Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
-George Orwell
Chapter 10: The Kindling Flames
Arcturus Keep, 2650 June 20, High Governmental Ring
The Palace of the President was an intimidating affair; it had towering arched columns and flying buttresses, titanic domed ceilings and more the five meters of Forerunner alloy plating the entire superstructure. All and all the Palace was second only to the Capital Building itself in sheer size and opulence. All of the buildings of the government ward had a general human feel to their architecture and design (using the designs of the Covenant upon the Keep was widely considered distasteful) but at times those designs gave way to architecture and shapes of ancient history of the Sangheili, Unggoy, Lekgolo, though admittedly those were few and far between as the Prophets had done their best to wipe out every facet of individualism and pride among the different species. Still, the graceful curves of the Sangheili and the massive ant tower like structures of the Lekgolo could be seen here or there dotting the ring.
The palace itself was a white marble building, over a hundred meters in length and home to not only the President of the NSA, but also his or her entire cabinet, Security Services, and a detachment of UNSC High Command.
It was a breathtaking beauty, the culmination of all the fruits the golden age has provided the NSA. If one was to walk the marbled floors of the palace one would almost feel the air of grandiose and pride, every square inch of the building was dedicated to showcasing the wealth and authority of the NSA's executive government. From incredible works of art from human painters and sculptors, to great dioramas of battles and war from the Sangheili the halls and dozens of rooms were filled to burst with the new and fledgling culture of the NSA. Even the usually pragmatic and usually unartistic Unggoy got involved with the furnishing of the building, with their rare, but incredibly gifted artists filling the backdrop of the grand entranceway with a massive painting of their uniquely beautiful and exotic home world: the recently terra formed Balaho.
Of course, one simply wouldn't be able to just walk into the building and start touring the many halls and rooms. For, while there is indeed a healthy amount of tourism that takes place on the High Governmental Ward, security is taken to an extreme. Special security forces ranging from ODST veterans, UNSC Rangers, Spartan IV's (II's and V's were too rare and valuable to be wasted on such a task) and of course the president's own Secret Service. The Service was a bit of an anomaly within the entire governmental Ward itself, for apart from private security hired by senators or other officials every other armed and organized unit on the Keep was some detachment or wing of the UNSC.
The service was also regarded as one of the few segregated units within the NSA. There had never been, nor did it look there would ever be in the near future, a non-human president of the Alliance. There was no written rule or clause in the Constitution that dictated this, but early circumstances of hostility and weak political standing for the Covenant races left them unable to even consider sponsoring a candidate for the lofty and powerful position. Over the years there were eight human presidents, and throughout that time the Covenant species had not directly been affected negatively from this arrangement. So, it had become an unwritten rule that the president was human; therefore it would make sense that his or her private guards were also human.
They were always there, shadowing and prefacing every move the president made. In their nondescript black suits and tinted glasses the agents were everywhere and nowhere at once. Just one more body that faded into the background, another face easily forgotten and replaced with the hordes of people and beings to see the president during a public occasion; the agents were security. And so it was the odd thirty or so agents that made out the service were spread out around the Palace, ten with the president, five with the vice president, and the remaining fifteen spread around the palace monitoring and assuring the safety of the most powerful beings in the galaxy.
And so it was that Sergeant James Cooper of the president's detachment was the first to get the short, but terrified transmission from the High Command bunker in the palace.
Putting a finger to his small, almost unnoticeable earpiece, Cooper eyes widened and his entire body froze as he tried to process the information that was being fed to him.
"Say again, High Com. What do you mean initiate Cole Protocol and Winter Contingency?" Cooper frowned as he listened to the high assed whining coming from the other line, the ignorant ensign at high com telling him he didn't have clearance for the information.
Containing his irritation Cooper responded, "Ensign Listen to me, if I, a Sergeant of the Secret Service, don't have clearance to this information than I can assure you neither do you", Cooper waited for several second for a response. The response did indeed come.
In a flash Copper ran the length of the hall he was stationed in, his polished dress shoes making muffled thumps upon the carpeted marble floors. Reaching the end of the hallway and nodding at the two agents stationed there Cooper mentally and physically rearranged himself before he pulled open the dark paneled doors.
Interplanetary and Interspecies President William Whitman looked up from his dull and endless pile of work and political bickering just in time to notice the paneled doors to his office being slid open, quickly followed by one of his agents.
Rising, Whitman buttoned his suit and waited for the agent to make his purpose known.
"Mr. President, I apologize for the interruption, but Highcom has sent a transmission that is at Cole and Winter Security levels", Cooper stated, doing his best to remain calm and professional.
Whitman's face grew serious and stony; he motioned for Cooper to sit in one of the chairs facing his desk as he worked on a terminal at his desk. After several moments he looked up again and sat back down.
"Very well Agent, what does Highcom need me to know? Is it in regards to the Remnant attack, for I was assured that the attack had been easily repulsed?" Whitman asked nervously, knowing full well the danger an unchecked covenant incursion could cause. After all the scare of 33' had sent the current President's entire career into question, culminating with his resignation, Whitman sure as hell didn't want to deal with that political shit storm.
Cooper jaw stiffened before he responded, "No sir, it was not about the covenant attack. This is regarding the disturbance at the relic in the Shanxi system".
"The Shanxi system? I was assured by the director of Galactic Safety that the disturbance was a minor pirate raid and had sense been dealt with!"
"Well, Mr. President", Cooper paused feeling the gravity of the situation filling him, "It wasn't a pirate raid, Highcom tells me that the 4th R&D fleet made hard contact with an unknown alien force. They were repelled, but returned with a much larger force. The acting commander of Shanxi's garrison, a General Williams, requested reinforcements from Arcturus herself".
That would explain the disappearance of the fifth wing and Lord Hood, thought Whitman gravely.
"However, the reinforcements from Arcturus arrived too late, by the time they had arrived the alien force, the Turians, had laid siege for the capital city of Lou Yang for two weeks and upon their eviction from the system by the third wing they destroyed the city with a thermo nuclear device", Cooper delivered the report as all agents did, short swift and without feeling entering their words; it was a complete contradiction to how both men felt.
Whitman's face got progressively paler as Cooper went on, his already prominent age lines and wrinkles became incredibly noticeable, and his eyes grew steely. He sat their waiting for more from the agent, knowing full well that wasn't all Highcom had told Cooper.
"Go on agent", he said softly.
Cooper nodded slowly, "Mr. President, this comes directly from the Highcom Security Council, they have demanded that you issue a state of emergency and a declaration of war against the alien belligerents to congress, granting emergency powers to the Highcom Security Council until the crisis has been dealt with", again Cooper paused feeling uncomfortable to go on, "and if you should delay even a standard day you will be deposed, the NSA Congress will be dissolved and the UNSC will be assume emergency powers as dictated by the Harvest Protocol of the NSA constitution".
At the end of the declaration Whitman leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed as he tried to fathom the information being fed to him. Eventually, he stood, and walked over to the series of towering windows that showcased the dazzling Governmental skyline, the dome and spires of the Capital building being most prominent. Finally, after several moments of silent contemplation, he turned back to Agent Cooper.
"Thank you Agent Cooper, you may return to your normal duties", Whitman favored Cooper with a pensive glance before elaborating further, "It seems I have a speech to prepare".
Three Hours Later, High Governmental Ring, Capital Building
The capital Building wasn't the largest building within the Keep. No, that honor belonged to several of the titanic mega-corporations whose headquarters were titanic skyscrapers that literally forced an entire height of a ward of the Keep to be raised. However, what the Capital lacked in sheer size it made up in architectural beauty. The building was an odd, yet pleasing mix of the plaster, marble, domes, pillars, and arches of ancient Greek and Roman buildings, and the odd flowing and metallic designs of the Forerunners.
If one looked from up above the Keep from the great blackness of space, the building would look something like this: a massive rectangle that stretched out for over two hundred meters, with a massive white marble dome directly in the middle. Next, there were two separate rectangles that fanned out from the main superstructure, ending in two massive silver spires that stretched out into the inky blackness of space, one on the south end and another on the north. Finally, one would be drawn back to the initial dome to gaze down at the contrasting ebony and marble steps that led a considerable distance to the grand entranceway, interspersed by silver flowing silver lines that seemed to shimmer, shift and move of their own accord. All and all the Capital had an air of mysticism and age despite its youth, and if one was to visit, or have the privilege to work in or around the grounds, you would never tire of the expert craftsmanship.
However, the great awe and pride that all felt upon looking at the Capital was forgotten on this day, for an emergency summoning of all Congress members had been called, and only on incredibly dire occurrences had this ever occurred.
And so they were summoned, from rich Human Senators from the core and inner worlds, to Sangheili Warlords and Councilors turned representatives and Senators. Even the Unggoy and Mgalekgolo had arrived, with the short and squat Unggoy arriving in ceremonial robes and cloaks to hide their rebreathers, and the reclusive and mysterious Mgalekgolo arriving in bonded pairs that kept to themselves, though a pair or two did, at times, engage Sangheili or veteran humans in their bizarre vibration communication.
The only beings not to have representation at the Capital were the Huragoks; although the sentient machines were indeed official citizens of the NSA the engineers were rather complacent beings, content to let others represent them. As such either the Sangheili or the Humans tended to speak for the Huragoks will, and that usually just tended to be going with the flow of whatever party has the most influence. However, the Huragoks were one the main reasons for the strength and prosperity of the NSA, for they, along with the Humans, were the only ones with the ability to accurately locate and decipher Forerunner artifacts and archives. As such the beings were requested to at least keep several of their more key members to at least observe the on goings of the congress.
That known, several of the odd almost squid like organisms arrived at the Capital through virtually unknown means, slowly drifting forward till they reached the capital main hall, remaining to themselves.
Slowly, after the pleasantries and greetings had been made, those few Congress members that were actually on Arcturus slowly trickled into the main entrance hall and began sitting and arranging themselves in the titanic funnel shaped main hall as they waited for the emergency summoning's meeting to be known. Of course, those several hundred or so members that were on the Keep were not the only members of the massive Congress. For, fully summoned, the Congress had two senators from each world and colony and then representatives based on population and species (representing the actually number of Lekgolo was rather difficult after all) to that end there were nearly seven thousand beings that made up the congress, and they generally preferred to remain in the comfort of their individual worlds instead hooking up a connection via hologram to the Capital during session. These many thousand flickering blue holograms had the effect of turning the main hall into a surreal ethereal experience with it literally glowing blue!
So, when the great doors the main hall finally slammed shut, and when the thousands of holograms flickered to life and quietly waited for the session to begin, and when the thousands of beings communicating settled down, finally, at the extreme center of the gigantic funnel, the President appeared.
President Whitman, closely followed by the Vice President and his cabinet, quietly ascended the small staircase that led to the raised box that composed the executive chair desk and podium. Generally, the president was not present for meetings of the Congress and either the Vice President or the Speaker of the Congress was situated at the box. For this meeting, however, the President slowly took his place in the tall, black leather upholstery chair that faced outwards towards the entire congress. Conscious of the of the unnatural silence that had blanketed the titanic room, Whitman rose to his feet, and after making sure his Sangheili Chief of staff was ready, walked to the central podium.
Whitman however paused, feeling the enormity of the situation bearing down on him: nearly a century ago the greatest conflict Humanity had ever faced had come to an end, against a threat that was literally alien in nature, and now he would ask for a declaration of war to start a conflict with no end in sight. He began his speech.
"Members of the New Species Alliance, we are gathered here at a moment of such gravity and enormity it cannot be put to words", Whitman paused letting his words sink in, also conscious of the News' drones floating around the room centering their cameras on him, "Many decades ago our races put aside their differences, their bigotry, and their hate. They were determined to create a galaxy where never again would the atrocities of the Great War occur again, to that end our New Species Alliance was created, a government for by the people, run by the people, and composed of those who would never again see the rise of Tyranny and corruption", Whitman's electronically enhanced words rang out across the hall, crashing and resonating across the many levels of wooden desks, Congressmen, and hologram projectors, "Although we have seen much hardship across the years, and although there are those who would see our great government destroyed we have endured! No, indeed our great people and planets have flourished under our careful guidance and the UNSC's strong protection!" There was a cheer at this a deafening boom that threatened to shake the very foundations of the Capital.
Whitman paused and waited calmly for the cheering and clapping to shut down, the guttural roars of the Sangheili didn't help to abate the din either. "We are now in the glory of a golden age! A time of great culture, wealth and expansion, never before have all our species seen such glory and prosperity, it truly is humbling to think of the situation we were all in so few years ago. We have cast our light of civilization into the great void of space, going further than any in our time. We have paid witness to the great wonders our universe can reveal, and we have weather the many storms she has sent us! Together we have upheld the mantle passed down to us from the might and wise Forerunners, we have guarded their ancient secrets and maintained a constant vigil against the ever present Flood threat", Whitman continued his litany, again pausing for another great cheer to reverberate across the hall.
"As we forever venture into the unexplored wilds of space we find new wonders, but also do we discover new threats", Whitman paused yet again, whetting his dry lips as he prepared himself for the next step, "Fellow beings of the New Species Congress, fellow beings of the Alliance, I am here to inform you of the treachery cruelty and barbarism of one new contender!" There were great mutterings and hushed conversations across the hall at this as the Congress members desperately speculated at what the President meant.
"Citizens it is with a heavy heart that I tell you that at the mixed species Shanxi colony a new race and interstellar power made itself known, with fire and blood!" a hushed silence fell across the hall with every single being fixating their gaze and minds upon the president, "Mr. Thervan if you would please?" Whitman quietly intoned to his Sangheili chief of staff who moved up to an enormous holo projector just to the rear of Whitman which he started up in short order.
As the Congress and the news' drones had their attention on the hologram that was currently a gigantic representation of the NSA's seal: a black background with a golden eagle entwined in a dance of death with the silver Sangheili bird of prey called a draxonic, the bird largely resembled a miniature dragon save its head which had a birds beak. Both birds' talons, wings, and beaks were made to envelope and enshroud four planets centered in the banner the four home worlds: Earth, Sanghelios, Balaho, and Te. Whitman resumed speaking. "These villains, the so called Turians of the Citadel, were responsible for the images that you will soon pay witness too, though I warn you the images you will see may disturb you", at his words the hologram changed from the NSA banner, to vids of the 4th's initial skirmish with the Turian patrol, to the vid the Turian admiral sent Captain McHenery before he was annihilated, and finally a still image of the remnants of Lou Yang.
A deathly silenced enveloped the Capital at the videos conclusion, that is until one Senator, a Sangheili form Sanghelios, rose to his feet and demanded from the president, "And I ask what has been done to gain vengeance to these vile desecrators, these foul pigs!? These ignorant fools?!" As the senator spoke his words got progressively more feral until he was literally spitting from his jaws. Roars of agreement and questioning arose from the Congress, quickly devolving into a massive shouting match with each politician trying to get the most attention. Finally Whitman had enough as he slammed his hand into the wooden podium and shouted at the top of his lungs, "SILENCE!"
The hall quieted quickly enough, with none in the hall being prepared from the outburst from the normally docile Whitman. He spoke again, "That, good senator from Sanghelios, the reason for this emergency meeting. We are here to vote on a declaration of war, and the granting of emergency powers to the UNSC High Command Security Council as dictated by the Harvest Protocol. Now there will be neither filibustering, nor stop gapping this vote. It will begin now! As his words passed his lips every holopad of the Congressmen's tables lit up with a simple vote: yay, or nay.
Twenty minutes later the final vote had been sent and all seven thousand three hundred and twenty three votes had been counted: 6534 for and 523 against with only 266 abstentions. Whitman sighed softly and made a short prayer to some unseen deity as he returned to the podium.
"The motion has carried. The NSA is officially at war with the Turian Hierarchy and the Citadel Council!"
June 23 2650 GST, Citadel Council Tower, Salarian Wing
Councilor Valern sat and silently pondered the dramatic and terrifying revelations that had been revealed over the recent days. Bruttianus and the Turians had slowly revealed more and more information regarding the 314 relay incident over the days, culminating in the revelation of the disaster at the criminal species colony, apparently called Shanshii, or something to that effect. Truly the Turian army and navy defeat should have terrified the Turian high command (such a decisive defeat of Turian forces hadn't been seen since the Krogan rebellions and even then only at sporadic occasions). In any case Bruttianus didn't seem highly perturbed, other than his complete and utter conviction that total war must be waged and that the criminal species must be subjugated by the council.
Valern did agree that the aggressive nature of the many species of this assumed coalition was disturbing, but at the same time she was dubious of Bruttianus' motives; he had reputedly always served his own interests and the savagery of the race seemed a bit to convenient for Valern to eat up. Of course, she was sure Tevos also had her doubts, but the Asari had always been a bit of a racist and arrogant bitch (her rather tenuous dealings with the Quarians had denoted this) and what should easily be able to see as a Turian plot was forgotten by her and devolved by her distaste of up and coming races.
That said, Tevos was apparently unwilling to investigate Bruttianus' claims, and merely wanted to continue her effort to depose him, then go on and declare war upon this alien coalition.
Valern, however, wasn't so short sighted. She knew that whatever this alien coalition was could be a massive threat to the Union, but blindly charging ahead would always get the aggressor destroyed. Valern, like all Salarians, favored a decisive first strike against any enemy, but heavy reconnaissance and analysis of their enemies had to be undertaken first. Thus, her proposal to the Dalatrasses to send a large detachment of the STG reserve to observe this Shanshii, and to spy on the Turian Committee of Galactic Security, was accepted with literally no protest. It was only practical after all, and she looked forward to meeting with her known heads of the STG.
The STG always had an unknown number of directors, none of them knew each other, nor did their agents and only the Dalatrass Council on Sur'Kesh know the identities and location of each Director. The other Dalatrasses were allowed the security of only one Director of the STG, usually within their System, and as both parties were replaced at a rather fast rate the actual time a Director was known was rather short. A Councilor on the other hand was given quite a special treatment. As the Salarian term for Councilor usually only lasted for about five years or so, and because the position was so powerful in the galaxy, that person was generally familiar with most of the Directors and had the most say in their actions aside from the Sur'Kesh council.
Valern was then quickly rewarded for her uncharacteristic patience with a dinging alarm on her Omnitool; the Directors were ready for the meeting. Valern quickly activated several vid screens, one for each Director, and sat back waiting for them to accept the vid communication request. One by one their faces appeared on her vids, though for each other their faces would be blackened and their voices disguised. Each one was equally important to the other, as each (save for the Head of the STG) was only responsible for a cabal, or about three dozen agents.
"Directors, I'm sure you have already been brought to speed over the nature of your assignment", the Directors didn't respond; they knew their assignments before they read the official transmissions from the Dalatrasses, this was how it had always been, "I, however, wanted to make sure that several key facts that I doubt even you were aware of is known".
"Go on councilor Valern", the only director from Sur'Kesh's system intoned, clearly flustered that she apparently knew more than him.
She smiled slightly to herself, unable to hide her pleasure of knowing more than the esteemed STG Directors, "You have been allowed to know that your task is to infiltrate the Turian Republic and ascertain the authority of the government and the downfall of the hierarchy", the directors nodded, it was an important task and would require many cables to be completed, "What you have not been told is that three of you and your cables will also be investigating the so called relay pair 314 incident, and the validity of Councilor Bruttianus' claims against the criminal species on the other side of the pair", Valern paused and made sure emphasis was placed on her next words, "Know that this task take the utmost precedence over the other, and if a cabal is…compromised, one investigating the Republic is to be diverted to the dark side of the 314 pair. You will be notified your cables designations in these roles as soon as you are just outside Turian space".
Valern ended her string of orders and waited for any questions, one came from the Sur'Kesh director again, "I have become privy to the information regarding the inhabitants on the other side of the relay, they reportedly our quite advanced for a recently discovered species and were able to trounce an entire Turian expeditionary fleet, that alone is no small feat. My question is: what if these xenos are advanced enough to detect and, great spirits forbid, capture or destroy our vessels?" It was a hard question one that truly questioned the pride of Valern as she responded.
"That eventuality has been addressed, and although unlikely, if such an event were to occur you and your agents must immediately withdraw, and if that is impossible, you are to wipe all data on your computers and…neutralize yourselves and your vessels", at Valern's words there was a heavy silence, such contingencies were not unheard of in the STG, when fighting the Rachni and the Krogan for example cells that were detected were forced to undergo this procedure, but giving such credit to a before unheard of species secretly made many of the directors nervous. The Director from Sur'Kesh however, seemed to have no qualms and responded quickly enough; the only hint of his nervousness was his abandonment of grammar.
"Seems appropriate, alien species gaining STG level information highly unsavory, will see to it that my team will perform above and beyond your desired parameters", With that he cut the connection, and the rest, getting the hint, quickly followed suit leaving Valern alone in her office.
The galaxy was advancing far too quickly for the usually very adaptive Salarians, Valern noted in the sudden silence. She knew changes had to be made, or the entire Salarian way of life was in danger.
And so, in the inky blackness of space, and on the far corners of the Salarians holdings, dozens of specialized stealth frigates jumped forward to the unknown, and their destiny.
A/N so there we have it, the official declaration of war by the NSA, and the Salarians response to Bruttianus' claims. I hope I have appeased those who thought I had dumbed down the other Citadel races; they're not stupid, Bruttianus is just very very manipulative. Anyway, tomorrow and Friday I have literally all day to work on this story so look forward to a codex, timeline, and perhaps another chapter if I have enough inspiration juices left. Until then continue to review review review, and again I must thank your guy's continued support. We have hit over 500 hundred followers, when I started this story I never thought that would happen and it greatly humbles me that so many people like what I consider to be merely competent writing. Anyway happy New Year everyone, and I look forward to seeing you all again soon. Until then –JoetheHighlord out