Chapter Nine

Author's Notes

'Thinking'

Reading

"Speaking"

#

'I'm getting too old for this,' an aged Human mentally groaned as he lifted the screen separating his small general wares store from the rest of the Citadel. Looking out at the massive expanse so different from the tribal styled Alliance colonies, he sighed, tired but content. 'Hopefully I'll get plenty of customers,' he thought, grinning. 'After all, I own one of the first Alliance stores to open on the Citadel.'

It wasn't long before inquisitive customers started trickling in. Among them was a Turian looking at the wares with a disappointed expression. Seeing this, the shopkeeper approached her. "Excuse me miss," he said warmly, "do you need help finding something?"

"Yes," she said, drawing the word hesitantly, "I had heard the Systems Alliance makes extensive use of melee weapons and exotic armors made from animal hides." Looking around discreetly to make sure no one she knew was nearby, she said somewhat awkwardly "I had hoped to see if this was true."

"We most certainly use gear of that variety," the aged shopkeeper replied with a nod. "However, I do not carry any, nor would any of the other Alliance stores if they want to stay in business."

The Turian's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Why not?" she asked, subharmonics ringing with unheard disappointment. "I'm sure they would sell quite well, particularly among Krogan."

The old man shook his head slightly. "It's not a matter of price, it's a matter of principle. There is a very respected tradition, and law, in the Systems Alliance that a warrior must earn his weapons and armor as the gear is an extension of himself. Because of this, our smiths just craft the equipment, the wielder obtains the materials. Usually this takes the form of mining for ore and the like, but in the case of Monster Hunters they obtain materials by hunting large beasts for their natural armor and weaponry. As such, only black market traders and the like would sell armour and weaponry made from monster parts." Finishing his explanation with a smile, the shopkeeper said "if you were to obtain materials, then I'm sure you could find a Systems Alliance smith willing to craft armor or weapons for you."

By this point, the Turian's mandibles were spread wide with surprise. "Right," she said slowly, as if talking to a crazy person, "thanks for clarifying that. If you could answer another question, why do your Hunters wear such...elaborate armor. Oftentimes, a lot of the Hunter's body is exposed or the armor looks prohibitively heavy."

"It depends on the Hunter," the shopkeeper replied, shrugging. "Some prefer to rely on their natural agility to save them from danger, while others rely on thick armor to do so." Gaining a thoughtful expression, the Human continued pensively. "There's also another side to it, though. From what I've heard about Hunters, their armor becomes a very literal part of who they are, especially in a fight. They say that the spirit of the monster guides them, and they gain abilities based on the creature's abilities, temperament, and even habits." Splaying his hand in a cautionary gesture, he said. "But I am no Hunter, so I cannot truly speak for them."

'Holy Palaven,' the Turian thought, amazed. 'They must be crazy if they think they're communing with Spirits!' She left the store soon after.

#

Saren sighed darkly as he approached an alabaster building more akin to a small palace than a house. 'Spirits, let her see reason' he thought hopeful, but unconvinced. The designs of the building was archetypally Asari, tall and formed into a massive curve. Even the massive doors met in an arch, instead of the standard box frame. An Asari was waiting for Saren at the doors.

"Specter Arterius," she said politely, "please follow me." a short walk later, they arrived at a small, but ornate meeting room.

Saren mentally sighed, then walked through the automated doors, and found himself confronted with one of the strongest Asari Matriarchs in the galaxy.

"Specter Arterius," Benezia said calmly, "to what do I owe this meeting?"

"I'm here to discuss recent trading with the Systems Alliance," he said, doing his best to mask his disdain. Deterring Benezia from helping him wouldn't do the civilized galaxy any good, after all.

Benezia frowned slightly. "What about them? The ban on trading with them was only just lifted." Her eyebrow lifted slightly, daring him to speak his mind.

'Somehow I think she already knows what I want,' Saren thought as he chose his next words carefully. He took a moment to think, then said "Exactly. Open trading with the Systems Alliance is a recent development, but look at the wares already being sold across the Citadel!" Saren unconsciously narrowed his eyes, remembering the stores he had seen. "They are selling pets as dangerous as varren, fish that explode when they die, plants that spontaneously ignite themselves!" Saren turned his glaring eyes from the table to Benezia. He took a breath before speaking. "I think you can see why I'm concerned."

"Is the danger posed by these items the fault of the Systems Alliance?" Benezia asked calmly. "Or is it the fault or consumers who don't know what they are? After all, a commercial gun can be more dangerous than any of the things you listed."

"You need to have a license to buy a gun," Saren countered. "The dangers posed by the Systems Alliance can be sold to anyone."

Benezia locked eyes with Saren. "Don't forget, opening a shop on the Citadel can be quite expensive, especially in places a lot of people pass by. Any Alliance shopkeepers wealthy enough to afford a shop here will know enough to not sell potentially explosive wildlife to a child." Benezia gave Saren a friendly smile, "Besides, what are you suggesting? That we discourage an entire culture from opening stores on the Citadel?"

"If that is what we must do to preserve our way of life, then yes" Saren said, a bit more harshly than he intended.

"Then I'm afraid I cannot help you with this" Benezia said.

"In that case I will leave you to the rest of your day," he said, and walked out of the building with as much composure as he could manage. 'Spirits damn it,' Saren thought as he descended the stairs in front of the building, 'why can no one else see these savages for what they are?' His thoughts were interrupted by a message on his omnitool. Saren put his back to the nearest wall, and discreetly looked at it. It was an STG report he had requisitioned. Movement of Systems Alliance ships, he read as a smirk drew across his face. Small Alliance fleet of three cruisers and several frigates heading towards Torfan. Saren grinned, 'How useful.'

#

Shepard's breath filled his ears as pre-battle anticipation rose his adrenaline level. Anderson, Kaidan, Ashley, and Nihlus joined him in a shuttle as they approached a drop-site near a Terminus slaver base. The Hunters had their personal armor and weapons, while Nihlus bore Predator M armor, a Punisher sniper rifle, and a Brawler pistol. Looking out a viewing screen, Shepard saw the invasion of Torfan already underway. Regimented squadrons of Alliance soldiers marched towards the grey metal buildings, Ingot Armor shining in the dawn's light. Intermixed among them, a few Hunters proudly bore their exotic arms and armors, each piece retelling the story of triumph over monstrous beasts that led to their creation. High in the air, a mighty Rathalos dotted the sky with a Hunter mounted on his back.

From his vantage point, Shepard could make out defensive lines and turrets set up to repel the Alliance soldiers. 'Those could pose a problem for the infantry,' Shepard thought, eying the turrets, 'perhaps the Hunters or Rathalos could take them out.' His analysis was cut short by a dull, earthy thud, signaling the shuttle had landed.

"Listen up," Anderson bellowed, looking at Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley. "Our orders are to fight our way to the slaves held in the east wing of the base," he said with the reserved anger of thunder before a storm. "Nihlus will be positioned by the river to the right of the slave quarters to observe our progress for his report to the Citadel."

Shepard felt rage rise within him at the mention of a fight. 'Time to kill,' he thought, grinning, as his hunting party stalked towards their target with Quake following underground.

#

Nihlus took cover in a large patch of leafy plants and brought out his Punisher to appraise the hunters' advance towards the east wing of the slaver base. 'Good, they're sticking to cover' he thought. 'Even with that ridiculous armor, they're not invincible.' Nihlus narrowed his eyes as the hunters engaged a squadron of slavers. 'Honestly, I almost feel bad for the slavers,' Nihlus thought as he watched one get ambushed and gored by Quake. 'While their fighting methods are primitive, they are certainly effective.'

Nihlus's observation was interrupted by movement in his peripheral vision. 'Too subtle to be the wind, too careful to be an animal.' With precision learned from decades of experience as a Specter, Nihlus slowly turned his eyes towards the source, moving his head as little as possible. 'There's just bushes there,' he thought, 'something is trying to be stealthy.' Nihlus peeked the barrel of his rifle out of his hiding spot, and looked through the scope at the figure mostly cloaked by the underbrush. 'Dull grey armor with slightly lighter plates attached,' he noted. 'Doesn't look to be of Alliance design, so who-' Nihlus' thoughts were cut off as the figure moved up slightly, revealing for a split-second grey plates: a face he would recognize anywhere. 'Saren? Why would he be here?'

Nihlus reattached his sniper rifle to his back, and crept towards the figure he had seen, he had to investigate this. Crossing the distance between them took some time, due to Nihlus trying to remain unseen, but eventually he was close enough to be sure: Specter Saren Arterius was silently watched Anderson's hunting party through his own Punisher no more than twenty meters away from him. 'What on Palaven is he doing here,' Nihlus thought, an ominous feeling building in his gut. 'It's probably nothing, but I have to make sure.'

Nihlus quietly placed his gun down, so as to not seem threatening, then said as calmly as he could "Saren."

The reaction was immediate. Saren spun a fraction of a second after Nihlus spoke and leveled his rifle at Nihlus. Realizing who he was aiming at, Saren lowered his gun. "Nihlus?" Saren said uncertainly.

"What are you doing here?" Nihlus asked, genuinely curious but maintaining professionalism.

Saren's mind frantically tried to think of an excuse for why he was watching Hunters assault a slaver base. "'I'm scouting for the Citadel," he said calmly, "they wanted to know what the Alliance was like when it fought."

Nihlus looked at him, surprised. "Odd, I'm on a similar mission," he said frowning for a moment before shrugging. "The Council probably just wanted two opinions on this."

"They are a big enough threat to justify it," Saren said as Nihlus resumed his prone position, "we need to know how to kill them if we are to protect galactic security."

"Honestly I don't think there's much of a need," Nihlus said chidingly. "I don't think they're really a big threat to galactic security, just like how us Turians are not a threat to galactic security. Even though we could potentially threaten the well-being of other species, we have no reason to."

Saren stared at Nihlus in shock. 'He's siding with the Alliance!' Saren thought, horrified. 'Even worse, he may be able to convince the Council keep them in galactic society.' A sinister idea sprung to the forefront of Saren's mind with alarming speed. 'He's right there, not focusing on me, I could end him right here and no one would be the wiser.' Saren pondered this, feeling sick at the idea, but uncertain even so.

#

Metal screamed as it was torn apart. Not even the refined alloys fielded by wealthy Terminus slavers could withstand the animal-like ferocity that was John Shepard. Spinning into another downward slash, Shepard could envision the might of an enraged Deviljho fueling him as his Great Demon Halberd bit deeply into another batarian. The corners of Shepard's mouth twitched upward when he saw enemies forming up to fire at him, 'perfect.' John barrelled forward and focused his thoughts on the form he learned years ago as a low-rank hunter. '1: right downward slash,' Shepard's halberd cut down through the collarbone of one gunman and kept going. '2: left downward slash,' John felt his spirit flowing into each strike, making his halberd a deadly blur. A growl left Shepard's throat as bullets ricocheted off him, '3: double upward slash'. He locked his eyes onto the last slaver, '4: spirit slash'. Shepard spun and his spirit left him as a roar, while a horizontal slash bisected the remaining pirate.

Shepard's breath came heavily as he looked for more enemies. To his right, Kaiden skillfully wove through mass-accelerated rounds, deflecting and dodging as he ripped through armor and flesh with his Plesiperse Spike. Behind Kaiden, Ashley advanced on another group of slavers that had taken cover behind a low wall. Disregarding the bullets pinging off her armor, she retaliated with a barrage of energy shots. 'They're both fine,' Shepard thought, somewhat chuckling at the meager defense the slavers were providing, 'but where's Anderson?'

A deafening boom reverberated through Shepard's skull, and his head snapped to the left. The familiar bulk of Anderson's armor was racing along the ground at frightening speed towards a hovering Jiris gunship, his Rathflame Ubernova glowing red and drawn in sword and shield form. Grinning, Shepard joined Anderson's charge.

Shepard sprinted toward the gunship as Anderson drew its fire,backhanding any missiles it fired away from him. John's breathing sped up as he closed the distance between himself and the gunship's flank. Envisioning himself tearing into the Jiris's armor and crew, Shepard readied his Great Demon Halberd and tensed his legs to lunge, but was stopped when a trio of fireballs slammed into the gunship sending it careening into the ground.

A bone-chilling screech assaulted John's ears, its low-pitched bass vibrating through his bones. Shadow briefly covered Shepard as a red blur dive-bombed the fallen Jiris and crushed the metal between its talons. Looking at the imposing figure, John couldn't even get mad at his kill being stolen. A mighty red wyvern stood atop the gunship's wreckage. His black streaked body was covered in thick hide and bulging muscles, clear evidence of a lifetime spent hunting. Spikes grew off of the many striking surfaces on his body, and talons as big as John's forearm flexed, depressing the metal of the Jiris. The Rathalos reared back and bellowed his victory, showing off his brilliantly colored wings that bore the visage of fire.

"Easy there," a female voice said, voice unwavering despite her comrade's roar. The Rathalos lowered its front and wings, allowing the Hunter on his back to be seen. Her armor bore great resemblance to the wyvern she rode. It was fashioned as a cuirass and armored kilt of red and black Rathalos scales, with matching greaves and gauntlets. The helm consisted of a faceplate that wrapped around the head and draped plating over the back of the Hunter's neck, and was forged out of the same iconic crimson scales. Certain parts the required flexibility like the joints and neck guard were made of silvery bone and metal, while much of the rest of the armor had black spikes jutting out of it. Her weapon caught Shepard's attention the most, however. At first, he thought it was a great sword, but when he looked closer John realized it was actually a lance. The tip was wide and arrow-like, and the length of the segmented blade shone a dull icy blue. A long spike protruded out the end of the lance, and a large white shield embroidered with blue scales and spikes complimented it.

"Anderson!" the Hunteress shouted angrily, snapping Shepard out of his thoughts. "Your Diablos is gone!"

Anderson could not help but glare at her, "what do you mean Quake is gone?" he asked, scowling.

"We were hunting down the enemy's armored troops," the red-armored Hunter said, "then he freezes, closes his eyes like he's listening for something, and dives into the ground heading that way." She finished her story by pointing in the direction of river to their right.

Kaiden and Ashley hurried over to Anderson, who was thinking deeply about what could have disturbed Quake. "Anderson," Kaiden said, "Isn't Nihlus supposed to be observing the battle from somewhere near there?"

"Yes," Anderson sighed. "If I've learned anything in my years as a Hunter, it's to trust that Diablos's hearing." Suddenly, his faceplate turned towards John. "Shepard, go find Quake and see what disturbed him. The rest of us will continue with our mission."

John huffed inwardly, not liking his new objective, but bit his tongue. "Yes, sir." he said before running off in the direction of the river.

#

In the far reaches of Saren's mind, his subconscious was screaming at him that this was very, very wrong. That he was a traitor for even considering murdering Nihlus. But some deeper part of his mind didn't care. It didn't care and it swept away any opposition with machine-like efficiency.

'So be it then,' Saren thought, inwardly growling at what he had to do. 'I have to kill Nihlus, so the Alliance cannot corrupt the Council.' Tearing his gaze from the battle at hand, Saren looked over at Nihlus. 'I'll avenge you, I swear.'

Rising to a knee, Saren silently pointed his sniper rifle at Nihlus's head, the reality of his position hitting him like a truck. Fighting off the shame, Saren couldn't stop himself from saying "I'm sorry," almost choking on emotion as he moved his finger onto the trigger.

Having heard Saren say, Nihlus turned his head to him, only to look down the barrel of a rifle. Mandibles spread wide in sudden shock, Nihlus threw himself to the side.

The bullet impacted Nihlus's chest, nearly overloading his kinetic barrier and sending him sprawling and stunning him. Nihlus's mind ceased to function and he worked on instinct. His hand flew to his Brawler, and fired a few panicked shots at Saren, who stood uncannily still as he reloaded, despite the gunfire deflecting off his shield.

Another shot fired through Saren's Punisher, this time breaking through Nihlus's already weakened barrier. The bullet tore through Nihlus's chest with the sound of flesh ripping apart and screaming. The force of the shot made Nihlus skid across the ground, losing his sidearm in the process. Nihlus regained control of his voice as Saren reloaded again.

"Damn traitor," he said, in enough pain the very ground seemed to shake under him, "the Council will have your head!" Saren didn't respond. He wordlessly leveled his rifle at Nihlus, who closed his eyes in preparation.

As if struck by artillery, the ground exploded between the two Specters and a horrendous shrieking came from somewhere in the impact. Opening his eyes as soon as his ears stopped being assaulted, Nihlus was met with the massive bulk of Quake standing between him and Saren. Quake growled and lowered his head the now prone Saren, then charged. Several tons of muscle and anger crashed into Saren, sending his body flying into the river.

Breathing heavily from the hole through his chest, Nihlus succumbed to unconsciousness as Quake carefully approached him.

#

Weakly opening his eyes with the speed of a mountain growing, Saren immediately closed them in pain. Looking down at his broken body lying on the riverside, Saren tallied his injuries. 'Snapped spine at the hips,' he thought, wincing heavily, 'broken leg, few cracked ribs, probably head trauma. Mind's too jarred to think clearly,' he thought forlornly. Closing his eyes and taking as deep of a hacking, strangled breath as he could, wetness cut remorseful lines through the grime on his face. 'So this is how I die,' Saren thought, sobbing, 'a Spirits-damned traitor.'

As Saren was about to allow himself to slip into the enveloping darkness out of shame, a voice resounded in Saren's mind, undeniable in its intensity. "You will die," it boomed with apathetic certainty, "unless you accept my gift."

Saren's breathing grew heavy at the sudden intrusion. "Who are you?" he demanded weakly, mind screaming in agony at the harsh, low-pitched tones of the monster in his head.

"You will learn," the voice responded, uncaring of his pain, "if you accept. Otherwise, you face a traitor's end."

Saren thought about its words for a few moments, before his barely conscious mind came to a conclusion. 'Either I'm going nuts, or it's actually a spirit.' As he started choking on his own blood, Saren thought, 'may as well accept.' Saren felt a rush going through him, light briefly radiating outwards from his body. Before he lost consciousness, Saren faintly heard in his rent and broken mind, 'assuming direct control.'

Author's Note

This took me way too long to update

A few things to note:

Diablos have very sensitive hearing from spending so much time underground. Quake could hear a rifle being shot near Nihlus and went to investigate.

In the Monster Hunter series, the weapon and armor vendors primarily sell equipment manufactured from metals, instead of monster parts. There are some exceptions, like Leather Armor, but they are so low tier they barely serve as weapons or armor. Anything sold by a vendor would mostly be used for recreational hunting (such as Kelbi hunting), not professional monster hunting.

Regarding the Alliance's military, there are three kinds of ground forces employed. The first is the baseline infantry. These soldiers are not "superhuman" in any way and usually wear Ingot Armor they mined the ore for. Compared to other armies, these infantry have relatively weak armor and currently wear no kinetic barriers. However, they have unusually powerful weaponry (starting bowguns in Monster Hunter games can fire several deadly ammunition types) and excellent survival, medical, and stealth skills compared to other armies. Monster hunters are the elite infantry of the Systems Alliance (hunter ranks replace the N designations given to soldiers). Even a low-rank hunter is a powerful force on the battlefield, and they are often at the forefront of battles. In general, a low-rank hunter can kill anything from a Krogan battlemaster to a squadron of average soldiers, a high-rank hunter can kill anything from a squadron of veteran soldiers to an experienced Specter, and a g-rank hunter can kill at least a full detachment of average soldiers. Full hunting parties can do even more. Unfortunately, given how difficult it is for a soldier to become a hunter and their method of acquiring new armaments, there are relatively few monster hunters in the Systems Alliance compared to other elite infantry forces, and most of them are low-rank. Finally, the third type of ground force deployed by the Alliance is made up of monsters. These replace conventional artillery and war machines (tanks, gunships, etc) for the Systems Alliance. In the Monster Hunter games, many species of monster are found in multiple ranks, but in general threat level 1-3 monsters are low rank, threat level 4-5 monsters are high rank, and threat level 6 monsters are g-rank (although particularly strong individuals of any species can be of higher rank than usual).

To answer a few questions that came up in the comments:

Whenever you see the shakalaka in the Monster Hunter games they have a far more tribal society than any other sentient species. Combine this with how isolationist they are (Cha-cha and Kayamba only interact with humans because they were separated from the other Shakalaka and on quests that required they interact with humans), when the humans, felynes, and wyvernians flew into space the shakalaka stayed on the ground. They simply prefer the familiarity of their ancestral homes to the massive expanse of space. The other subspecies of humanoids in the Monster Hunter series are also isolationist and quite rare. Rare enough that they don't even have models in any of the games. While they are present in the Systems Alliance, the other subspecies of sentient humanoids are rarely seen.

As for the variety of the weapon types, I picked weapon types based on what seemed thematically appropriate for each character or, in a few cases, what fit the plot best. Shepard and Anderson typically use striker style, Kaidan uses guild style, and Ashley uses aerial style. I'm not sure if any personal bias affected my decisions, but personally I enjoy using aerial heavy bowgun, striker bow, striker dual swords, and aerial insect glaive.