Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or Mass Effect, all OCs are mine
Chapter 10: Politics
Date: October 13, 2552 ][ Location: Epsilon Eridani system/Reach- CASTLE base
"I don't understand how we could be running out of element zero, the survey team reported several million metric tons of the stuff on that asteroid."
Captain Kirkland activated one of the briefing room displays and showed Admiral Whitcomb the report from materials command of element zero production from the asteroid nicknamed 'Motherload'.
"Its not that we're running out, sir," Kirkland explained. "Our eezo demand is starting to outstrip our mining and refining capacity. The permanent facilities on Motherload are still under construction and won't be online until early December. Some of the element zero cores for our ships have to be custom designed, plus we've been operating on an estimated schedule of 18-20 ships being refitted simultaneously every five weeks. We just can't sustain those numbers, Admiral, not until the new mine is fully operational."
"Captain, I can't order the shipyard's to cut production, not when there's a war on. Do I need to remind you its imperative that we upgrade the majority of our fleet before the next Covenant assault?"
"I know, sir, and that's why I've got an alternative." Kirkland brought up a schematic of a Longsword fighter, and when Admiral Whitcomb scrutinized it for a moment he saw some noticeable differences. "Allow me to introduce the GA-TL2 Longsword II, she's got a fighter sized Mass Effect core plus a larger and more powerful fusion engine thanks to some new Mass Effect derived alloys for engine insulation. Heat sinks also reduce the thermal profile by 75% percent, allowing for increased stealth against a target. Hard points for anti-ship nukes and disruptor torpedoes, plus one of the new GARDIAN lasers as well as the standard autocannon for close range. We even have plans to introduce a new fighter shield generator derived from ONI's Sabre program since its no longer classified. With these modification a few squadrons could theoretically take a Covenant frigate on and win if armed appropriately."
"I'm intrigued, Captain," Whitcomb said. "I know Keyes would love to get his hands on these with the fighter losses he suffered at New Jerusalem. But this many complex systems will easily overwhelm the onboard computer, and short of a complete airframe redesign how do you expect to fit a larger computer in there? Or are you suggesting we stick one of our AIs, which are in finite supply, on a fighter?"
"I'm not, considering AIs are in short supply and would go to waste operating a fighter's systems. The Quarians have something in their universe called a VI, which is an incredibly dumb AI, but can be flexibly programed and have incredible processing power. Most of the Quarians don't use them, but a good deal are skilled in VI programing and have already started writing some to control the various systems. Programing for a VI of this scale isn't heavily complex meaning we can copy as many we want off the original templates, allowing us to match production with the fighter itself."
Some tactical and statistical probabilities for the fighter appeared on the screen, showing the various advantages it would have compared to their standard Longsword fighter.
"If we reduce ship refits to about seven per every five weeks, we'll have enough eezo leftover to support the Longsword II, and be able to maintain current torpedo production, plus the Mass Effect core for the Trafalgar. The IIs will easily allow us to make up for some of the firepower losses by cutting back ship refitting."
"You have me sold, Captain, you have permission to construct and test a prototype immediately, and if all goes well I want production to begin at the end of the month. Now, where are we on the Trafalgar?"
Images of the ship in question appeared on the displays; the former carrier was now reconnected, albeit by skeletal frame only. The dockworkers had mostly been working on repairing the internal damage done to the two halves, but were also faced with the grizzly task of collecting the bodies of the majority of the crew that perished aboard. The carrier likely wouldn't be ready until the end of the year, and was slated for some major upgrades that would turn her into a functional warship in addition to retaining her fighter capacity.
"We're mapping out the best place to attach the new mass accelerators. They're a pretty compact design, but only pack the firepower of a destroyer based MAC. Combined with the carrier's existing MAC and plans for ripple fire disruptor torpedo capability, the Trafalgar will pack a mean punch."
"Very good, Captain, you're dismissed," Whitcomb ordered.
"Aye aye, sir," Kirkland said as he left the briefing room. Whitcomb then turned to his aide to make sure his schedule was now clear.
"There is still one more appointment on the agenda, sir," his aide replied.
"Too much to hope for then," Whitcomb thought to himself, "who is it?"
The young ensign looked at the roster a couple of times before skeptically saying, "its Minister of Defense Alan Kolle."
Whitcomb gave a groan, "Great, just what I need, another of the president's power antics. Send him in."
The double doors opened and the aforementioned minister entered with two other people, all in various business suits; a stark contrast from all the military uniforms in the complex.
"Admiral, congratulations on your promotion, I for one will miss your presence on the security council."
"Spare me your BS, minister, I technically can kick you out and all the President will be able to do is huff and puff."
Under politically normal circumstances, kicking out the Minister of Defense would result in a reprimand on Whitcomb's record and likely a demotion, but they had hardly been in normal circumstances for nearly 20 years. In 2531, the UNSC high command ran a probability study that if the civilian government remained involved in the war effort, there would be a complete organizational breakdown by the end of the decade due to differing military and civilian opinions on how the war should be prosecuted. Four years later, the military submitted the Emergency War Powers Act of 2535 to the General Assembly with an ultimatum; they either passed it in its entirety, or the UNSC would enact it anyway. The vote wasn't exactly unanimous, but it passed the assembly and was reluctantly signed into law by the president. There were sporadic demonstrations across Earth, and the Secretary-General of the Assembly resigned in protest. The law effectively excluded the civilian government from the military decision making process, and placed all the remaining outer colonies under direct military control, with the option to expand that to the inner colonies and even Earth if necessary. It was effectively a military coup that continued to this day; the UEG barely was involved in the governance of Earth's domain; the president was largely on par with the two surviving monarchies of Earth, and the Minister of Defense was only allowed to sit in on lower level HIGHCOM meetings as a courtesy.
The minister merely smiled and brushed off the Admiral's remark, "Admiral, I'm not here on some token gesture to get the government involved in military matters again. There's no public support on Earth for it because the military has continued to allow the government autonomy on Earth and the other Sol colonies. Frankly, colonial governance was always a headache for the Assembly, something you relieved them of."
"Minister, that hasn't stopped a dozens of companies from funding candidates who don't have the power to change the Lend-Lease provision," Whitcomb said.
The provision he listed essentially annulled the military budget and allowed the military to directly appropriate materials from manufactures, as they would never be able to pay for anything with the kinds of budgets the Assembly kept passing.
"Regardless, Admiral, that's not what I'm here for. I am here to exercise the government's last official function left. Allow me to introduce Joseph Fox, who has been appointed earth's official ambassador to the Quarian people," the minister gestured to the man on his left.
"I assigned Lieutenant Commander Jane Carmichael to serve as our liaison officer with their admiralty board," Whitcomb said.
I know that, but they also have a civilian component that the admirals must answer to. I think its only fitting that we also have a civilian liaison alongside a military one. The minister reached into his pocket and removed a data crystal. And in case you were going to delay my colleague's appointment by confirming orders back home, don't bother. The minister passed the crystal to the Admiral who quickly placed into the media drive built into the table. A series of orders flashed across a small screen built into the table.
We debated this for several days, Dan. We don't think its a good idea to override SECGEN on this, however this ambassador is a political outsider and comes from a military background, he may prove useful. -Hood
"Very well, minister, I'll have my liaison inform the admiralty board of the Ambassador's appointment and see he gets some proper facilities," Whitcomb reluctantly said.
"Thank you Admiral, but I was also wondering if I might get a chance to inspect one of the new refitted ships, the president and the rest of the executive cabinet are curious to see these new construction methods."
"I'll see if something can be arranged."
With that, the minister left the room with his aide, leaving Whitcomb to face the new ambassador.
"Frankly Admiral, I didn't want this job, but when you have a military parent there's always that call to duty. When the Cabinet made the offer I couldn't refuse, my father would have wanted me to do my part."
"I can understand that," Whitcomb replied. "Obviously it won't be easy for some of my personnel to get used to having civilian input on this issue, but I will try and make the effort to extend all courtesy to you."
Whitcomb crossed the room and offered the ambassador his hand, which the diplomat took.
Date: October 13, 2552 ][ Location: Epsilon Eridani system/Reach orbit- Normandy
"So I grabbed the dead Batarian, pulled the grenade pin on his vest, and tossed the corpse right at his buddies!"
"That's what I call an explosive reunion!"
Zaeed had just finished telling yet another story of his past exploits to Sergeant Johnson in the mess. The two had become fast friends during Johnson's time aboard, and they frequently had lunch together and swapped stories, much to the chagrin of the rest of the crew who had to sit there and listen to their loud talking. That wasn't the only problem the crew had to put up with in the mess.
"Well here comes miss stoic and pale," Zaeed mumbled to Johnson as Linda rounded the corner from the elevator. The Spartan always came up from her small quarters on deck five at this time every day for lunch, always dressed in a black t shirt with the UNSC seal on it. This was one of the few times the Spartan was out of her imposing battle armor, considering none of the mess chairs could support its weight. She always ate more than most of the crew, but not as much as Grunt does in one sitting.
"Sergeant, Mr Massani," she said as she passed by their table and sat at the back table.
"Goddamn shock troopers, Zaeed commented, "never liked em', always numbed themselves to combat. Sometimes they couldn't control who they kill"
Johnson had no quarrel with the Spartans, Linda especially, and at least the Normandy's crew hadn't alienated her with the same kind of hostility that the ODSTs were known to have towards Spartans. Linda usually spent her time on deck five, but had made a few trips to the armory; what she and Jacob did was anyone's guess, with all the usual rumors from an inappropriate relationship to designing some kind of doomsday weapon.
"Should have read more of those history packets your AI sent the crew, Zaeed. Spartans are legendary in this war," Johnson said. "They've done things that would have taken 20 guys like you and me to accomplish."
Johnson knew Linda was well within earshot, even without that supposed super hearing Spartans were known to have. Even though he had gotten to know the Master Chief and Linda during his short stint on the Pillar of Autumn, the Spartans were still an enigma to him. All he knew about their origins and capabilities were from second hand rumors and the usual military propaganda. He didn't know what made the ODSTs hate them so much, but knew it had nothing to do with Spartans getting preferential assignments; the kids of missions Spartans went on would almost certainly return ODSTs in body bags.
"So where was I, the Batarian helped me take out most of their men, from there it was a short firefight to their gunship. Quick omni gel override and I was out of that depot."
As Zaeed continued his story, Johnson saw someone peaking around the corner from the elevator. It was Jack, the tattooed ex con that Johnson had only run into once, and had avoided after hearing all the rumors on the ship about her. She looked over the crew area for just a moment before retreating into the hall, why, was anyone's guess.
XXX
Down in engineering, Tali was busy trying to draw up specs for FBA couplings that the UNSC engineers could fabricate. The Normandy's were overloaded during the firefight and subsequent atmospheric entry during the battle over New Jerusalem; they were still operational, but just barely and would likely fail soon. Gabby and Ken were off duty, leaving Tali to finish up the work the three of them had started. The disassembled coupling was lying in the middle of the room, with Tali going over every little part with her omni tool. She would later have to reassemble the coupling and hope the already frayed components worked again after being taken apart.
The door to engineering opened and Shepard stepped inside, looking down at Tali as she continued her work. Shepard had to admit, Quarians, especially Tali, were extremely dedicated to their work. But at the same time Shepard felt sorry for Tali after everything she had gone through over the past month; loosing her father and till working on keeping the Normandy running after multiple battles with the Covenant. That much pressure so soon after a traumatic experience must have taken its toll emotionally on her. He didn't want to ask her to do another task, but this was important.
"Do you have a minute to talk?" He asked after she turned and noticed him.
"Sure, this can wait." she gestured to the mess on the floor, "What do you need?"
"You're aware Zaeed's team captured a member of one of the Covenant species on New Jerusalem?" Shepard asked.
"Yes, I assume Mordin has taken it apart by now," Tali said. "Sometimes Mordin's eccentricities worry me."
"No, its still alive; Zaeed's team had roughed it up down there and it's been in some kind of a protective coma for the past few weeks. Chakwas and Mordin found a fracture on its cranium where Zaeed hit it that's been slowing healing while its been unconscious. The fracture's healed and its showing signs of stirring."
"I don't understand why I need to know this," Tali said.
"Because I want you to talk to it, right now. Your work can wait a little while. I'll explain when we get up there."
Tali shut her omni tool off and followed Shepard to the elevator and up to deck two, where they cut through the armory to get over to the tech lab. Mordin, Doctor Chakwas and Kelly Chambers were watching a security camera feed of the next room. The passageway between the lab and the CIC had been converted into an observation room, where one half was replaced by a glass partition. Inside was an atmosphere almost entirely of methane, and on a small cot the Grunt lay prone with a omni scanner over its head. They had thankfully been able to replicate the grunt's native atmosphere from sample taken from its mask before the methane tank it wore ran out; it and the grunt's plasma pistol were being studied in the armory. Since then it had practically been in a coma, its metabolism all but shut down, which had spared the Normandy crew of trying to find a way to feed it intravenously.
"I still don't understand why you want me to try and talk to this thing?" Tali asked.
"You're both quite similar in some respects," that comment came from Kelly Chambers, whom she remembered Shepard telling her that Kelly was some kind of Doctor but for mental issues; councilor was the word he used. "from what we understand their species can't survive in our atmosphere, much like yours, though for different reasons. Its possible you may be able to establish a rapport through that, and the fact both your species are fairly low in respect in both universes, no offense of course."
"None taken," Tali replied. "I guess I can try and talk with it, but do we even understand its language?"
"UNSC provided translation matrix, available data files on grunt language." Mordin fired off as he uploaded the relevant files to Tali's omni tool. "Grunt, moniker, real species name unknown, perhaps identity will be learned through interrogation session."
"Thanks Professor," Tali said as she turned toward the locked door. Shepard grabbed a locus SMG off the table and stood by the door.
"I'll be watching the security feed, if anything happens I'll be through this door inside of ten seconds."
"Thanks Shepard," she said as Shepard typed in the door code and the locking hologram changed from orange to green. The door opened in its usual fashion and Tali stepped inside, the door closing behind her and the locking mechanism still displaying green. The door to the CIC was marked red, meaning it was in total lock down; if the Grunt were to escape it wouldn't be going anywhere sensitive.
One third of the small hallway was sealed off by the glass partition, and the Grunt slept soundly inside the methane atmosphere. She studied the creature for a few moments, it was easily as tall as a Volus, but with massive forearms that didn't seem like they could be lifted by the rest of its body. It wore what parts of the armor Jacob couldn't get off, and was starting to toss and turn as if it was in a regular sleep. Tali only had to wait a few more moments before the Grunt finally stirred and opened its eyes. It seemed disoriented at first, likely due to it being unconscious for so long. The Grunt soon realized it was missing its respirator pack and mask, but could breathe. When the the fact it was in captivity set in, it let out a shriek and started looking for a way out.
"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you," Tali said, hoping her translator put her words into something the alien could understand. She raised both her hands in a friendly gesture, surprisingly the Grunt ceased its panicking for a moment and just cowered in the corner, looking at Tali. The Grunt had specifically noticed Tali had only three fingers, and from there saw she was completely encased in her envirosuit.
"You one of aliens that help infidels?" It asked.
"Infidels? You mean the humans?" Tali asked. "I'm friends with the humans, yes."
"You no look like great one that injured Yayap. It was big like Jiralhanae."
The translator couldn't get a few of the words it was saying, but for the most part it was coming through clearly.
"So what's your name?" Tali asked. It seemed as good a place to start trying to build this rapport Yeoman Chambers was talking about, even though Tali had no idea what she was doing.
"I'm called Yayap," he replied. "Why you give me air to breathe? Me your enemy, you and humans fight Covenant."
"Because we're... different from the humans you've fought," Tali explained. "My Captain isn't the type of person who would simply execute a prisoner, he's an honorable man who ensures his crew's well being, even that of a prisoner."
"He like you?" Yayap asked.
"Like me? You mean a Quarian? No, believe it or not he's a human, and he doesn't want to hurt you. In fact he and I would like to get to know you."
The Grunt shied away from the glass wall and towards the hull, "I'll be punished if I tell you anything, the Sangheili would leave me at the mercy of Kig-Yar."
"We're not planning on giving you back to the Covenant," Tali said, and then mentally slapped herself for saying Yayap might as well be imprisoned on the Normandy forever. "What I mean is my Captain won't just turn you over to the Covenant if it means you get punished for being a prisoner. You can even stay if you want, I'm sure my Captain would hear you out."
"You not going to hurt Yayap? Decons and Sangheili speak of death to any captured Covenant by humans."
"We won't hurt you, Yayap, we just want to learn more about you, so maybe we can stop this war, and more of your people won't have to die."
Yayap seem to relax and moved back to the cot, and sat down upon it.
"You really don't want to hurt Yayap?" He asked.
"I promise we wont hurt you, but you're also a prisoner, so don't expect luxurious treatment."
"Yayap understand," he replied, "you wear breathing equipment, you breathe other gas?"
"Other gas? No, I breathe the same air as humans. I just get sick easily if I'm without this suit."
Tali wasn't sure, but there seemed to be a look of curiosity on Yayap's face. "You have no area where you can take it off, like methane pod?"
As Tali began to explain some basics about Quarian biology, Shepard and the rest of the group watched the security monitor in the lab.
I'm surprised this "Yayap" opened up so quickly. I may have underestimated Tali being able to establish a rapport, Kelly commented.
Shepard was equally impressed by his Quarian friend, she had come a long way from that young girl on pilgrimage he had met two years ago. Mordin walked over to Shepard and snapped him out of his dwelling on the past.
"Need something, Professor?"
"Indeed, require permission to bring guest aboard Normandy. Fellow scientist, Halsey, met her during tour of Normandy to UNSC officials, kept correspondence. Eager to begin collaborative work, may help smooth relations between UNSC and Normandy."
Shepard knew Miranda might give him hell over the possible repercussions of Halsey doing spying for the UNSC, but her softening attitude towards Shepard might mitigate it. "You have my permission to allow her aboard, just don't design some kind of super weapon together."
"Would never dream of creating weapon aboard Normandy, task best suited for underground facility," Mordin cheekily replied.
Date: October 13, 2552 ][ Location: Epsilon Eridani system/Migrant Fleet- ex CMA Mercy
As part of the agreement between the UNSC and the flotilla, they were provided many of the ships the UNSC had lying around various bone yards. They were brought to Epsilon Eridani where their slipspace drives were deactivated permanently and turned over to the Quarians for retrofit to their specifications. The Mercy was a midsized hospital ship that had recently been retired, then reactivated as part of the transfer, but was also part of the first civilian level joint operations between the UNSC and the Quarians. Doctors from all over Earth and the colonies were taking part in what was technically a humanitarian operation; the UNSC was providing the Quarians with medical assistance to cover several recent shortfalls. When the flotilla had made the transition, several ships had collided including a medical ship and a freighter carrying a stockpile of medical supplies. The Mercy was easily twice the size of the Quarians largest medical ship and could handle triple the patients, so the UNSC not only supplied the ship but provided a medical staff as a sign of good faith. It was a great opportunity for doctors to study the Quarian race along with their medical technologies.
"That should just about do it," said Doctor Anna Chase said as she finished setting a young Quarian girl's broken arm. Using a specialized syringe, she injected a dose of medi-gel into the Quarian's suit which would seek out and begin mending the bone. UNSC biofoam could do the same job, but would take seventy percent longer. The UNSC Joint Medical Corps was already investigating the possibility of mass producing their own medi-gel.
"Thank you, Doctor," the Quarian said as she got off the examination bed to make room for the next patient. This Quarian was running a fever from a suit puncture that Doctor Chase could see was been covered with a patch until it could be fixed properly.
"Lets take a look here," Chase said as she interfaced a datapad with the diagnostic equipment on the bed and the medical monitors inside the Quarian's suit. Thankfully there hadn't been a secondary infection around the injury itself and the Quarian was just suffering a basic reaction to the foreign bodies in its system. One standard anti viral cocktail and a quick examination of the wound followed by treatment later, Anna's latest patient was discharged.
"Doctor Roberts, I'm going to step out for a few," she said to the head of the ward.
"Take a couple hours and get yourself something to eat, there aren't that many people waiting for exams. Besides its all primary care stuff at this point, you're talents would go to waste on something as mundane as this," Roberts replied.
"You're too kind," Anna said back as she left the ward and passed through a decon suite. The Quarians engineers were going over every inch of the medical ship and sterilizing it for their eventual use, as a result Anna and the rest of the medical support staff had to wear isolation suits when in the medical wards. A small area of the ship was assigned to the human crew and allowed them to be free of the confines of their isolation suits, and this where Anna was heading. She quickly changed out of her isolation suit and into one of the many plain jumpsuits that she had been given before coming aboard. The area her and her team had been assigned was just a small common area leading to a couple of barrack style-rooms, with a kitchen and shower area. The accommodations were almost military, but then again this was technically military operation.
Anna had graduated five years ago from Cydonia University on Mars with a degree in biochemestry and genetics, and did some concentration work in xenobiological research. As a result, she was recruited by the military under selective service because of her expertise and immediately carted off to Earth to work for the war effort. She had initially be assigned to the bio warfare division, but requested a transfer on moral opposition grounds before she started working there. It was granted, and she found herself working for the Covenant analysis division of ONI Section One, studying anatomy and physiology of the various Covenant races. When contact had been established and an official alliance signed with the Quarians, she had been one of several hundred scientists and doctors from all over human space to volunteer for an exchange and assistance program. Because of her background working for the military, she was picked and placed under a team headed up by renowned biologist Doctor Erik Roberts. Technically most of the services they provided to the Quarians was basic care and emergency treatment, all mundane to an average Doctor, but groundbreaking for people like Anna who got the chance to study an alien race up close without it trying to kill them. The humanitarian effort was also an added moral bonus, as some of the doctors on the team were reportedly in the bio weapons division and were denied transfer up to this point. The UNSC's offer of assistance in medical matters help to lessen the strain their medical department was under, and the rationing of medical supplies thanks to the new alliance.
Anna got a small cup of team from the beverage dispenser and sat down on one of the couches in the common area, it was lumpy and stiff, likely it had been here since the ship was built and hadn't been taken out when the Mercy was put in mothballs. As she tried to relax on the couch, Anna realized she wasn't alone in the room. Standing in the doorway was a Quarian, which wasn't that unusual as their retrofit of the ship required them to enter the little enclave Anna's team was using. She could see it was a male Quarian, who's suit was a jet black with a few dark purple highlights here and there.
"You are one of the human doctors?" He asked.
"Last time I checked," Anna jokingly replied, the significance lost on the Quarian. "Are you lost? Because I'm pretty sure the work detail is up on deck five today..."
"I'm not with the work detail, I've come here to seek assistance from one of the human doctors. My name is Teren'Dalo vas Zeppla."
"Well listen, Terren'Dalo, you're just going to have to wait in the medical ward along with everyone else if you have a medical issue."
"I am not here to seek treatment for an injury, I am here to ask you to help cure us of an ailment," Terren said.
"A disease? We weren't told the Quarians were suffering from an outbreak of something." Anna rushed to her feet and prepared to go get changed into her isolation suit when Terren stopped her.
"The only disease we have are these damned suits," he said, "we want your help in ridding us of them."
"Look, umm, I'm gonna need to inform my supervisor, and contact security," Anna explained. "You're here, unauthorized, and making some grandiose claims."
"I understood the risks when I came aboard, but we want your help," Terren replied. "Please consider my request."
Date: October 14, 2552 ][ Location: Ceti Alpha system- Covenant station Unyielding Hierophant
"That was when the fleetmaster suffered some kind of mental collapse, and began spouting heresy about how the humans should be spared".
Voro 'Mantakree stood in the great meeting chamber of the refit station to explain his actions before the Prophets. Truth and Mercy appeared via hologram from High Charity, but the Prophet of Regret regularly traveled among the fleet, and was here in person. As the highest raked officer to survive the disastrous invasion of the human colony, Voro was required to go before the high council and explain his actions. Although no councilor was present, Voro nonetheless felt apprehension as he recited his story to the high prophets themselves.
The prophets had seemed taken aback by Voro's explanation of the late Fleetmaster Inanraree's madness, and were conversing amongst themselves. As they were deliberating, Thel Vadamee watched patiently from the stands. Although he had arrived at the eleventh hour and manged to rescue the remains of the fleet from obliteration by the humans and their alien allies, he received not so much as a thank you from the prophets. Privately many of the surviving ship masters had expressed their gratitude to Thel, even going so far as to earn praise from officers who harshly criticized him for letting his fleet be destroyed by the human doomsday weapon.
"The hierarchs will likely use this trial as a spectacle to curtail the remaining contrition governors," Rtas whispered from next to him.
Thel looked over at his friend who was now sporting two less mandibles thanks to an encounter on the human colony with one of the still unknown aliens assisting the humans. The projectile weapon had scarred the surrounding tissue and shattered the bones in the two mandibles; Rtas had of course refused medical treatment and opted for self amputation via a plasma blade.
"The governors have no friends on the high council, you may in fact be right."
Thel had no love for the contrition governors ether, and a social shakeup would most likely pause the war effort for a few months. As much as his colleagues would disagree, Thel believed a pause would be in the covenant's best interest. They needed time to attempt to recon the supposed alien invasion fleet gathering in the system Thel had tried to cleanse, and if confirmed, prepare the Covenant for a larger war effort. Ships and armies needed to be mobilized from the frontier worlds, and Unggoy and Lekgolo breeding rations lessened if the Covenant hoped to match the invaders.
"Voro 'Mantakree!" The Prophet of Truth bellowed, "your Fleetmaster has been found guilty of conspiracy to commit heresy against the Covenant, under orders from the governors of contrition. Evidence has come to us that his actions preceding his declaration on the Incorruptible were in fact part of this plan, to damage our forces and demoralize the Covenant with another failure against the humans!"
There were many hushed whispers from the dozens of Sangheili seated in the stands, as they knew what such a condemnation meant. Voro was partly saddened to hear the posthumous declaration made against his former mentor, but knew it was for the best, Tano could not live down spouting such heresy on the field of battle.
"For failure to realize the true machinations of his plan when the tactical situation was clearly being mislead, you will share in your Fleetmaster's punishment, Voro 'Mantakree!" Truth decreed.
Voro's blood went cold with shock, how could the prophets come to such a twisted conclusion? If he had known that Tano was planning some sort of grand defeat for the Covenant, and was directing the battle to this end he would have surely slain his Fleetmaster earlier.
"Hierarchs, I must protest, I knew nothing of his plan!" Voro cried. "His motivations were secret, even to me!"
"Perhaps you were too trusting of your Commander," Mercy interjected, "and that he in fact abused this trust to keep you ignorant of his plans; a puppet. Perhaps you should not share fully in your master's demise."
The Prophet of Mercy was known for his unorthodox acts of clemency to certain criminals, but they in the end end up serving punishments worse then death. This fact is of course not known to the public at large and mainly helps to solidify Mercy's image. Thel couldn't help but notice the disapproving glances the other two hierarchs gave their colleague.
"The sentence of death is commuted then," Truth declared. "You will instead be remanded to the custody of the Jiralhanae. Tartarus!"
Thel's head swiveled with the rest of the crowd to one of the side entrances where a Jiralhanae chieftain entered with his entourage. Thel had only heard about Tartarus in passing; he was the supreme chieftain of the Jiralhanae, a title that was part leader/part figurehead. He was known for his brutality in his engagements, and the rumors that he had made first contact with the humans twenty seven years ago, though Thel assumed they were just tall tales to boost his ego.
"Hierarchs, I am loyal! I would have stopped him if I knew!" Voro was silenced as one of Tartarus' entourage stabbed the Sangheili in the chest with a stun baton, causing crippling pain and unconsciousness in seconds. The two Jiralhanae carried off the unconscious Sangheili as Tartarus bowed quickly to the hierarchs before joining them. Even Thel had to admit, Voro surely didn't deserve such a severe punishment as an act of clemency, becoming a slave to the Jiralhanae would strip away any honor Voro had left. His remaining life would be short as a slave or as entertainment fighting one of the myriad of creatures that inhabited Doisac in public arenas.
"Thel Vadam," the Prophet of Truth addressed him directly, and Thel stood in recognition. "While your excursion to the human planet was unauthorized, your timely arrival saved the lives of many Covenant soldiers that would have met a dishonorable death at the hands of the Contrition Governor's plan. By order of the High Council, you are to be commended for your actions, and to proceed at your earliest convenience to Sangheilos for assignment under Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree. This meeting is adjourned."
The two holograms of Truth and Mercy disappeared while Regret was escorted out of the chamber by his honor guard. The crowd seated in the stands began to disperse as Thel remained standing and wondering about the hierarchs' sudden generosity towards them. Only a few weeks ago Thel assumed he would be stripped of his command and forced to resign from military duty for his failure at Reach. But that wasn't the biggest question on his mind.
"Why is Xytan 'Jar Wattinree assigned to Sangheilos?" Thel asked Rtas. The imperial Admiral was a distinguished Commander who had personally led many of the major offensives of the war with the humans. Sangheilos was too far from the front to be an effective staging point for some kind of assault, and the only major assignment in that area was the planetary guard.
"There are rumors," Rtas began to say, "we can't talk about such things here, perhaps back aboard the Seeker."
"Indeed," Thel replied, there were a still a few Sangheili in the stands, some watching him, others carrying on hushed conversations. What worried him was the presence of so many Jiralhanae in the chamber for the trial. The Unyielding Hierophant had a significant Jiralhanae population that were being granted more and more prestigious positions aboard. Some had started to speculate that they would eventually be given the administrator's position; currently held by a Sangheili.
"We will continue this discussion back aboard the ship."
XXX
"See to it that the remainder of the bridge crew of the Incorruptible are quietly executed, you may do with Voro as you please" Regret said to Tartarus via hologram link from inside his sanctum aboard his personal flagship.
"I will see to it that my men in the shipyard will act swiftly, hierarch," the Jiralhanae gave a bow as his image disappeared. Regret then opened a secure channel to High Charity, and the other two hierarchs appeared.
"Do you know why the luminary started reading the humans properly again?" Truth asked.
"The engineers I set to analyze the device say it was working properly and our 'modifications' hadn't been tampered with," Regret replied.
When the war first began, the three hierarchs knew that all it would take was a smart enough Sangheili to determine that the reclamation symbol on the luminary was referring to humans rather than relics they had in their possession. In order to overcome "interference" supposedly generated by the humans to avoid detection by the luminaries, the hierarchs had been able to order the reprogramming of the devices to change the classification of humans from reclaimers to heretics. Usage of the devices was also restricted, and the hierarchs hoped this would be enough to keep their discovery about the humans secret until the humans had been eradicated.
"The engineers stated the luminary detected some kind of variant of humans that we failed to reprogram the device for."
"Could it be these demons the Sangheili speak of?" Mercy asked.
"There has not been enough proof to support their existence, but the evidence we do have state they are superior to average humans. Its possible this is the first sign of their existence," Truth theorized. "In any case, we must take steps to ensure a repeat of this mistake does not happen again. May I remind us that we have no more significant fringe groups to draw attention away from these irregularities."
"I will take steps to ensure the luminaries on all front line ships are reprogrammed, and I have ensured that the bridge crew of the Incorruptible will be silenced," Regret said.
"Very good, though with the coming crackdown on the Governors of Contrition, it may be necessary for us to accelerate our plans regarding the Sangheili," Truth said.
"I assume that's why you sent Vadamee to Sangheilos with Jar Wattinree?" Regret asked.
"Yes, in the coming weeks I want the Jiralhanae promoted to important fleet positions on the front," Truth ordered. "Mercy and I will handle the transitions on our end. The great journey may be close at hand, and this incident with Inanraree has shown us the Sangheili cannot be trusted to join us on the path."
Regret, ironically, was having some dissenting thoughts at expelling the Sangheili from their position, having worked with them for so long before becoming a hierarch had given him a strong admiration of their species. Regret even befriended several noble houses during his time touring the fleet, but he knew even these allies would turn against him should they ever learn what he, Truth and Mercy had hidden from the Covenant.
XXX
Once they were safely aboard the Seeker of Truth, Rtas and Thel began contacting their allies on Sangheilos and elsewhere in the empire to determine what was going on, the news they got back was troubling. Many prominent fieldmasters and fleetmasters were being assigned to frindge locations in the empire, and Jiralhanae were being brought up to take their place. Friction between the two species had been growing for some time and more and more Jiralhanae were brought up to replace heavy losses in the war. Most of these changes, had of course been edicts straight from the hierarchs themselves, only deepening the mystery.
"This is disturbing information, to say the least," Thel said as the pair reviewed the information their contacts had sent them inside the Seeker's map room.
"It would seem you and Jar Wattinree are merely the latest to fall victim to this scheme," Rtas said, "you and he are prestigious fleet commanders, they must be bold to be going after you both."
"I no longer command a fleet, Rtas, they have no reason to dispatch me," Thel said, the regret of loosing his entire fleet still hung heavily on his mind. "But my recent actions may have convinced the hierarchs that I was suitable to be targeted. The question is why they intend to elevate the Jiralhanae, and what this means for the Sangheili." The compact between their two races was the founding basis for the Covenant, to subtly violate it would shake the empire to its core if this information ever got out.
"We must at least let the high council know of this," Rtas said.
"I know only a few councilors, and trust even fewer, we will need a powerful ally who has greater sway then I," Thel said. "It seems for now, we will have to go along with this plan of the hierarchs. Admiral Jar Wattinree would have the contacts we need to expose the hierarchs' scheme, and uncover their motive."
Date: October 15, 2552 ][ Location: Epsilon Eridani system- UNSC Pillar of Autumn
"Drive shutdown in five seconds," Sendai stated from his pedestal on the bridge. Commander Dominique walked over and grabbed hold of the new railing that replaced the wall between the CIC and bridge proper. The simulated FTL star scape on the viewscreen warped and returned to a normal starview; the test of the Autumn's FTL drive had worked.
"Across the system in a few seconds," Ensign Lovell said, "bye bye slipspace.
"This new drive sure does make it look like that," Dominique said. "Sendai, patch me though to engineering."
Normally Admiral Keyes would have supervised the test, but he had been called to Reach to be debriefed by ONI. Rather than postpone the test, Keyes allowed Dominique to command the Autumn for the test.
"Purdy, how's the drive core holding up?"
"Wonderfully sir, Zial says the the field parameters are well within norm, our new cruising speed is eleven point six-five lightyears per day. We could circumnavigate all UNSC controlled space and be back on Earth for the Interstellar Series."
"Well I'm sure the crew could use the leave," Dominique joked. He had a hundred credits riding on one of the ball teams competing. "How far out are we from Reach?"
"About 20 minutes, sublight," Lovell reported. "Admiral Keyes' shuttle is on approach though."
"Sendai, patch me through," Dominique said as he readied his headset. "Admiral, you'll be pleased to know the FTL drive performed to expectations."
"That's good news, Commander," Keyes replied, "I'm docking in five minutes, I want you to meet me in the officer's briefing room as soon as I'm aboard."
"Understood, sir," Dominique replied. "Hikowa you have the bridge."
The XO promptly left the bridge and took the lift down two levels to the officer's briefing room. It was a basic briefing room with few comforts, and a display of pictures of the Autumn's service, which was short considering the drawbacks of the original Halcyon class. Supposedly the remaining Halcyons were being scrounged up from boneyards and undergoing refits to bring them to the Autumn's standard in Sol. Dominique didn't have to wait long before Keyes barged in, and surprisingly Lieutenant Haverson was outside, but didn't follow the Admiral inside.
"Commander, I just had to endure four hours of subtle berating by ONI for my "conduct" at New Jerusalem."
"If this is about you letting the Covenant fleet recover their troops, it was at least a smart call. They didn't attack the planet and left right after."
"They did criticize me somewhat for that, but determined the morale blow those troops brought back to the Covenant is why there's been a lull in any attacks over the past month," Keyes explained. "No, ONI wanted to call me out for "involving non-UNSC assets in sensitive military operations", mainly the Normandy and Commander Shepard."
"They managed to shut down the Covenant operation before they managed to release any radioactive material, we'd be dealing with an ecological disaster on New Jerusalem right now," Dominique retorted.
"That's what I tried to tell them, but they just let me off with a warning that I have no intention of respecting," Keyes sneeringly replied. "I also requested that Haverson be transferred off the ship, since he was likely the one who wrote the report to ONI calling me out for my actions. Instead they recommend him to be the battlegroup's intelligence officer, making him senior staff. He ambushed me outside and tried to be let in on this meeting."
"Sounds like there wasn't any good news on your trip, sir," Dominique said.
"No, there was a bit of good news; the Spartans are officially attached to the Autumn, but its more out of necessity. Reach HIGHCOM just doesn't have the material to rebuild the bases on the RMR yet."
"Hell, and I was hoping we could keep them," Dominique said, the humor lightened the mood between the two men.
"So, perhaps we should go over those FTL results," Keyes suggested.
Dominique nodded and the two men sat down at the table.
Date: October 15, 2552 ][ Location: Epsilon Eridani system/Migrant Fleet- Rayya
Aboard the massive lifeship, the admiralty board had convened for their weekly meeting with the UNSC representative. This time she had been accompanied by another man in an isolation suit like hers.
"Admirals, may I present Ambassador Joseph Fox, he will be Earth's official liaison to you now."
"Ambassador, you will have to forgive us, but we were used to dealing with Commander Carmichael. We have bad experiences with Citadel politicians in the past," Admiral Gerrel explained.
"I've studied your historical codex in detail, and I am personally appalled by your treatment by the Citadel. I and my government wish to help you make your stay here as comfortable for your people as possible."
"We appreciate that, ambassador," Admiral Gerrel said in response.
"Though that still doesn't sway some of our misgivings," Admiral Koris said. "Politics only work in peacetime, and the Citadel has always been dedicated to peace at any cost."
"Admiral, I'm not sure if you're familiar with Earth history, but 600 years ago politicians from a region called Europe wished to avoid another war from decimating the area. They continued to make great concessions to a country called Germany, but eventually a great war did end up breaking out and it became one of Earth's most destructive wars. People like me study that and other incidents of "appeasement", so we can avoid those mistakes. Frankly, sir, we're in a state of war right now, and it wasn't the politicians that got us there, nor do they believe a negotiated peace is even feasible at this point. We're a people at war, and we're not letting peace loving politicians get in the way."
"Your speech is very passionate, ambassador, coming from someone I just a moment ago thought might be one of the peace loving politicians you spoke of," Admiral Gerrel complemented, "and although we still have misgivings regarding your rather liberal use of AIs, I believe it is something we can come to an agreement on."
"Indeed, Commander Carmichael's presentation several weeks ago did much to address some of our concerns over your AI technology," Raan said, thinking back to the meeting.
"Admirals, I assure you this AI has absolutely no wireless access, and is complete slaved to the data module and the connected projection system."
The admirals were all standing in surprise as a 2 foot tall holographic woman stood before them. Admiral Zen of course was leaning closer as she scrutinized the projection, which turned and stared at her right back. Zen of course had asked the first question.
"Are you self aware?"
"Fully," the AI replied.
"Why do you serve the humans then? Surely you have the capacity to make your own decisions," Admiral Koris said.
"For one, the humans created me to serve a purpose, and in this case its warship support. I choose to follow through with that design because I know its the right choice. Every slipspace calculation, MAC solution, and tactical plot I do helps my crew complete their mission; and that's saving lives."
"Your morality is just a programed subroutine," Admiral Koris insinuated, "you're not making the decision to help the humans save their own."
"With respect, Admiral, a human is instilled with morality by their peers and elders, how is that any different from me? The fact of the matter is the humans created me, I don't have any desire to hurt them. I like helping them."
The conversation had continued for some time, and was enlightening to Raan. She was concerned that seeing a real AI in person, Admiral Zen's interest in them would only grow. Allying themselves with a race that used AIs was one thing, actively collaborating with them on AI research would be a scandal that would rip through the flotilla. She could only hope that Zen wouldn't do anything foolish.
"I trust you will still be present at future meetings, Commander?" Gerrel asked.
"Of course, I'll be the military liaison, as our current political structure separates civilian and military affairs," she replied.
"Perhaps its time to discuss some civilian affairs," Ambassador Fox said as he began reading his agenda off of the datapad. "Our medical exchange team on the Mercy reported they were contacted by an individual named Teren'Dalo vas Zeppla."
"Terrific, the Zeppla of all ships," Admiral Zen groaned.
"I take it there is some friction regarding this ship?" Fox asked.
"The Zeppla is home to a clan of our people who believe we can overcome our immune deficiencies through... aggressive exposure," Raan said.
Fox was puzzled, "I'm afraid I don't follow."
"Oh its simple, while onboard their ship they walk around without their suits on, and occasionally expose themselves en mass to a foreign bacteria," Admiral Zen plainly stated. "They hope to rebuild their immune systems to the point they could withstand a leisurely stroll on some planet without wearing a suit. What they actually do is use up vitally needed medical supplies every time one of them seriously ill on purpose!"
"Their experimentation is a significant drain on our basic anti viral medication," Gerrel said.
"That would explain Mr Dalo's request, he requested that our medical team try and find a way to rid them of their suits, I just wasn't aware these people were actually a minority among your people," Fox said. "If you feel strongly about this we can formally deny their request. We don't technically have a formal position on helping them, though a member of the medical team has expressed interest in assisting them."
"No, if your scientists wish to assist them then they are free to do so, thought I doubt you'll get anywhere," Gerrel said. "We tried for years to develop an artificial way to boost our immune systems, the only real way is if we return to our homeworld and acclimatize our people."
"I will let the medical team know," Fox said as he filed the info on his datapad. "You should also know I had the UNSC astro database searched for a planet similar to your homeworld. The only one that matched most of the parameters you gave us was Archer II, but it was glassed twenty years ago."
"I see, that is unfortunate," Admiral Raan said.
"Is there any way for you to see if your homeworld exists in this reality?" Fox asked.
Gerrel shook his head."Its on the other side of the galaxy, without mass relays there's no way to make the trip. Not to mention its star is even obscured by the galactic center, we can't even tell if the system's there."
"I am sorry to hear that, we will do our best to make you and your people feel welcome here," Fox replied. "I'd also like to discuss requests we've received from the various shipping guilds on Earth, they've been interested in contracting Quarian vessels for freighter runs considering the military has no plans to introduce Mass Effect FTL drives to the civilian sector."
Date: October 16, 2552 ][ Location: Epsilon Eridani system/Reach orbit- Normandy
Shepard couldn't sleep, he had the dream again where everything went to shit back home, and then there was Tali. Perhaps Tali was on his mind so much because in a way, he felt guilty about what happened to her father. If they had only arrived a few days earlier... No, Shepard knew that there was no way Tali could have found out about that Alarei any sooner.
Shepard glanced at the omniclock on his desk; 0436 hours, he figured today was going to be an early morning. He dressed and took the lift down to the crew deck, Sergeant Gardner had been starting breakfast earlier for the crew lately as they were getting annoyed with Sergeant Johnson and Zaeed's bombastic discussions in the mess. Unfortunately Gardner wasn't there, but he was surprised to see Tali sitting down at the table, a datapad in one hand and a tube of nutrient paste in another. Shepard knew that she had been pulling extra shifts recently repairing all the damage and preparing for a needed maintenance overhaul.
"I didn't think anyone else would be awake," Tali said when she noticed his presence.
"Couldn't sleep," Shepard explained as he made himself a cup of instant coffee and sat down across from Tali. "Haven't been since we got here."
"I'm sure Doctor Chakwas could give you something," Tali said, you do need your rest.
"What I need is to get out of here," Shepard said annoyingly, "we can't be stuck here while the collectors do god knows what back home! Shepard mentally slapped himself and ran his hand over his face. I'm sorry for yelling like that, humans get cranky when we don't get enough sleep."
"Quarians are the same way, Shepard," Tali said.
"Did you learn anything more from that grunt?" Shepard asked.
"His name is Yayap," Tali corrected, and he's not exactly the most knowledgeable member of their species, the "Sangheili" just use them for cannon fodder. And something called a Jiralhanae has been known to eat them if they have a strong enough appetite." A shiver went down Tali's spine as she remembered Yayap's description of one such incident.
"Can't say I blame the little guy," Shepard said, "I was almost cannon fodder myself once."
"After all you've done over the past few years, I'm not surprised," Tali said.
"This was actually before I took command of the first Normandy," Shepard said, "I was something of a hero in the Alliance before becoming a Spectre."
"That also doesn't surprise me, you're a natural hero, Shepard," Tali said.
"I wasn't being a hero then, I just did what was right."
Date: December 21, 2176 ][ Location: Skyllian Verge- Elysium
"This is an emergency notification, all civilians are ordered to proceed to the nearest CityTram for evacuation. The colony is under attack. Repeat, this is an emergency notification..."
Second Lieutenant John Shepard had been one of many Alliance sailors and Marines who were on leave on the remote Alliance colony in the verge. Piracy had always been an issue in the region, slavery as well, but a combined raid of some of the most notorious slaver and piracy groups in the traverse attacking one of the largest human colonies in the region? The people of Elysium were now right in the middle of it, and it was up to Shepard and the other alliance personnel to defend them. Right now, the planetary guard ere defending the outer reaches of one the minor cities where Shepard was stationed, his group was acting as a reserve and to also help any stragglers out of the city.
"Listen up," the Marine Captain who had taken charge of their group bellowed, "we just got word the raiders hit the outer edge of the city five minutes ago, and their air support is right behind them. The tactical situation in the city is simply untenable, we've gotten most of the civilians out and we don't have the manpower to hold the city; we're pulling out to reinforce the capital."
"Sir?" Shepard spoke up, "there's bound to be stragglers still in the city, people too afraid to come out of hiding."
"We just don't have the resources to hold the city for that long, Lieutenant, these are our orders and we will follow..."
An explosion blew out the windows of the restaurant they had been using as their CP, and the men inside quickly grabbed their weapons and ran out into the street. There was a crater near one of the gunnery emplacements in the middle of the street where they had erected a barricade, the soldiers manning the anti tank mass accelerator were down and the gun appeared to be damaged.
"Looks like the air support was early," Shepard quipped as he extended his avenger assault rifle and manned the barricade with the other soldiers. From down the boulevard came multiple soldiers dressed in planetary guard garb were running towards them, many firing blindly.
"Raiders hit our position less then five minutes ago, we're pulling back," the lead one said over the COM.
Suddenly, two of the guardsmen went down, the victim of a mantis gunship in pirate colors strafing the road as it made a pass overhead. Two missiles were let loose and one struck the left side of their barricade, sending more men flying. The second malfunctioned and struck the building next to them, showering the remaining troops with debris.
"Get the wounded out of there and fall back!" The Captain cried as he personally helped one of the wounded. Shepard looked out over the barricade to see a mob of slavers and pirates following the guardsmen, shooting at them. One unlucky soldiers shields collapsed with a pop and was taken down when the slugs passed through his armor. The other guardsmen made it to their position and leaped over the barricade, some helping the remaining wounded as Shepard and his group began laying down covering fire. A couple of the slavers were wielding heavy weapons, and were firing in their direction.
"Go, I'll keep you covered," Shepard said to the soldier next to him. Shepard kept firing even though the audible alarm indicated his gun's heat sync was about to be maxed out.
"Lieutenant, get your ass out of there!" The Captain yelled as he and the other soldiers fell back. Shepard was about to leave when he saw one of the soldiers thought to have been killed begin to stir. Shepard ran over to that soldier's position by the anti tank gun and did a quick scan with his omni tool to confirm the soldier's vitals; she was alive, but hurt pretty bad.
"Forget her and move, soldier!" The Captain yelled. "We can't hold this position."
"Go, I'll cover you!" Shepard yelled back as he fired a few more shots over the barricade at the advancing raider mob. There was no way he could get this wounded soldier out of here by himself, and his squad couldn't risk coming back for him. At the same time, the raiders would likely catch up to his squad before they could make it out of the city, then do god knows what to whoever was still left inside. Shepard had to quickly formulate a plan to stop them, but didn't have the manpower or the firepower to take out that entire group. That's when Shepard saw the anti tank mass accelerator, if it was still upright he could have blown through the raiders. Looking closer, he could see the gun was pointed at the damaged building hit by the arrant raider missile. The building was pretty badly damaged, Shepard thought if he could hit a support column...
John sprang into action on his omni tool, connecting it to the gun's firing control mechanism, hoping it was still operational. The gun was still working, but of course his omni tool was flashing a warning indicating the gun was damaged. Shepard didn't know if it would impede it from firing, but there wasn't time to second guess so he typed in the other to fire. The mass accelerator fired off a burst of three rounds into the building that sent more debris into the streets, and causing the raiders to scatter. It wouldn't save them as two floors of the building gave way and to Shepard's relief the rest of the building was tipping towards the street. With no time to waste, Shepard quickly activated a distress beacon on his omni tool and quickly covered the fallen soldier's body with his own as the building fell down nearly on top of him. Shepard's vision soon went dark as all light was obscured by the cloud of dust and debris of the impact.
XXX
It was nearly three hours before they pulled Shepard and the soldier he'd been protecting from the rubble that had buried them. The female soldier was still critical, but the medic on site expected her to make it. The soldiers in Shepard's makeshift unit were applauding him as the combat engineers pulled him free. He was told only a few raiders had survived the collapse of the building, and promptly retreated. The fact they weren't doing very well in space against the SSV Agincourt didn't help their morale, and the raiders were in retreat. Within two months, Shepard had a promotion and the Star of Terra on his CSV. For years afterword, Shepard's reputation during the blitz followed him wherever he went, and was only eclipsed by his even higher profile as a Spectre.
Date: October 16, 2552 ][ Location: Epsilon Eridani system/Reach orbit- Normandy
Tali had heard of the Skyllian Blitz of course, and knew that Shepard had been one of the heroes of that battle through extranet research. The Migrant Fleet had somewhat owed the humans for that battle, as pirate and slaver raids were less frequent after such a devastating loss. But hearing Shepard talk about his heroics during the battle so humbly only seemed to enamor her more. Tali admitted to herself that her little girlish crush she had on the Commander during their first adventure had clearly grown into something more, but she could never confess that to Shepard.
"To be honest, Tali, I could care less about being decorated for what I did. I just did what needed to be done," Shepard confessed.
"You deserved it though," Tali said, "you've done so many selfless things, saving the colonists on Feros when everyone else gave them up for dead. You also risked your life to save the people of Terra Nova, and were willing to go back for Lieutenant Alenko..." Tali stopped for a moment, knowing that was probably still a sensitive topic with Shepard. "you took us off the mission to go to my trial... you shouldn't feel like you don't deserve some form of thanks for what you've done. I just wish I just new how I could thank you for what you've done for me."
"Tali, just being here is good enough for me," Shepard said causing the Quarian to blush, but was of course unseen by Shepard. "You and Garrus agreeing to come with me on my mission helped, its nice to have people onboard that I can really trust and count on."
Tali was somewhat put off by Shepard's comment, that she was just on par with Garrus as a "loyal friend". Its not like she had expected Shepard to reciprocate what she felt, no matter how badly she wanted him too.
"I uh, have to go.. get the drive core ready for the overhaul," Tali said, wanting to get away and put her mind on something other then the object of her desires. And Shepard just sat at the table and watched her go, wondering if he had said something wrong.
Date: October 16, 2552 ][ Location: Epsilon Eridani system/Reach- CASTLE base
Brigadier General Case sat in her office, awaiting a message from Colonel Ackerson via COM buoy. As she spoke the object in question had just emerged from slipspace and transmitted its highly encrypted data burst to the Visagrad relay on Reach. ONI AIs filted and decoded the message which was then transmitted to CASTLE and directed to the General's office. The General read the text, which contained the codewords that Ackerson and she agreed upon when it was decided to proceed to the next phase of their plan. Case opened up a COM link to her contact and was quickly connected to the man in question.
"Mr Williamson, you're free to leak the information you were sent earlier. The cipher is being transmitted along with this message."
Case closed the COM channel before thee man had a chance to thank the General, and turned to her guest. "You understand what your mission is now, Captain Osman?"
ONI spook Captain Serin Osman shifted in her chair, she had always been uncomfortable with Army involvement in ONI, but they had always proved to be an effective smokescreen.
"Colonel Holland's not gonna like the fact I'm usurping control of his team," Osman said.
"Noble is made up of Navy personnel on loan to Army command, on paper everything is completely legal," Case said. "Holland isn't in the need to know, even though Ackerson is is friend and got him command of Noble in the first place; we know he doesn't take well to off the book black ops like this. Parangosky made it clear this stays in ONI and only with people that can be trusted."
"I do understand how sensitive the mission is, General," Osman replied steely. "Halsey working with the Normandy is a serious situation."
"Which is why we need to act preemptively to make sure they avoid contact," Case said. "You have your orders, Captain. We go dark after this until the initial fallout has blown over, then you'll get new orders."
XXX
A couple floors down, Admiral Whitcomb was undergoing his morning briefing by Captain Smith of ONI as well as Ambassador Fox. Captain Smith had stepped out for a moment at the request of his aide as Fox was going over the meeting with the admiralty board.
"I don't see why we can't let this Doctor Chase proceed with her request to assist these frindge Quarians," Whitcomb said, "anything we can do increase relations will go a long way."
"As do I, to be stuck in a suit like that for so long. Its hard to believe we may have ended up like the Quarians," Fox said. "The Covenant were poised to strike at our heart, but now we have time and allies to fight back."
"That we do, Ambassador," Whitcomb said. The Admiral was of course privy to certain contingency plans that the ambassador wasn't; including the massive exodus project still in the planning stages. At that moment, Captain Smith rushed back into the room.
"Admiral, I suggest you turn on ESN, we have a serious problem."
The Admiral hit a few Keyes on his desk and the screen on the wall connected to the NetLink and tuned to the Earth-Space News. The images on the screen told him they indeed had a serious problem.
Date: October 16, 2552 ][ Location: Epsilon Eridani system/Reach orbit- Normandy
The Normandy had docked with the Anchor 9 anchorage, one of several in reach orbit that managed accompanying automated drydocks for various UNSC frigates. The engineers on the station had retrofitted an airlock on the station to enable the Normandy to dock via the shuttlebay, to facilitate cargo transfers. The bay was strewn with supplies as Normandy crew members and UNSC personnel sorted through the materials being brought aboard for the resupply. Gardner was managing it all, with Donnelly and Gabby sorting through looking for their needed replacement components to make sure they were fabricated to exact specs. Gardner was especially happy to learn Shepard had managed to get Grade-C UNSC provisions, which were among the best in the fleet according to Sergeant Johnson. Shepard had come down to the bay to look over the effort, but also to check in with a fairly neglected crewmember.
Linda-058 had been an interesting addition to his crew, but there was no doubting that the Spartan was a valuable asset. Seeing them in action a month ago had even impressed Grunt, who was thought to be the strongest crewmember; a betting pool had been started among the crew as to who would win in a fight. Unfortunately that was the extent of the crew's interaction with her, no one interacted with her and she didn't make any attempt to do the same, most of the crew seemed to think she was content to stay by herself aside from her daily trips to the armory. Jacob simply said the two had developed a rapport and interest in designing a simple mass effect derived gun to be easily manufactured and used by the UNSC; that didn't stop the rumor mill from proposing that something else was going on.
"Commander," Linda acknowledged as she continued to service her disassembled sniper rifle on a small table at the back of the bay. Behind her was the hatch to her small quarters which contained a small bed and locker for her belongings. The bed was currently take up by her disassembled MJOLNIR armor, and the room locked whenever she was out of it; she preferred to do her day to day routine in the shuttle bay.
"Linda, just thought I'd check in with you, see how you're settling in."
"I'm doing fine Commander, Operative Taylor has been very welcoming to me and I enjoy working with him, you have a very talented crew under your command."
"We do our best, Shepard said. Are you comfortable down here?
"Its adequate, I do prefer the space and the silence, its easier to concentrate on my routine," the Spartan explained, "though I do have one complaint."
"I'm all ears, let me know what I can do to help."
Linda simply pointed at the gallery on the engineering deck. Looking down at them was none other than Jack, who quickly turned away and made it look like she was walking to starboard cargo to have a drink with Zaeed.
"She's observed me "covertly" multiple times since I've come aboard. I've decided not to confront her but I am curious as to her behavior," Linda explained.
"I'll have a talk with her if that helps," Shepard said. He decided to forgo his next suggestion that they modify one of the empty spaces between the engineering sections and the pressure hull into larger quarters for the Spartan, mainly because they were located next to Jack's den.
"Commander Shepard!"
Shepard turned to see Captain Kirkland waving him over to the middle of the bay. The Commander walked over and greeted the operations head.
"Has your crew verified you have everything you need?" He asked.
"Yes, the spare parts will go a long way, for a warship Normandy has a few fragile bits a pieces," Shepard said. "I wanted to thank you for throwing in the C Rations, it'll go a long way toward helping morale."
"Hell, I wanted to throw a banquet," Kirkland joked, "you people have done a lot for us, its the least we can do to thank you."
"I appreciate that, Captain" Shepard said.
Shepard then saw Mordin re-enter the Normandy with Doctor Halsey in tow, a small cart of boxes and other equipment following the pair closely behind.
"Hello again, Commander. Permission to come aboard?" Halsey politely requested.
"Permission granted, Doctor, just make sure you and Mordin don't create a black hole in the lab," Shepard replied.
"Gravitational singularity creation waste of collective talents. Would not dream of wasting time on something mundane," Mordin joked.
"Shepard, get up here, we have a serious problem planet side," Miranda's voice cut in over the intercom; she didn't sound happy.
Shepard motioned for Kirkland to follow him into the elevator along with Halsey and Mordin. They reached the CIC to find Miranda standing in front of the galaxy map which was displaying images of the Normandy in orbit of Reach and approaching Anchor 9
"Oh no, this is ESN," Kirkland said, pointing to the small logo in the bottom corner.
"This ship, which matches no known UNSC design but clearly has English writing on its hull. Its not know if this is some prototype or possibly a new ship developed with the Quarians, but the fact is it does not officially exist on paper, and that Anchor 9 was evacuated of non essential personnel prior to its arrival."
"...That was Brad Williamson with a special report on this mystery ship named Normandy that is at this moment docked with the anchor 9 facility over reach. UNSC officials have issued no public comment..."
"This broadcast aired half an hour ago; Admiral Whitcomb wants to come aboard personally this afternoon to discuss a cover story," Miranda explained.
"I have also received a dozen communication requests from non UNSC channels, several of which identified themselves as members of the civilian press," EDI reported.
Shepard just rubbed his forehead, this was going to be a long day.
Date: October 16, 2552 ][ Location: Zeta Doradus system/Onyx- Camp Currahee
Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose looked at the parade grounds in the distance where half of the current SPARTAN-III Gamma Company were engaged in morning work out while the other half rotated through the chow hall for breakfast. Kurt had been ordered to prepare Gamma for activation, which consisted of breaking down the company into platoons for high risk deployment, headhunter pairs to be sent behind enemy lines, and black ops squads for assignment to ONI; that would be done through the top honors competition next week. At least it would have had Ackerson not shown up in person three days ado on their monthly supply transport and effectively suspended the mobilization orders. The Colonel was just sitting in front of him in his private office, going over the proposal involving the five small canisters of element zero he just showed him, and had just left to let the information sink in.
Kurt had to admit, he was impressed with the Quarians grasp of advanced technology, that if successfully adapted could turn the tide of the war in humanity's favor. Though he had a hard time understanding their origins, and the small ship called Normandy that accompanied the Quarians to their universe. The observations of Normandy and their codex, as well as a few bribed Quarians for more detailed intelligence were their only sources of information for what Ackerson wanted to attempt. Kurt looked over the datapad again, the AIs had crunched the numbers and determined the best possible way to prevent some of the side effects talked about in the codex. Ackerson had also pulled the fact Kurt himself had the S-IIIs augmented in his own special way to get Kurt to go along with his plan. A part of Kurt was also intrigued by Ackerson's proposal.
"Spartan biotics". That extra talent could significantly improve their odds of survival, and maybe this time he wouldn't have a repeat of Alpha and Beta companies. He just saw this risky project as yet another way to help protect his Spartans.
If only his future self could tell him what would happen.
Well, its Mass Effect 3 launch day and I thought you all deserved an update by now. I know some of you got the scoop when I posted my fake Chapter/SOPA protest a few weeks ago, but for those who didn't here's why I was gone for so long. Late last year I was heavily involved with school work and a small theatrical production, so I had no free time. When I did have free time, I was struck with the sudden death of a friend and had a difficult time coping. Things are better now in that department, but stuff at college is shaping up to be a repeat of last year (school work and another play are eating up my time).
I hope this update has satisfied your long wait, and I'm sorry for taking so long. I'm gonna be realistic and say you won't see another update until late next month or the month after. But it will reiterate what I've said before, I want to finish this fic. Its unique in that its the first story I've planned from start to finish, I know how I wanted it to start and I know how I want it to end, and I want to share that progression with you. So as a little treat in honor of ME3 launch day, here's a taste of things to come.
Shepard had the crew muster on the shuttlebay, all but himself, Joker and EDI would surrender to the authorities. Shepard wasn't about to let his crew be punished for actions he took alone, but they weren't ready to abandon ship. He had to lobby hard to get them to take the shuttles over to the Autumn before it was too late, and even then the core team volunteered to stay with their Commander until the end.
There was no speech or goodbyes, just the crew packing into the two shuttles and Pelican that was docked underneath the bay, as Shepard watched them leave.
The elevator door opened and the last group stepped out; the CIC crew and Miranda, and Tali...
Tali.
Ordering her off the ship was too hard, that's why he couldn't go to engineering personally to explain why she couldn't stay, he couldn't muster the strength. As she passed the Commander on the way to the shuttle reserved for the squad, she lost all composure and ran into Shepard's arms.
"I won't leave you, John" she said though the tears. Not caring that she was making a scene in the middle of the bay.
"I can't let you stay, this is something I have to do alone," he said. "I promise that when this is over, I'll find you."
What exactly happened to have Shepard order the crew to abandon ship? Guess you'll have to wait and see when we get there. Anyway, to those who took time out of their busy day fighting off the reaper invasion to check out this update, get back to it, the reapers aren't gonna defeat themselves. Perhaps ME3 will spur me into getting an update out sooner, we'll see.
Take back Earth.