, "Outside of the loss of the Emperor's son, they're having the time of their lives; they're playing with us. Its sad honestly, I wonder what happened in their youths that would make this so damn amusing..." As she mulled that thought she recalled the file Benezia had given her on the families history, 'Well why not' she thought as she booted up her datapad while pouring more liquor into her mug. Merig sighed and finished his now lukewarm drink in a single pull while lolling his head back into the plush rest,
"I'm supposed to negotiate with them to have one of our top scientists tutored in their methods of genetic manipulation, and before you ask yes I've already had the samples we collected from the assassination attempt sent in for analysis. Preliminary scans show his DNA has had extensive genetic tweaking but very little rewrite, it would appear that they were being truthful in it being meant for little more then cleanup. As for the implant fragments, I have no idea they're beyond even us..." Belching loudly the now buzzed Dravis rolled his eyes,
"You know I kinda wish he hadn't killed Sparatus, I'd really like to have done it myself, can you imagine what we could have accomplished if they had been met in peace? Ugh...who are the matriarchs sending to liaise with the Britannians by the way?" Merig shrugged at this as he opened another bottle of beer and poured it into his mug,
"I'm unfamiliar with him but regardless he's a young up and comer by the name of Doctor Mordin Solus, he is considered a prodigy and has been on several high profile STG projects, ought to be interesting how the Emperor will respond if he finds out we're sending a trained spy into his midst." Tevos snorted at that while glancing up from her pad,
"Please as if he thought you'd send anything else," as she looked back down at her pad Merig shrugged,
"You have a point there, ah well I cannot do much until their ambassador arrives, I just hope whoever he sends is professional about their station.
Back at the club
While she had initially seen Jayne as nothing more then a means to an end Luluka couldn't help liking him, if all Quarians were anything like this pilgrim then outside of their phobia of AI's she could see them getting along with her people just fine. At her beckoning the family had come around to meet the young man and introduce themselves, currently he was enraptured by Nunnally's obscenity laced retelling of their siege on London. Suzaku shook his head ruefully as the intrigued Marine stopped her to ask details obviously enjoying the story, smirking towards Luluka he said,
"Leave it to you to manage first contact from a bar dear," snorting she reached for a new smoke and frowned seeing that it was her last, she'd have to steal more from Lou later, lighting up she patted her husband on the head.
"There there dear I know you're jealous, and it works out honestly, while he isn't important per say his family apparently is, the Reegar's are kinda like Erwin and Chloe's clans, badass military heritage that can pull a few strings if need be. It would appear that their Admiralty Board was already arranging a meeting to discuss our party crashing the Citadel so our offer should spice things up a bit, although I really don't know how we're going to explain why we're so adamant on helping." Nodding knowingly Suzaku took a sip of what he had started calling "space cola" before replying,
"Indeed, 'Hey I know we just met but do you guys want a free planet with pre-built cities and hyper advanced medicine that can fix your immune systems in less then a decade? All you gotta do is propagate like there's no tomorrow and help us upgrade your ships to fight giant extra-galactic sentient genocidal cuttlefish starships!' I know whats going on and that shit sounds utterly insane, but they could be useful and well..." Kallen who had been trying to force Ceceliana to drink some more water before she threw up again hummed a sad note,
"And they kinda remind you of what happened to us, what happened to Japan," Nodding sadly he was quiet as he became lost in some personal memory or another. As they sat in comfortable silence they listened in amusement as Jayne was treated to the story of the Christmas Nunnally and her then boyfriend had helped her dad get there entire extended family trashed on centuries old absinthe; to this day Luluka had no idea where the hell that Vincent painted as Santa Claus had come from. That had been a mess...unfortunately they'd been distracted from the cleanup the following day when Europe nuked Pendragon killing the majority of their family, remembering the good times was the only way to try and not dwell on that mess. After a few minutes Kallen and C.C's Omni-tools began blinking, opening it Kallen nodded and helped her wife up,
"Lou's back at Damocles, he asked us to bring your Quarian friend as well for a brief meeting," grunting "finally" Luluka stood up and told Nunnally to take Jayne to the dock their frames were parked at and to wait for the shuttle, she'd catch up soon. As her family left her behind she stretched out lithely then called up Yui,
"Hello Aunt Luluka, how can I be of assistance?" Smirking she said,
"I need you to spoof the bars security cameras for a roughly thirty seconds, that cool?" Nodding the little AI said,
"Done, beginning on your mark," Walking out of the bar she then cast her geass becoming unseen by all those around her, queuing Yui she turned around and marched up to the Batarian who had tried to drug her and pressed her pistol to his forehead; grinning viciously she pulled the trigger blowing the back of his head out. As she made her way back to the entrance weaving around the panicking bar patrons she began skipping lightly to the docks while whistling Sublimes 'Date rape' the entire way.
Aboard the Damocles
As the four royals plus one pilgrim made their way to the central gazebo of the atrium they heard what sounded liked a war zone in the distance, approaching Lelouch Kallen leaned against his shoulder watching the chaos unfold in the gardens, Shiala and a Krogan were busily coaching an exhausted looking Joanna through biotic exercises. Getting her husbands attention she tilted her head to the wrecked gardens below while raising her eyebrows inquisitively, smirking he lit a cigarette and she was startled to see he'd taken the synthetic flesh off his cybernetic arm, the polished steel gleaming in the false sunlight.
"That's Wrex our newest employee, I think Suzaku's really gonna like this guy he kinda reminds me of a militant Genbu mixed with a honey badger, he and Shiala are trying to show each other up and poor Jo's stuck in the middle trying to absorb it all. Normally I'd be worried they'd go overboard but Yui's been standing in the corner with a Revanant SAW eyeing them for the past hour so they're playing nice, its adorable how protective she is." Shaking her head at the commentary she rapped her knuckles against his metal limb,
"Whats the deal with the arm? Normally you keep that covered up to cut down the stares," Grimacing he scratched his head in annoyance,
"When they sent me back from the World of C my damn code reset the bindings on the synthflesh, like it always does when I die its just been so long since the last attempt I kinda forgot about it. Ah well can't bitch too much at least it gives me an excuse to upgrade it till a new skin can be grown." As he was saying this amused laughter was heard from directly outside the open building, stepping around Lelouch to leave him to their Quarian guest she saw a woman sitting in a wheel chair who cupped her hands around her mouth yelling,
"Come on Jo you can do it!" Grinning at the small girls disgruntled look she walked down the steps to stand next to Hannah, her blue hair was held up in place by a pair of chopsticks and was wearing one of Naoto's old leather bomber jackets. Walking down to her daughter in law she gave the recovering woman a hug being careful not to knock her glass from her hand, their family had very strict guidelines on alcohol abuse after all.
"Hey honey, glad to see you finally got out of that bed, sure you should be drinking though?" Snorting the bluenettes emerald eyes shown with mischief,
"Of course not, but seeing as I rammed a burning frigate into an alien cruiser then rode a fucking Mako through reentry for my escape and survived I think I've well and truly earned it, saw the broadcast, gods I wish I coulda been there in person mom the looks on those bastards faces..." Smirking she sat on the ground next to the significantly younger woman and waited in silence for a few moments chuckling quietly when an irate Joanna began throwing low powered biotic blasts at her Krogan teacher who just let out deep bass laughs of approval.
Sighing Hannah closed her eyes and downed the rest of her screwdriver, throwing the plastic container to the ground she rolled her head to face Kallen, "Mom...you lost alot...a whole helluva lot...does the pain ever go away?" Before she answered she pulled up her Omni-tool and ordered a servant to bring them more drinks, they'd need them and having a regenerating liver should be taken advantage of anyhow, finished with her commands she gently took hold of Hannah's hand.
"Honestly some days I don't even think about what happened, others it'll just pop out of the blue and ruin my entire week, sometimes there's nightmares though Lou has more of those then I do. I got...well lucky sounds really messed up but I was lucky I only saw my father murdered, my mom and brother were on the other side of the car but the blood...yeah I saw that and well...it sticks with you." Rubbing her eyes she glanced up to the young man who brought her a brandy decanter with a snifter and another screwdriver, thanking him she gave Hannah her drink while pouring herself a healthy glass, leaning against the gazebo she continued.
"The pain is always there, the loss, the feeling of powerlessness I had when those soldiers were going to kill me after they executed their own commander for trying to help me... Heh that is one of the reasons I'm such a bitch in the business world and the battlefield, I refuse to let anyone have power over me again, regardless of the repercussions. You...and take no offense to this dear but you're just as big of a bitch as I am, you'll come out of this far stronger then you think." Snorting derisively Hannah took a sip of her drink, twirling a loose strand of hair her response was a near whisper,
"I know we have to be allies with them...but the rage...god mom the rage, I want to kill them all, I want to hijack the Dauntless from Aunt Cornelia and rain F.L.E.I.J.A's on their worlds and after they're done burning I want to burn the ashes..." Patting her hand gently Kallen smirked at her,
"That's because by marriage or not you're a vi Britannia dear, its what we do, although talk to your father in law, he's got some plans for Nunnally you may be able to get in on." Shaking her head in the negative while staring at her daughter chasing a full size Krogan she said,
"No, no as cathartic as playing pirate sounds my little girl needs me, I'll stay here or wherever we need her to go as she studies, when she enlists I'll take back my commission and try to be a good example for her...if there is one thing I never want my daughter to learn from me its lust for revenge." Kallen felt a pang as she thought 'You picked the perfect woman Naoto...' but outwardly she simply nodded and stood up,
"You never cease to impress dear, I'll leave you to it, try not to get too drunk now, setting examples and all," that earned her a bark of laughter and a bit of backtalk,
"Uh huh, I'll keep that in mind next time I let Aunt Luluka watch her," smirking in return she walked back up the gazebo stairs in time to see Lelouch hand the young Quarian a ships access card, sending him off with Suzaku and Luluka he turned to his wife with an appraising look.
"She'll be fine, she wants vengeance but she wants to set a good example for Jo more then anything, so what about our boy in a bubble?" Taking her hand and sitting at the table he took a sip of her drink before handing it back to her.
"Glad to hear it, Hannah is...Jo is gonna need her, and as for Jayne I like the kid, he's got spunk and I have a soft spot for grunts, bought a used Asari shuttle while I was still on the Citadel for him to take to his fleet and gave him one of our newer rifles as a door prize, I think he squeed a little. Hopefully after he presents the offer and hands off the data in person we can get an alliance and eventual assimilation underway." Smirking she emptied her snifter and refilled it pushing it towards Lelouch who accepted it gratefully,"I'm assuming Ceceliana and Nunnally are busy elsewhere?"
"Yup, you know how C.C. gets when she legitimately tries to get drunk, shes nursing a headache in our room right now and Nunnally went to her suite to hang out with Timeo for a bit, he's gonna be miffed she went clubbing without him. Now I'm seriously chomping at the bit to enter their markets, who are we going to tap for ambassador duty so we can start the negotiations? Times a wasting," Grinning maliciously he slide a datapad her way and read the letter that he had just to sent to Prince Schneizal, her laughter could be heard echoing throughout the atrium.
Four Days Later
Ceceliana didn't really want to admit it but she was looking forward to this, her relationship with Charles had been rocky when she had originally left Ragnarok but after her future husband and wife had nuked the Geass Directorate the wily bastard had mellowed out to the point that he not only was bearable but bloody hilarious. It still amused her how accommodating he was to his children despite the fact they were directly responsible for destroying his life's work, although she had to admit that there was likely no possibility their plan to kill 'God' would have worked anyhow, perhaps he'd come to the same conclusion. Her reverie was cut off as a new ship jumped into system, the older Elizabeth class dreadnought filling their viewscreens as it made its way towards the citadel, 'Old or not she's still an impressive piece of art, better then what the Citadel has at least' she mused.
She started for a second as Kallen and Lelouch simultaneously grasped her waist and leaned into her, smirking a bit she returned the gesture lolling her head onto Kallen's shoulder, by the old gods this was going to be good and by the smiles of all the Britannians present she wasn't the only one looking forward to it. After a few moments a Crusader class assault dropship disembarked from the two kilometer long monster and was soon flanked by a quartet of Gareth Vanquishers, the massive crab clawed monsters in constant motion scanning for threats, a short time later they set down and took defensive positions around the flying block of armor and guns. The Councilors shifted uncomfortably as they finally got their first look at Charles Zi Britannia, the massive man as regal as ever though his silver hair was pulled into a ponytail rather then the elegant rolls he'd sported as emperor, to most of the aliens present he probably looked stoic but those that knew him could see the mischief in his eyes.
Walking down the ramp he approached the trio of politicians and stared down at them, he then broke into a massive grin while wiggling his eyebrows,
"So blue alien hotties, all right I get why my kids didn't wipe you people out, priorities and all that, so I'm Charles but you" he pointed at Tevos then continued, "Can call me Chuck, so what kinda bars you guys have on this dick compensating floating target?" The Councilors all floundered like landed fish while the former Emperor pulled out a hip flask and took a sip obviously waiting for their response a barely perceptible smirk at the corner of his mouth. Suzaku tried his best to hold back a snicker and mostly succeeded, Luluka, Nunnally and Timeo were shaking from the contained laughter and poor Hannah had to cover her face to hide her mirth as Charles downed half the flask and offered it to the Asari who shakily accepted it.
"Umm...on behalf of the Council we great you to the Citadel, while normally we'd send a courtier to escort you to our offices this was a...special occasion," Merig said hesitantly, grinning openly now Charles burst out laughing the deep bass rumble startling the trio.
"In other words you're terrified showing me any sort of disrespect will piss us off, I get it, well lead the way frogman I'm getting bored and I didn't travel halfway across the galaxy to sit on a bloody dock," the dawning realization of what they were getting themselves into seemed to pass over the council as they escorted the ambassador towards the lifts was priceless. As the lifts closed and began its ascent the eight humans burst out into laughter, the cheerful sounds echoing across the near empty docks, Lelouch let go of Ceceliana to hold his stomach as he gasped for breath, it took a solid minute for the royals to settle down.
"Ok...ok everything that we've gone through? Suddenly totally worth it," Hannah stammered, Nunnally and Timeo could only nod as they were still trying to catch their breath, Luluka and Lelouch simultaneously pulled out cigarettes and lit them while nodding, and the others were already heading to the lifts, Suzaku turning around long enough to wave them on.
"Come on guys I wanna be there when he starts hitting on Tevos...well hitting on her more, outta be great," with that the thoroughly amused royals headed to the Presidium.
As you can tell this was more getting a feel for the characters then any major story progression, while I've said it before I honestly think we'll have only one more chapter before the time skip, just gotta get things with the Quarians squared away and introduce Cornelia and Euphemia. If you're wondering about Luluka's cold blooded murder of her attempted rapist well...its fully in character for her, anyhow I hope you all enjoyed and hey only one day off from when I wanted this up so huzzah! Read and review and see you all next week, if anyone has suggestions on what they'd like to see I'd love to hear from you.