Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or the various X-COM games. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not written for profit. I make no money from it. It is not for sale or rent.

Chapter 2: Picking up the pieces

=SF=

Part 5: Consequences II


09:14, 18 August 2176

X-COM Facility Theta 21

Elysium

A facility, just like hundreds of others strewn through Alliance space was buried under an otherwise unremarkable mountain range. It was hundreds of kilometers from the closest settlement on Elysium, close to the rather inhospitable north pole of the planet.

It was similar do most Alliance facilities, which weren't a bunch of prefabricated modules. It was painted dark green, almost black and boring gray, full with sensors and weapon emplacements on top of the living and synthetic guards protecting the people working within.

Deep within the central hub of the base, dozens of analysts were busy over their workstations. Major Harper gave them barely a glance as he walked past rows of bureaus littered with some of the best computer systems XCOM had. The analysts had already gotten the leads he needed and were simply checking and rechecking them.

That was more than good enough for his purposes as far as the beginning of the internal investigation went. Now it was time to check on the progress with the prisoners, which was almost as important. While it was imperative that XCOM and the Alliance cleaned up house, the attack on Elysium had to be answered and for that they needed a target.

Besides the regular pirates, which were either running or laying low after two whole fleets had released their lighter elements to hunt them down.

John reached the elevator's doors and waited for a bunch of scanners to make sure that he wasn't in fact something that had borrowed his face. A soft chime later the way was clear and he entered the cube of reinforced alloys that lead towards the section of the underground facility that held detention cells and interrogation chambers.

Two minutes and four more scans later, he stepped out only to face a pair of psi operatives in light armor, though most of his attention was caught by the two SHIVs hovering right in front of him. The machines floated to the side with a quiet whine, but the barrels of their plasma canons continued to track him.

"You need to be subjected to psionic scan if you want to proceed, sir." The trooper to the right stated.

"Understood. Go ahead." Harper nodded and closed his eyes as one of the operatives took a step forward.

While not the most pleasant feeling, it was standard procedure ever since XCOM had enough Gifted operatives running around.

First came the gentle brush of another mind against his own, then the subtle pressure as the trooper forced his way through the major's mental defenses. Then the maelstrom of images associated with someone pocking through his mind came, giving him a headache.

John knew that the scan would last less than a minute, yet it felt like an eternity as his head was pounding harder and harder, while the disjointed pictures coming to the front of his min were moving faster by the second.

Finally the pressure subdued and he could sense the other mind carefully pull back from his own. It took him a few moments to center himself, before accessing his Gift and checking if his mental shields were firmly back in place. Once he was satisfied with the results, Major Harper gave a sharp nod to the troopers and walked past them, heading for the interrogation chambers where the base commander was waiting for him.

Jack walked down a long, dark corridor, passing through two more guard posts, before he reached his destination. The perpetual dusk in this part of the base did nothing to obscure his vision thanks to the enhancements he had on his eyes, making the interior of the base seem rather bright.

The Major finally reached his destination, which laid behind an armored door made of Vahlenite. Another sensor pass, a handshake with his implants and he was let through.

Six large cylinders lined the far wall of the interrogation chamber, all of them holding at least one Batarian. There was a single Krogan in one of the detention cells.

The Major could see four humans in the middle of the room, clustered around a row of consoles.

One was a tall, brunet woman wearing a snow white lab coat.

She was the only one sitting.

Behind her stood a pair of soldiers in Atlas MK III power armor, armed with heavy plasma rifles to boot. The troopers were towering a head above the last occupant of the chamber, who was the general in charge of the facility. He was wearing simple dark green jumpsuit, with only the insignia on his shoulders showing his actual rank.

"General Korolev, sir." Harper saluted after the door behind him sealed.

"Major. You're just in time. We're just beginning our chat with our high ranking guests. I trust that my analysts efforts were up to your satisfaction?"

"Yes, sir. They managed to recover some interesting bits of data."

"Will it be sufficient?"

"It will make cleaning up our house go faster."

"Good. Doctor Libra, you can proceed."

"It will be a pleasure, general." The woman's pleasant voice echoed in the quiet chamber. Her hands flew over the controls and the show began.

Robotic arms extended from the ceiling above the Krogan who snarled and tried to fight them. In the next moment the lizard howled in pain as electricity ran through his body until the alien was brought down to his knees.

Soon enough, the Krogan was tossed up like a Christmas turkey. Then smaller, more agile appendages appeared, carrying various medical instruments. A laser scalper ignited and started carving the flesh of the captive around his head plate.

The Interrogator pressed another button and all sound from the Krogan's cell was cut off, leaving the humans watch how the top of the alien's head was carved up so various electrodes and sensor probes could be implanted in his brain.

"He's stable. We can proceed."

=SF=


"That's negative, Commander. While we got a rather long list of targets to hit, none of our captives knows who was behind this attack. We can confirm that individual ships have resupplied or sold slaves in border Hegemony worlds, but not that they massed in Batarian territory prior to the attack on Elysium."

"Major Harper, you're being attached to one of the task forces which will be hitting the targets uncovered by the interrogations. You'll be going after those promising biggest intelligence windfall, long standing pirate bases and such."

"Understood, sir. What about the internal investigation?"

"Section One will continue handling the case. Colonel Travis will be in charge from now on. If you uncover additional intelligence in that regard, you're to send it to his team."

"Yes, sir."

"One more item, Major."

"Sir?"

"There is the possibility that the Council facilitated this attack in order to test our capabilities. If you discover any information proving such eventuality, make sure that it's wrapped thigh before transmitting it. Do you understand?"

"It's crystal clear, sir."

"Good. Dismissed.

=SF=


Part 6: Consequences III

13:20, 15 August 2176

Council Chambers

The Citadel

It was a small, tastefully decorated room. From the ancient wood paneling, the antique Asari, Turian and Salarian furniture to the few technological articles designed so they would seamlessly meld with the decor.

Tevos, the oldest serving member of the Council was sitting on a comfortable couch with her legs curled under her. He was sipping from a glass half-filled with a blue, sparkling drink that contained enough Eezo to poison a dozen or so people who weren't biotics. The Asari Matriarch had been holding her current position for the past two hundred years, though lately she had been entertaining thoughts about retirement so she could finally enjoy some peace and quiet.

To her right, the Salarian Councilor Ulmesh was busy browsing through data on his Omni-tool. He was an ancient specimen of his race and at forty five was on cusp of his retirement. While even his advanced age had done nothing to dull his mind, the Salarian was on his way to retirement, awaiting the arrival of his replacement by the end of the week.

The last member of the Triumvirate ruling most of the explored galaxy, Kirik Lorn was sitting next to the bar, drinking Turian Ale. He was the most junior Council member, holding his position for merely four years.

If one didn't know better, it would be easy to dismiss the three beings in the room as just a group of friends decompressing after a tough day of work.

Even if that comparison was technically true.

Kirik finished his drink and looked at his colleagues. "Any comments on the latest catastrophe?"

"Cut the Hegemony lose and watch." That was Ulmesh's immediate response.

"I'm up for that and I can assure you, the Primarch would love the idea." The Turian smiled.

"While the situation is quite volatile, there it doesn't lack opportunity." Tevos murmured.

"A nominal Council race was behind the attack on Elysium even if the Humans don't have a definitive proof yet. They won't let that unanswered even if we back the Batarians. That's something neither the Hierarchy or myself would condone." The Turian declared.

"If we don't intervene on the Hegemony's behalf it would mean war."

Tevos grumbled. She knew that while there were Matriarchs who would support kicking the Batarians out or even actually dealing with them, the majority of the Asari Republics were currently against any action that would rock the boat.

"Doing so won't prevent one." Kirik stated and Ulmesh nodded emphatically.

"We have some images from the space battle captured by STG Q vessels in Utopia. It seems we've significantly underestimated the effectiveness of the Humans energy weapons and their range in space. Their vessels are tougher than expected too."

"They lack the numbers to take us on. We might be able to persuade them to stand down." Tevos said.

"Given their history, that tall odds against them won't stop them. This time they have the technological advantage, unlike the war century and a half ago." Kirik grumbled. "If they think it necessary, they Humans will fight us too in order to punish the Batarians for that attack. Besides, you've all seen the polls. Even if their current government keeps the peace, it's likely that the next one would be voted on platform aimed straight at the Hegemony."

"Ulmesh..." Tevos muttered. "Do you want to tell us something?" The Asari Matriarch had been working with the crafty Salarian for more than a decade. She got to know him rather well during that time.

He had gotten a tiny bit easier to read in the last couple of years.

"Not particularly." Ulmesh muttered without looking up from his Omni-tool.

"Really? So Spectre Bay and a few of his STG buddies were on vacation visiting Batarian border worlds and pirate strongholds?" Tevos smiled sweetly.

The Salarian paused hid data surfing and fixed her with his huge eyes.

"You didn't..." Kirik trailed off. The Turian felt like slamming his head at the bar. Repeatedly.

Granted, the STG were masters of undercover and deniable work. However, they haven't faced before people who had the capability to extract information from ones brain using what appeared to be Spirits damned space magic!

"Me?" Ulmesh sounded affronted. "Of course not! I simply made an inquiry or two, gave the odd suggestion..." He trailed off and smiled. "Just as I'm going to suggest that we finally kick the Hegemony out of the Council unless they finally clean up their act and provide some support to the Alliance in their pirate hunt. A Spectre or two who've been dealing with that particular problem lately could do wonders for our relations with Humanity."

"Besides by keeping their eyes open, those agents could give us additional information that we won't be able to get by simply observing the Alliance from afar." Kirik nodded. "I like that idea. Let's just hope that your non-suggestions never get to the Humans. At best that would give them some political bargaining chips. At worst..."

"Damn you both." Tevos muttered. "The rest of the Matriarchs will have my head unless this conflict is averted."

"Then you're screwed." Kirik nodded sagely and was immediately followed by Ulmesh who even grinned at her, the cheeky bastard.

"You're both in agreement, I take it?" The Asari groaned.

"The Batarians are out." Ulmesh was suddenly damn serious.

"Yep." It was Kirirk's turn to smile. "You know very well that the Hierarchy had been pushing for this course of action for a long, long time. While we can take on the Humans, it will be a long and bloody war. One we certainly won't be starting on behalf of a Spirits damned slavers."

He didn't add that if a war started between the Hegemony and Alliance, the Primarch would be tempted to send a fleet or two to help the Humans clean up that blight upon the galaxy that were the Batarians.

Tevos frowned at her colleagues. She had the sneaking suspicion that the usual threats of economical sanctions and pointing out the protection the Hegemony enjoyed thanks to some ancient laws that were still on the books would fall on deaf ears. Especially as far as the Turians were concerned. They were wanting to go after the Hegemony for the last two centuries and only her deft maneuvering coupled with support from the Salarians had kept them at bay… Something that had been getting harder and harder as time went by. The Asari knew that sooner or later, the Hierarchy would simply ignore the Council's directives, accept whatever sanctions they would be hit with and unleash their fleets upon the Hegemony. The only thing that had kept the peace in the last century or so had been the Batarian restrain in not hitting Turian worlds and their focus on the Humans after they appeared on the galactic stage.

Needless to say, that didn't make the Turians any more agreeable with the Batarian policies.

The less said about how the meeting with the Human ambassador concerning the attack on Elysium went, the better. The only concession she got was that the Alliance wasn't going to attack the Hegemony without evidence… an evidence that would be to the Human's satisfaction, not the Councils. With the Alliance moving in force against known pirate bases, it was only a matter of time before they got enough information indicating that a lot of those outlaw bands were sponsored by the Hegemony, even if not outright proving that the Batarians were behind Elysium. However, Tevos suspected that would be more than enough for the Humans. Unfortunately in some respects they were worse than the Turians even if common sense had prevailed so far, avoiding conflict between the newcomers and the Council.

Tevos closed her eyes while massaging her temples. In the end she served the Asari Republics and they didn't want a war. She had to do her best to avert it.

Even if she agreed that it was a high time that the Batarians got slapped on the wrist for their stunts.

"Let's not be hasty. A war between the Alliance and the Hegemony could easily draw us in on either side. That's not something in the best interest of the Council."

"The Turian Hierarchy will have to respectfully disagree." Kirik flashed her a toothy grin.

"The Salarian Union will remain neutral in a conflict between the Hegemony and Alliance."

Tevos narrowed her eyes. This wasn't simply her colleagues seeing an opportunity and seizing it. Her centuries of experience in politics painted quite a different picture. They had the backing of their governments in this instance, she just knew it, even if her various sources hadn't heard even a whisper about it, which in itself was disturbing.

The Asari had been playing a careful balancing game for millennia, one which kept them as the most advanced and politically powerful force in the galaxy. Subtly pitting the Salarians and Turians against each other on the political arena helped a lot in that regard.

Their governments reaching what appeared to be an informal agreement to throw the Hegemony under the airbus, without her learning about it earlier, didn't bode well. She needed to run some damage control.