Chapter 9: Recreation
The orbit of Kar'Shan was a graveyard. Hundreds and hundreds of Batarian ships were simply lifeless husks orbiting the planet. Orbital constructs were charred and broken, shattered remains of orbital defenses drifted through space, silent.
On the ground, Human forces had been mobilized in full strength. There were six million UHE army personnel on the surface of Kar'Shan, ordered to crush the Batarian resistance with extreme prejudice. As the front lines were established and pushed inwards, hundreds of thousands of slaves were freed by the advancing Human armies. Luckily, no Humans were indentured on Kar'Shan, but the other races were not nearly as lucky.
There was a constant stream of re-purposed Petrovsky-Class Carriers that were jumping in and out of Kar'Shan's orbit. Each of them ferried thousands of slaves seeking refuge to the newer Human colony of Shanxi, where they would receive medical attention before being transferred over to the Citadel Council's jurisdiction.
Word of the crushing Human victory over Torfan quickly reached the rest of the galaxy through spread rumor, leaked video footage, and public statements from the UHE Government. After seeing the destruction wrought by the Humans, they gained a new title. They were no longer simply the powerful, ominous species tucked away in the Orion Arm; they were now the Butchers of Torfan, and the Butchers of Torfan had a reputation to uphold.
After weeks of intensive evacuation of slaves and prisoners of war, the UHE officially deemed Kar'Shan pacified. Thousands of Plasma Lances seared the resisting cities to glass, boiling the metallic frames of buildings and charring the surface.
On the ground, a Human Representative was in talks with the leader of an anti-Hegemony resistance force that had been active for several decades. These small bands of fighters were fighting to remove the Hegemony from power, and put in place a more just and righteous government. In a bold political maneuver, Humanity aligned themselves with these bands of fighters, made up of Batarians and non-Batarians alike.
In the Capital of Kar'Shan, the largest city which remained under the iron grip of the UHE 10th Army, Admiral Hannah Shepard was overseeing the creation of a new Batarian State: The Batarian Republic. The Hegemony, dissolved with its authoritarian leader awaiting execution on Earth, was no more.
XXXXX
Stratton stepped onto the Presidium, joined by his two Cerberus Agents. The large atrium, as usual, was filled with members of the press attempting to bombard him with questions. C-Sec, who Stratton had become quite familiar and somewhat friendly with, was holding them at bay. He crossed the distance between the elevator and the Council's podiums quickly, a small smile on his face.
Awaiting the Human Chancellor was Tevos, Sparatus, and Mesu. Tevos gave Stratton a small nod as he approached, with the others remaining a bit more stoic. "Chancellor Stratton, thank you for coming." Tevos said.
"Of course." Stratton replied with a nod.
"Do you mind explaining the fifteen Carriers that accompanied your vessel, Chancellor?" Sparatus asked, somewhat suspicious in his tone. "You've given the defense fleet quite the scare."
"Oh, my apologies." Stratton said with a smile. "These Carriers are each carrying several thousand of the Citadel Races, recovered from the Batarian worlds."
"Excuse me… what?" Tevos asked. "What do you mean by 'recovered'?"
"They are slaves, and we set them free." Stratton responded as if it were the simplest fact in the galaxy. "I figured that they would prefer to live amongst their own, rather than staying on Shanxi as refugees."
"How… how many are there?" Mesu asked, absolutely stunned.
"We've freed just under three hundred thousand slaves, with most of them still on Shanxi. This would be the first of many groups."
"I… I honestly don't know what to say." Tevos said. "I suppose all we can do is offer our thanks."
"No thanks are necessary." Stratton replied, waving his hand. "No one should live as a slave. There are a few things I need to discuss with you, however. I didn't just come here to return your people."
"And what would those points of discussion be?" Tevos asked.
"Twofold, actually." Stratton said. "The first would be the matter of the new Batarian government."
"I'm sorry, but the war has prevented a lot of information from leaving their space. Would you mind elaborating?" Tevos asked.
"Of course. The Batarian Hegemony's leadership has been removed from power, and we have helped a republican group gain power. We've begun helping in setting up a new government, which has come to be called The Batarian Republic. It's confined to Kar'Shan for now, but that will be changing over the coming months as we help get their communications grid back online. One of their envoys will be here soon, actually. She can explain it far better than I could."
"I look forward to meeting her." Tevos said, smiling. "And I must say, I was not expecting this news… have the Humans and Batarians come to a ceasefire?"
"There are still minor pockets of resistance, but they're miniscule at best. Most of Batarian space has been secured, and we've begun drafting up a treaty with the new Republic."
"What are some of the points that have come about?" Mesu asked.
"Well, the Batarians are to secede Torfan and its three neighboring systems in the Skyllian Verge to the UHE, and in return the UHE will provide economic assistance in getting the Republic on its feet. Other than that, the treaty is still in the works."
"You said you had another matter than required discussion?" Tevos asked.
"Yes… this one is a bit of a strange request." Stratton admitted. "During our campaign on Torfan, we recovered many members of the Quarian species, roughly three thousand to be more specific. Because of this, I was hoping to obtain the last-known location of the Migrant Fleet, in the hopes of bringing their people home."
"We could just as easily offer them shuttles back to the Fleet." Sparatus replied.
"Could you do it with the amount of Turian, Asari, and Salarian refugees that will be passing through the Citadel?" Stratton asked. "The UHE simply bringing these people back to their homes would be far quicker. It would only require a pair of ships to make the trip, and it would take no longer than three days."
"I believe that can be arranged." Tevos replied, giving Sparatus a sideways glance. "What ships would make the trip?"
"A single Carrier, and a single frigate acting as military escort." Stratton explained.
"Easily done." Tevos said, smiling. "I will have the Migrant Fleet's last-known location forwarded to you."
"Thank you, Councilor Tevos." Stratton said, nodding. "Is there anything you wished to discuss with me?"
XXXXX
"Admiral Hackett!" Shepard said, saluting as Hackett's holographic image appeared on the Normandy's primary QEC.
"At ease, Commander." Hackett responded. "The UHE Watch on the Rhine is ready to make the jump to the Hawking Eta system."
"Normandy is prepared to jump, sir."
"Excellent." Hackett said. "How're your Quarian guests finding your ship?"
"Tali'Zorah seems fascinated by it, her Migrant Fleet Marine escort seems… very professional." Shepard explained.
"Well, just be sure to keep them on Deck 3." Hackett said. "See you in Hawking Eta, Commander. Hackett out." Hackett's holographic form fizzled out as the communication closed out.
Shepard sighed as she stepped out of the comms room. After a quick walk in the CIC and ride on the elevator, she was on the Crew Deck. As she stepped onto Deck 3, she spotted a pair of Marines guarding the room designated for Life Support, with both of them saluting as she walked out of the elevator. She waved the gesture off, allowing the Marines to stand back at ease. As she rounded the corner into the mess hall, she spotted the two Quarians sitting at the center mess table. Tali'Zorah had insisted that this Migrant Fleet Marine, Kal'Reegar, accompany her aboard the Normandy. Shepard was unsure why, but she didn't mind.
As Shepard approached, the two suit-clad Quarians turned to look at her. "You know you aren't confined to just the Mess Hall, right?" Shepard asked, giving a small smile.
"Sorry, Ma'am." Reegar replied. "Just following your request."
"I requested that you stay on Deck 3." Shepard corrected, still smirking. She took a seat at the table across from the two Quarians. "How're you guys finding the ship?"
"It's amazing!" Tali blurted out, ensuring that Shepard's smirk remained. "The fact that you don't use Eezo is incredible! I can't believe the size of your ships!"
Shepard shrugged. "Sol didn't have any Eezo, and any we did have after the Council attacked was used in reactors on Earth. We needed another method, so we made Void Drives."
"How do you power something so huge?" Tali asked.
"Are you familiar with Neutron Stars?" Shepard asked, earning a nod from Tali. "Well, the particle known as Neutronium decays much like a radioactive isotope, but it releases far more energy. We decided to make reactors out of that."
"How did nobody else think of that?" Reegar asked.
"Mostly because there aren't any Neutron Stars within Eezo-Jump range of the Relay network." Shepard responded, shrugging. "They're the rarest stars in the known universe, especially the ones that don't act as Pulsars. The UHE only has one in its borders, in the Europa System."
"The Europa System?" Tali asked. "That doesn't show up on any of our star charts."
"Because it's one of our colonies out of the way of the Relays." Shepard responded. "It's a trinary star system with two Yellow Giant stars, each of them locked in an orbit around a Neutron Star."
"That sounds amazing…" Tali commented.
"It is pretty cool." Shepard agreed. "I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the idea of the Migrant Fleet. That's amazing to me."
Reegar shrugged. "We're survivors, we do whatever we can."
"That's a good trait to have." Shepard said, nodding. "Humans empathize with you more than you might think."
"I can imagine." Tali said. "I can't believe that the Council did something like that to you when you didn't even have a single colony!"
"Eh, look where it's got us." Shepard gestured around. "It wasn't all bad. You guys, on the other hand… It's honestly deplorable that they severed all ties with the Quarians and just let the Migrant Fleet drift through space."
"We make do." Tali said, shrugging.
Shepard heard the hydraulics of a door hissing as they opened, spotting two of her squadmates heading for the Port-Side Observation Deck, accompanied by a Marine. The three of them were laughing rather jovially, earning a cocked eyebrow from the Commander, seeing as it was 2 A.M. Earth Standard. She turned back to the two Quarians, who were also looking on, slightly confused. "Feel free to make yourselves at home." Shepard said, standing up. "We've got a full day at Jump Speed before we arrive at Hawking Eta."
"Will do, ma'am." Reegar said, nodding.
"Thank you again, Commander." Tali said, her eyes seeming to narrow slightly, representing a smile.
"Of course." Shepard said, excusing herself.
As she strolled towards the Port-Side Observation Deck, she passed by Lawson's quarters. She pressed the holographic interface, causing the door to slide open. She spotted the raven-haired operative sitting at her desk, typing up reports. "Yes, Commander?" She asked, not taking her eyes off of the computer terminal.
"The deck's yours for the next few hours." Shepard said. "Try not to cause a mutiny."
"Hardy har har, Annalise." Miranda said, making a final keystroke and closing out her terminal.
"You have your orders, Lieutenant-Commander." Annalise responded with a smirk. She quickly ducked out of the room, looking to avoid the snarky wrath of her Australian First Officer.
She quickly made her way towards the Port-Side Observation Deck, pressing the holographic interface. As the door slid open, she was greeted by thumping base indicative of electronic. She spotted Alenko and Williams sitting at the small poker table, joined by Engineer Ken Donnelly and James Vega, commander of Normandy's Marine detachment. They were all holding a hand of cards, drinks joining them.
Shepard saw a familiar Comms Specialist sitting on the small sofa that was in the center of the room. She smiled slightly as the Specialist, seeing her sitting there, reading something on a datapad. "Hey Shepard!" Alenko called out. "Come join in! We got room for one more!"
"I learned my lesson after last time, Alenko." Shepard responded, smiling. "Lost six hundred creds after that game."
"Oh, I'm sorry miss 'I haven't played poker in years, go easy on me!'" Alenko responded, earning a laugh from the rest of the table.
Shepard shook her head in exasperation as she sat down on the couch. "Hey, Sam." Shepard said, smiling.
"Hello, Annalise." Sam responded, putting her datapad down.
"In the mood to play?" Annalise asked. "Maybe I can actually win this time."
"You're on!" Sam said, smiling. She opened up the application on her Datatool, placing the small wrist-mounted computer on the table in front of the sofa. From the small screen, a holographic chessboard was projected. Sam turned the table so the white pieces were facing Shepard, and the black pieces were facing her.
Shepard smiled, and moved her centermost pawn forward two spaces. "You're going down, Samantha."
"We'll see." Sam replied, confidently.
Annalise smirked as Sam moved a pawn forward to block her own. As Sam made her move, she and Annalise started having a small discussion. "So, Annalise. What do you think's going to happen with the Quarians?"
"Honestly, I have no idea." Annalise responded, sliding a Knight forward. "Having one of their Admiral's daughters on board will probably be enough for them to trust us a bit, but I've heard rumors that Hackett's going to make an offer to the Quarians. He's been pretty tight-lipped about it, though."
"Do you think it'll be an alliance?" Sam asked, countering the Knight's move with a Bishop.
"Probably…" Annalise admitted. "There really isn't anything else we could offer. Looking forward to this wrapping up, though."
"And why's that?" Sam asked.
"We're getting extended shore leave on Earth while Normandy gets a few refits. New sensors, new main weapons, new comms systems, more advanced Void Drive. Navy's bringing her up to spec with the other Normandy-Classes in the Fleet."
"Ooh, shore leave sounds fun." Sam said, moving a Knight.
Shepard and Traynor carried on, despite the occasional joke slung at them from the poker table. Shepard, in all of her normal wittiness, fired back.
XXXXX
"Dropping from FTL in three… two… one…" Joker said, Shepard and Tali standing just behind him. Had Shepard not been told what to expect upon arrival, she would've been far more surprised than she already was. Standing before the Normandy was a fleet of over fifty thousand vessels. The vessels were obviously protecting three central ships, which seemed like giant tuning forks with a massive metal sphere in the fork of the vessel. "Well… shit." Joker broke the momentary silence.
Joker's attention was immediately grabbed by a flurry of hails from the Quarian vessels. Upon Tali's direction, he answered the hail from one of the three largest ships in the fleet, the Rayya. The hail played over the bridge's systems. "Unidentified vessel, you are entering the space occupied by the Quarian Migrant Fleet. State your intentions or turn away immediately."
"Tali." Shepard beckoned for Tali to step towards the communications console, pointing out the important modules and directing her.
Once Joker responded to the hail from the Migrant Fleet, Tali spoke through the Normandy's communications array. "After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."
After a moment of silence, a series of quick words made their way across the void of space, finding their way into the comms array of the Normandy. "Welcome back, Tali'Zorah."
"Requesting permission to dock with the Rayya?"Tali asked. "Also requesting a full quarantine crew and breathing equipment, this vessel is not clean."
"Permission granted, do not deviate from the projected flight path that we are transmitting now." The voice responded, followed by Joker's terminal receiving a packet of data outlining the exact path they are to take in order to dock with the Quarian Liveship.
"Head on in, Joker." Shepard ordered. "I'd rather not piss off the fifty thousand guns that are pointed at us right now."
"True enough, Shepard. Following projected flight path." Joker responded, setting the vessel on its way. After a few moments of rather tense flight, past some rather large guns of the Quarian Heavy Fleet, they arrived at their docking tube with the Liveship.
Shepard sighed as she picked her helmet up off of the chair next to her, pulling it over her head. "Lawson, you have the helm!" She shouted over her shoulder. "Williams, with me!"
"Aye, Ma'am!" Williams responded, jogging over to Shepard, Kal'Reegar in tow.
Shepard, Williams, Reegar, and Tali stepped into the nearby airlock, which connected to the Rayya's docking tube. Shepard kept her rifle slung across her back, in its collapsed state. Her pistol was attached to her hip, also in a collapsed state.
After a quick cycling of the airlock, the blast door on the Quarian end slid open, revealing nothing short of a fully armed platoon of Migrant Fleet Marines. One Quarian in particular stood slightly ahead of the others. "Tali…" He said, sounding rather relieved.
"Father!" Tali said, running over and embracing the older Quarian male. At this, the Marines seemed to relax.
Shepard let a small smile cross her face as she saw Tali reunited with her father. "Where have you been… We haven't gotten any updates on your pilgrimage in almost a year!"
"The Batarians… captured me and Kal, but these Humans helped us." Tali explained.
"I honestly don't know what to think, Human…" The Quarian Admiral commented, releasing his daughter. "On one hand, your kind brought the entire galaxy to its knees… on the other, you've saved my daughter. I suppose that all I can do is thank you."
"Of course, but that isn't all." Shepard responded. "In about an hour, a UHE carrier will be arriving in this system. It has about a thousand Quarians aboard, all recovered from Batarian space." At her words, the entire room seemed stunned.
"How… how did you recover our people from Batarian space?" Rael'Zorah asked.
"We just finished our war against the Batarian Hegemony, we're in the process of returning the other species to their homes as well." Shepard explained. "And I'm sure that you have more questions, and Admiral Hackett can answer them far better than I ever could. He'll be on the carrier."
"I believe the Admiralty Board and the Conclave would like to speak with him as well, I'll call for a meeting." The Admiral responded, nodding. "Please, follow me."
XXXXX
After a short wait, Admiral Hackett's carrier arrived. It was quickly given permission to start dispatching shuttles to return the Quarians to their home ships. Hackett took a shuttle to the Rayya, where he stood in a meeting with the Quarian Admiralty Board, the members of the Conclave sitting behind him as he discussed with the Admirals. "It's a pleasure to finally make the acquaintance of a Human without the threat of war." Han'Gerrel commented, making reference to the quick, bloodless first contact between Humanity and the Quarians. A Human scout fleet made a jump into Salarian space, and found themselves staring down the largest fleet in the galaxy. After a quick series of hails, the Human ships jumped away.
"Indeed it is." Hackett agreed, nodding.
"Might I ask why your species is here?" Daro'Xen asked, seeming to scan over Hackett's environmental suit with clinical eyes. "I doubt you're here to simply return our people out of the kindness of your hearts."
"Believe it or not, Humanity does empathize with the Quarians to a certain extent." Hackett said, shrugging. "Both of our species were betrayed by the Council, to a certain measure. We were simply lucky enough to be able to salvage our homeworld."
"I suppose you are right." Rael'Zorah agreed. "When you arrived, you said you had something to discuss?"
"Yes, there is something rather important to discuss." Hackett nodded his head, clasping his hands behind his back. "The Chancellor has been… informed of the rather undesirable situation that the Quarian people are currently stuck with. He's given me the ability to make an offer, one that could greatly benefit your species."
"What would that be?" Shala'Raan asked, previously remaining rather quiet.
"Unlimited and free access to Human space, namely our systems that connect to the Relay Network." Hackett explained. "This would include the ability to establish colonies and live among the Human populations of the worlds in these systems. You'd also have free trade arrangements with the UHE, along with a… personal gift from the Chancellor."
"That's… an incredible offer." Gerrel said. "It's… it would remove all of our worries about resources and movement if we could pass through Human space. There has to be a few strings attached."
"Beyond the requirement for any Quarian in Human space or on a Human world to follow the laws of the UHE, there is only one… the UHE would like your assistance with understanding Element Zero-based technologies more intimately."
"That's… surprising, to say the least." Xen added. "Your technology is well beyond our own, why would you need to understand Eezo tech?"
"There's bound to be military and civilian applications for Element Zero within our current technological framework, we simply want to understand it more quickly. Element Zero-based ships have certain advantages over our own. They're more maneuverable, cheaper to manufacture, simpler to automate, and require much less energy. Eezo weapons systems also lack ammunition limitations that our current Coilguns have to deal with." Hackett explained. "Our species has only had ready access to Element Zero for just over a year, as our home system is what your kind would refer to as a 'dry system'. That's part of the reason we developed alternate methods of FTL, that and Humanity's seemingly endless arrogance in the face of impossible odds."
"Endless arrogance?" Zorah asked.
"We're a species that rose up from the ashes after being pounded into the stone age by a Type-2 Civilization. We unified under a single flag, forged an empire out of a small corner of space, and made ourselves one of two galactic superpowers. Our economy is matched only by the combined Council economies, our military unrivaled in size and skill, our technology far beyond the reach of the Council. All of this done in under a thousand years, just after we were almost bombed into extinction as we were taking our first steps towards the stars. A healthy amount of luck was mixed in there, as well."
"What makes your tech so special? Why is it out of reach for the Council species?" Xen asked.
"Simple… power requirements." Hackett shrugged. "Eezo Cores could never hope to produce enough power to charge a Void Drive, or to create working energy weapons. The closest thing are GARDIAN lasers, and even those are just glorified magnifying glasses compared to a Plasma Lance or Long-Pulse Ion Beam."
"We're getting off-track!" Gerrel declared. "Admiral Hackett just made an offer for us to have unlimited access to their space, at least the space we can reach, and settle on their worlds should we like…"
"And a decision is left up to the Conclave." Raan reminded.
"Take all of the time you need to come to a decision, the offer will always be on the table should you need it." Hackett said, nodding.
"And it is greatly appreciated, Admiral." Zorah said, nodding his head. "Just as all of us are grateful for the safe return of our people from Batarian space." Ther were mumurs of agreement from the spectators. "With your permission, we would like to be able to send a diplomatic envoy to Earth, once we have our answer for you."
"Of course." Hackett said, nodding.
XXXXX
Stratton signed off on the treaty effectively bringing an end to the Human-Batarian War. He had already done all of the PR work required, and elected to simply sign the treaty from the comfort of his own office. He looked up from his desk, hearing the metallic door slide open, followed by the sound of dress shoes clacking against tile floor. "How're you doing, Jack?" He asked, standing up to shake hands with the illusive leader of Cerberus.
"Excellent, given the situation." Harper responded, shaking the Chancellor's hand. Like always, he smelled of tobacco and whiskey.
"You had something to report to me personally?" Stratton asked, taking a seat back in his chair, gesturing for Harper to have a seat.
Harper sat down, letting out a sigh. "Indeed… it's an issue that's far more delicate than usual, even for me." He handed over a datapad, one that carried some of the strongest encryption software available in the known galaxy. A self-modifying code, designed to prevent even AIs from tapping into the information it guarded.
On the Chancellor's touch, it activated. It showed mountains of telemetric data, picture files, and reports. The first file, which Stratton quickly opened up, was certainly strange to say the least. It depicted a shattered, broken object, looking not unlike a crawfish. It looked to be at least a kilometer long, compared to the facility it was housed in, and was made of a strange looking purple metal alloy. "What am I looking at here?" He asked.
"The Batarian Hegemony's most closely-guarded secret." Harper said, a grim smile on his face. "The Leviathan of Dis. It's a space-capable vessel, dating around a billion years old." Stratton nearly choked on his own breath. "On top of that… it's a synthetic starship, not designed to carry a crew."
"A living starship?" Stratton asked, not quite sure what he was hearing.
"Living, and genetically engineered." Harper corrected. "It appears to be a mix of synthetic and organic, with the synthetic part obviously being larger. It appears that it harbors an organic core, not unlike a brain."
"Jesus…" Stratton muttered.
"And that's not all, look at the file marked 'ALPHA SYSTEM'." Harper said.
Stratton opened the aforementioned file, finding a rather disturbing image awaiting him. It was a strange, almost monolithic construct made of a similar alloy to the Leviathan. It appeared to be four arms coming together to form a central core, and it glowed a dull blue at the seams. "What the hell is this?"
"That's just the thing… we have no goddamned idea." Harper said. "We do know one thing… it's made out of an almost identical alloy to the Leviathan, dating in at around six hundred million years old. Stranger yet, it appears to show almost… telepathic properties."
"Telepathy?" Stratton asked.
"Our scientists that have come into contact with it all mention similar occurrences… whispered voices in the back of their minds, feelings of light-headedness when around the artifact, memory loss, periods of 'black-outs', intense paranoia about the artifact, hallucinations, et. cetera." Harper said. At the Chancellor's sudden change in facial expression, he was quick in his response. "We've managed to activate some kind of containment field that the Batarians had around it, that seemed to remove the effects that the artifact has on the mind."
"Do… you think they are made by the same beings?" Stratton asked.
"I think that whatever this Leviathan is, wound up making this artifact, for whatever reason." Harper said, shrugging. "It's impossible to tell, since we've had such a limited amount of time to study it, but I think it's designed to watch over developing species."
"What makes you say that?"
"It was discovered in the asteroid belt around Kar'Shan's native star. Why else would it be located around a Garden World? On top of that, the Leviathan was also discovered in a neighboring system, and it looks almost identical in construction."
"Christ Almighty…" Stratton muttered. "A precursor civilization?"
"There'd be a hell of a lot more ruins like this if they were a precursor… I think they're still around." Harper added.
"Alright… divert a group of Cerberus' best scientists to uncover more of these artifacts. I want to understand exactly what we could be facing in the future."
"Already done." Harper said, nodding.
