Chapter 10

Tribulations and Portents

Shepard's Log April 9th, 2174

I now this is silly but I felt like commemorating today, since I'm assuming my post aboard the SSV Thermopylae. This is my chance, I know it's an uphill battle but if I can prove myself I'll be able to move up the ranks, then someday I can stop Mindoir from happening again. I wonder what kind of person Commander DeVries is. I hope that he's like David. Still I am ready for anything. I hope you're watching Mom and Dad, I'll make you proud.

-Jane Shepard, Log Out

Shepard's Log November 17th, 2174

What is going through the Commander's mind? Today he released a man from the brig whom I had thrown in a mere hour before for insubordination. I know he likes the adoration of the men, but doesn't he realize that doing this could cost lives? To top it all off he then punished me for overreacting. Apparently throwing a man in the brig for repeatedly refusing to follow your orders is an overreaction. Someday the Commander's lax way of interacting with his men is going to get us all killed; I can only hope I've been promoted off of this boat by then. I have to serve the first of seven consecutive shifts now. I hope the Commander realizes the error of his ways soon. I love you Mom and Dad.

-Jane Shepard, Log Out

Shepard's Log April 26th, 2175

As I write this I have just submitted a request for transfer to another ship, I now understand, the actions that the commander has taken so far have nothing to do with the men, no they have everything to do with the fact that I'm Britannian. Just today when I came to him inquiring about his reasons for letting another insubordinate man, he said "I don't give a damn about you Shepard you're a traitor, no, you're worse than a traitor. You are a traitor to those porcine trahison that call themselves Britannians. You are a traitor to traitors. How can you ever expect me to trust you? I want you gone." I see now that I stand no chance of advancing my career if I remain his XO, so I'm granting his wish, if everything goes well I should be transferring out in less than a month. Mom, Dad; I'm sorry I wasted precious months aboard this dead-end, I miss you.

-Jane Shepard, Log Out


1048 Local Time

May 18th, 2175

Geneva, Switzerland, European Union

Earth

Local Cluster, Sol System

If there was one thing that caused Suzaku Kururugi to want to bash his skull into a bloody pulp, it was having to protect his father, the Prime Minister of Japan, during any type of summit. The torture of listening to politicians speak in silver tongues and protect their interests instead of what is in their peoples' interests left him between the state of his skin in perpetual crawling and just throwing up.

This summit was different though, it was the first summit in which Britannia, the Systems Alliance, and the Turian representative had met all at once in any capacity. It was a room that was literally crawling with press and bodyguards providing for every representative.

There was of course General Victus acting as the chairman of the summit, while the Britannians were represented by Prime Minister Schneizel.

The Systems Alliance on the other hand was represented by all the major players.

Gethardt Schoner was the Chancellor of the European Union. He was actually the second youngest member of the summit, just having turned thirty-two last month. He was a vet of the 314 War that had rose the ranks of the political elite upon the populist rage that had dominated the Union the last decade. Whether he was a legitimate populist or an opportunist was still left up for debate, but the Union was recovering quickly now in spite of it.

Then there was the African Union president, N'mene Danjuma. He was well-known, considering his stewardship predated even his father. Calm, collected, the man had spent the last decades finishing the consolidation of the Union. He had however supplied the Alliance with much needed materials and personnel during the war.

There was Marina Kurylenko of the Russian Federation. She was recently elected as well and was much a mystery as Schoner.

But probably the largest surprise of the summit was the Chinese Federation. After the 314 War, China had underwent a series of political upheavals and civil wars after the Turians had dropped several orbital structures on the Federation, savaging it. It had taken almost a decade for the Federation to reorganize itself, but it had been mum as to who was leading it until today. Imagine everyone's surprise that the leader of the Chinese Federation was seventeen year old Empress Jiang Lihua, the last of the Chinese Imperial line thanks to the destruction of Beijing. Suzaku had heard a few things from Kaguya about the young albino haired woman, supposedly the two were pen pals of some kind. But there had been no mention that she was the head of state of the Chinese Federation.

He felt himself being stared at and his eyes drifted to her side to find himself being pinned in the gaze of Li Xingke, the Tiger of Luoyang. He was there obviously as the chief advisor for the young Empress. He offered a nod to the man, earning a glare before it shifted away.

Then there his father, Prime Minister of Japan.

As for who was representing the Alliance as an entity, it was the African Union. It had been chartered after the war that each of the five powers would represent the Alliance as Secretary General, with the leader at the time dual-hatting. Every two years the Secretary Generalship would go to the next power and corresponding leader. It wasn't perfect, but it maintained a balance of power.

A chime silenced all the discussions that were taking place, causing heads to turn to Victus.

"Let me first thank you all for attending and welcome you all to hopefully the first of many Geneva Summits."


It was finally three hours later that the summit had adjourned for lunch and Suzaku's shift had ended. It was still awkward for him to be approached by his Director, Nagisa Chiba, to be dismissed. But then again, how could it not be with the knowledge that your boss and sensei's ex-girlfriend was sleeping with your father.

That has been a horrifying discovery two months ago. He had substituted in for Ryosuke, who had been sick that day. He had shown up to check in with his father like he always did. When he had caught the smell of breakfast he had figured his father was busy cooking for himself. Instead he had found Nagisa dressed scantily and in an apron cooking.

He shuddered in disgust, it was so wrong, his father dismissing his mother's memory by sleeping with Chiba. He had to wonder if that was why Tohdoh-sensei had left so abruptly. Sadly, he would never know since Tohdoh had been on Shanxi.

Shaking his head to dispel the negative thoughts he loosened his tie and took off his sunglasses as he sat down on a bench in front of a small lake, his jacket set down beside him. He could have returned back to the hotel to rest, but being cooked up in a hotel and get referred to with honorifics by his peers annoyed him to no end. Didn't anyone realize he was his own person?

A small alert in his ear informed him he had a message. Smirking as he knew who it probably was, he accessed his omni-tool, orange lighting up on his forearm as he brought up the message.

Saw you on the news. Could have used a little less bokken up the ass Mr. Prim 'n Proper.

- J

He couldn't help but chuckle, leave it to Jane to put a smile on his face.

"Oh my," a voice stated as he felt arms wrap around him and a chin on top of his head, "such an attractive laugh. What brought this on, letter from a girlfriend?"

Spluttering, Suzaku quickly extricated himself from the grasp as he spun around to face his assailant, body dropping into a combat stance even as he reached for a baton. He already wished he hadn't as he realized who had been groping him.

"Oh don't do that handsome," Nonette Enneagram, the Knight of One, purred, "I just want to talk. It's never good to be that tense."

Everyone knew the Britannian Knight of One, you'd actually have live under a rock to not, and even then it was not a sure thing that you wouldn't. The second Knight of Round, after the Knight of Two, and the first to be commissioned by Prime Minister Schneizel, she was also considered the most powerful human biotic by many. She was also, according to many rumors, a bit of an over-liberated woman in private situations. Why she was the visible face of the ensemble of the most powerful Britannian soldiers was something that escaped many.

And now she was before him, smiling as if she were greeting a long-lost friend. She might have gotten away with it if it weren't for the facts that she had just draped herself all over him and she was wearing a personalized uniform of a Knight of the Round.

"What do you want," he demanded through narrowed eyes.

"I'm here to check out this biotic prodigy Villetta can't seem to shut up about whenever I talk to her."

Confused, he straightened out of his stance. Biotic prodigy? When did Villetta-sensei ever consider him that? Hell, she rode his ass into the ground more than others in the Academy.

"I'm sorry. Me? Villetta-sensei called me a prodigy?"

"Viletta-sensei, huh," she asked as her smile gained a lecherous look, "oooh, I can't wait to rub that one into Brownie Girl."

"Excuse me?"

"Nevermind," she responded with a shake of the hand, "You're the only person here, handsome, that could be a prodigy. Well, present company excluded. Sooooo, what do you say to a spar?

Is this woman serious, Suzaku thought as he stared at her, we're at a summit meant to try and reduce tensions between the Britannian Empire and the Systems Alliance and she wants to spar?

"No thanks."

The smirk turned into a pout on the Knight's face.

"You're no fun. It get's so boring sparing with Alexander, he's such a killjoy cuz he hates letting loose and loves critiquing me."

She then shrugged.

"Oh well can't rape- I mean spar the unwilling."

He didn't respond to the unstated challenge. His orders were strict, he was a representative of his government and the son of the Prime Minister, he could not do anything to bring negative publicity to.

"Alright I guess," the green-haired Knight declared with a sigh, her shoulders slumping, "this isn't any fun. So, Villetta says you send her questions every once in awhile on biotics. Specifically on micromanipulation and Paladins."

"I did," he finally admitted, finding his mind racing as to what would cause the Knight of One to be interested in him. After he had graduated from the Academy, Villetta-sensei and he had exchanged messages every once in awhile, usually with him asking questions about his progression and the ideas he had for improving his skills. Villetta had offered all the help she could, but when it came to micromanipulation and Paladins, she had scant information outside of what texts she could provide. He had found it a bit odd that she would be so forthcoming with information like that, but he had been grateful for any assistance. Biotics in the Systems Alliance tended to be heavily controlled and secretive, not wanting to share their knowledge with others simply because it could become a threat to them. He was one of a handful who actually shared among one another such information. But still, the problem was you could only learn so much from text, and he had hit a brick wall almost three months ago in trying to figure both out.

"What do you want to know?"

He blinked, taken aback even as the Knight of One sat herself on the bench he had just vacated, making sure not to trap her cape underneath her. This wasn't what he was expecting, yet, the offer to drink from a fountain of knowledge like this, there had to be some type of catch to it, shouldn't there?

"I'm sorry, but, why?"

The limette gave a nonchalant shrug, "Britannian biotics are a very tight-knit circle. We spend a lot of time speaking with one another. How do you think Britannian biotics seem to keep expanding and improving in terms of skill and overall prowess? A thousand eyes looking at a problem are better than two. It does create a fraternity that likes to improve itself. Villetta and I happen to be good friends, I was her teacher and was a bridesmaid for her wedding."

Suzaku made sure to note that last part away.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Well then, how about curiosity? Villetta doesn't usually talk about her job as an Academy instructor, but for some reason you've caught her eye. That, and we are both of the same race, aren't we? Be nice for the race as a whole to prove ourselves, differences in ideology and politics aside."

Part of him wanted to walk away here and now, yet part of him was screaming to ask, telling him this might be the only chance for the information he sought. He would just have to run over everything she said later with a fine toothed comb.

He tapped his omnitool to start having it record, not missing the joy on the Knight of One's face as she realized what he was going to do.

"I want to know if micromanipulation is possible on the human body."

Suddenly the smile disappeared into a frown as Nonette stiffened.

A moment passed before her eyes slid shut, letting out a dejected sigh.

"Villetta said you were interested in that, I didn't want to believe her."

"Why?"

She motioned to the bench.

"Sit."

Hesitating a moment, he dutifully followed the command, Nonette seemingly organizing her own thoughts as she settled herself.

"You know, I wasn't going to be the Knight of One originally," she began, "was going to be the Knight of Nine, had a nicer ring to it, less visibility, I could be as unprofessional as I pleased. No, the honor belonged to a classmate of mine by the name of Erec Nohmeyer. He was a brilliant biotics user, helped write a lot of of the manuals we use today for training newbies. Was going to be the next Professor. Only problem was he always pushed the envelope."

She chuckled, causing Suzaku to frown, conflicted on stopping the recording or not.

"He was the one who did a lot in the field of micromanipulation. Swore up and down that it was the holy grail of biotics users, the idea of being able to manipulate the mass of the body in localized areas could revolutionize everything about biotic combat, change biotics of all races from support types to actual front-line fighters."

Suzaku nodded. He knew the feeling, it was still the prevailing concept within the Alliance that biotics should be used only as support units, creating exploits in enemy defenses or providing ranged support. It was a profoundly stupid idea in his estimation, a biotic appearing in the midst of an enemy could be absolutely devastating if done correctly, but Alliance sensitivity to any losses in its biotic ranks prevented any more direct participation in combat outside of extreme circumstances.

"To understand micromanipulation, you have to understand, Kururugi, that you are literally localizing mass effect fields on your body. The level of concentration and reaction times necessary to do something like that is almost inhuman. One fuckup, one lapse in concentration, and you will tear your body apart. And that's what happened to Erec. He nearly sheared himself in half because he lost his concentration. Spent a year in traction and regen therapy after that but he was never the same, we don't even know how he did it, but he wrecked several sections of nodules in the process."

He winced, the nodules in the body were what helped manifest biotic fields, to lose those were catastrophic, it was the one thing that differentiated biotics from normals.

"I was made into the Knight of One after that. Erec was killed on New Hebrides buying time to evacuate the Knight of Twelve when she was injured, a year after he returned to service."

She then fell silent, looking out to the lake as Suzaku dwelt upon the information. It actually made sense why Villetta could not provide him with any in-depth information on micromanipulation, if it had claimed a prospective Knight of One, it would probably be a black mark on them to share it with the likes of anyone else.

"You know why I'm telling you this, Kururugi? Because Erec would be pissed at me if I denied anyone who wanted to aspire unlocking the secrets of micromanipulation. Imagine what that could mean for biotics, hell, for the galaxy as a whole. You could literally catapult biotic knowledge generations by unlocking that art. But, I'm gong to warn you, what you are pursuing is incredibly dangerous and can kill you if you do not treat it like a lover. But if you can master it...well, you would be one of the most powerful biotics in existence. I'm talking galaxy wide. But, to understand it, I think you first need to look at the Paladins."

"Why?"

"Because the Paladins are the result of micromanipulation theory. The sword isn't just some type of tool to strike fear into enemies, it is an extension of our biotic energies. By treating it as part of our body and channeling biotic energy through it, we can do things that previously could not do. Just a slight change in the mass of the weapon can increase the deadliness of a blade by several orders. Then there is the projection of energy we can do with it, the sword is an extension of our body and also a projector of our power, Kururugi."

She then stopped, glancing over her shoulder.

"You can come out Blueberry, I know you're back there, and you better have my sword."

Suzaku 's gaze followed Nonette's own gaze before it came to, to his utter surprise, an Asari dressed in the uniform of a Knight of the Knight of One. The expression on her face was one of irritation, not amused with the name that Nonette had called her judging by the way she was glaring daggers at her.

"Would you please stop calling me blueberry, Lady Enneagram. My name is Liselle, not Blueberry, you know what that disgusting word means."

Nonette placed a finger on her chin and looked as if she were deep in thought.

"You mean that you're soft and blue on the outside and sweet and juicy on the inside," she asked, "I think blueberry describes you quite well, my little blueberry."

Even though the Asari looked ready to snap, something else quite different flashed behind those eyes that ran in stark contrast to the irritation.

"Here," she half-snarled, reaching into her cloak, retrieving a sheathed blade, and tossing to it to Nonette, before turning away muttering just loud enough for Suzaku and Nonette to hear, "Little my ass, I have nearly a hundred years on you, you damn hussy."

"Love you too," Nonette called out, eyes locked onto the Asari's backside, before she disappeared, sighing, she looked back to Suzaku who wore a face a shock.

"What," she demanded, catching Suzaku's look, "never seen an interspecies relationship before?"

"No, I mean, I, uh," as he devolved into a splutter, causing the limette to break down in a laugh.

"We're not in that kind of relationship. Jeeze kid, get your mind out of the gutter."

"Of course," he quickly responded, dealing with this Knight was...odd to say the least. He didn't exactly expect the Knight was supposedly the face and penultimate of skill to be so odd.

"Now, where was I? Oh yes, Paladins and micromanipulation."

Blue flames flickered and erupted around her as she withdrew the sabre from its scabbard, the blade now glowing like the rest of her.

"The key differential between standard biotics and paladins is scale. Standard biotics users prefer AOE style biotic attacks that can be chained together or support in exploiting enemies. We-"

She snapped the blade down to her feet, azure energy slashing out from the blade and into the small lake.

"-Are capable of precision one shot one kill techniques. We are the precision strike of the biotics because we can put energy on target quickly, effectively, and economically."

She then replaced the sabre in its scabbard with an audible tink, the azure flames of her biotics dying down around her. She then turned to face him

"All of that is the point of micromanipulation. Channeling our biotics in such a way to maximize our damage output while increasing our offensive and defensive capabilities. A great example being myself or the Knight of Two."

Suzaku nodded in response looking at the sword, it was basic knowledge that she was giving him, acceptable yes, but what he wanted was specifics.

"How."

"Hm?"

"How do you train it?"

She paused, looking at him for a moment before sighing.

"For everyone it's different. I was one of the first, so we had...different training aids before we started experimenting upon ourselves. For training aids now...rats might be a good start."

"Rats?"

"Flesh, muscles, and blood have different characteristics in comparison to your training spheres. You first need to feel how a body reacts to precision methods. Once you have that ability for fine control, then you can work on yourself."

"Oh" Suzaku commented before his face contorted into a grimace as the realization struck him "Ohhh..."

At this Nonette smiled grimly as she grasped his shoulder, Suzaku seemed to understand the risk.

"You don't want to do irreversible damage..."

"Can't I try it on something else?"

Nonette choked on her own breath, but after a moment she couldn't hold her laugh in.

"Like what?"

"Something like...not alive?"

The laugh abruptly disappeared as the Knight of One cast him a queer look.

"You're serious?"

He found himself unable to vocalize himself, only choosing to nod. It wasn't that he was disgusted with himself, he just didn't like the idea of incurring suffering upon innocent lives, especially for the sake of bettering himself. His improvement should not be paid in blood.

"Wow. Well, humm, the problem is you need to be able to see the effects your biotics have on flesh, muscle, and bone so you can learn how to finetune your control when you use your biotics on yourself. Other methods are certainly quite expensive and I doubt that you would want for your superior to know you are doing something that is only trained in Britannia..."

"Then I will just have to do it upon myself," he returned cordially, sensing there was nothing more to be learned here.

"You are a stubborn one," the Knight of One observed before activating her omnitool, "whatever, I just sent you a way you can get ahold of me if you have any questions, Suzaku-kun. Hopefully pride doesn't ruin that cute ass of yours."

Before he could turn and offer a rebuttal she disappeared in a haze of blue.

Looking after where she had disappeared he sighed. Better get some rest, he had a feeling his father was going to be less than enthused on the way back to Japan.


Shepard's Log June 6th, 2175

It has been a long grueling month since I submitted my transfer request. The men have lost what little respect they had for me, none of them follow any of my orders anymore; and here's the kicker: the one man who I could rely on was able to transfer out in less than a week after the shit hit the fan when he brought me some food after another long stretch of shifts. This doesn't make any sense, Perhaps the brass lost the first copy, I'll be submitting another one soon. I hope I'm off this boat and on another soon. Mom, Dad? Your baby girl misses you more every day, I wonder how John is doing. I hope he has had better luck than I do.

-Jane Shepard, Log Out

Shepard's Log January 24th, 2176

Today was yet another day of inane and insulting tasks. I fear that at this rate I will never be able to gain the respect of my men, let alone the Commander. Today was the first day that I caught one of the men directly disobeying my orders, however when I went to punish the man for insubordination, the Commander quickly caught wind and rewarded him. If this continues I have no hope that my men will obey me when the time comes. Isn't the Commander concerned that if war were to break out that the chain of command will be ignored? Regardless I have issued a complaint to Fleetcom, though I doubt it will yield any consequences for the Commander.

Further problems have arisen, as I may be unable to do much my next leave, due to my stipend this week and next being docked, supposedly as punishment for insubordination on my part. I fail to see how since I have faithfully carried out all duties assigned. Regardless I need to ration my credits if I am to make do when I meet up with Suzaku next shore leave.

Honestly I am at my wit's end here, Disrespect from the men and abuse from my superiors, I honestly believe that they want nothing more than to force me out of the service. I wonder if this is what Quarians on pilgrimage feel like at the receiving end of all that abuse. Then again; at least they know they have somewhere to go. Dammit John, why'd you have to stay with Britannia? Why'd you stay with the nation that left us, our family, our planet out to dry? Mom and Dad are dead because of the country you love John. I of all people know how hard it can be living as a Britannian Ex-Pat, but it's better than being a dog of the empire. Do you still pray for Mom and Dad, John? Do you visit their graves?

-Jane Shepard, Log Out


Unknown Location

"Is everything ready," Saren Arterius asked the woman who had connected in the call with him. While he hated humans, after the war they had taken to mercenary work and piracy even better than the Batarians and Krogan. Yelena Ultres was one of those humans that were successful. She had been able to amass one of the largest pirate groups and base them out of Torfan in the last ten years. Pretty good considering she was formerly a destroyer captain in the Systems Alliance.

Still, it was better to be safe, which was why he wore the guise of the deceased Edan Had'dah for any transmission with her.

"With the assistance you have provided yes," the woman replied, "everything should be ready within the timeframe you have provided."

"Good. Elysium is a vulnerable target, with the ships I have given you it should be relatively easy to take if you have done the necessary work."

"Edan, please, you must take me for a freshly minted cadet. This is not our first rodeo, though it is the largest haul we've ever tried to hit."

"Good. Just make sure you don't fail me. You and I both know that future endeavors won't be profitable for you if you botch this."

"It won't happen, Edan. We'll be ready to move on Elysium in a month."

"Good," he responded, cutting the line.

Now it was only a matter of getting himself in position for what he needed from Elysium during the resulting chaos.


A/N: We are all sorry for how long it took to get this chapter up, several events in each of our lives took precedence.

Let's recap: Suzaku has met Nonette and gotten some advice (and harassment). Jane is dealing with a commander that has pushed her to the limits of her sanity. Meanwhile Saren is prepping an assault on Elysium. How will things go for our stressed heroine?

Now onto other matters to answer a few questions:
grey: the technique that Lelouch used to converse with the Primarch is going to be used again and better explained later, don't worry this won't be a single flash in the pan.

linkhyrule5: Think about it if there was a sudden change in all of the most powerful politicians; wouldn't people notice? Further as far as Lelouch is concerned he has no clue exactly how powerful the entity that touched his consciousness is all he knows is that it is associated with the reapers. As long as that presents a threat he is unwilling to put himself at the risk of having to fight the full brunt of the indoctrination power of this trap.

Imperial warlord: ... Classified...

evelsaint93: See our answer to grey's question.

Everyone else: Thank you for the reviews

We hope to have the next chapter out much faster than we got this one out but unfortunately there are no promises we can make.