23/02/2015

Thank you to Pax-Humana for beta-ing.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you are the greatest.

Mass Effect: Synthesis
Jade Tatsu
Chapter 26 But Some Did Not

October 2nd 2190 13:24, Citadel Space, Batarian Nation

"… harbinger now… harbinger now… harbinger now…"

The words echoed through Jarra's mind. She didn't understand them but they were the first thing in the darkness for ages. Around her, the others screamed again. As the darkness had continued, most had faded into silence, falling into a stupor of nothingness. Now, they reacted. But there was nothing they could do and the darkness continued without change.

Yet something did change. In the darkness, something touched her. It commanded her but the voice held derision. The voice held scorn. It was cold. It was powerful but unfeeling. It was the voice of the supervisor who had ordered her to beat her child. The newborn had been crying and she had been unable to silence it. She'd obeyed. She had to obey and the babe had fallen silent after the first blow, possibly knowing that it was essential for it to quiet now. But the supervisor was not satisfied. He had ordered her to hit the small form again. And again. And again.

And she had. She had not stopped. She had not cried. The child had. It had screamed at first. Then its voice had softened, and gurgled and stopped.

It was only then that she had been allowed to stop. The supervisor had just watched her, then ordered her to deal with the mess. The mess that had been her child. Blood soaked the wrappings, she had found, and its body was limp. Jarra had obeyed. She had had no choice, and fighting tears, she had found a new cloth and had wrapped the babe again before taking it to the incinerator.

The supervisor had left then, and it was only after she knew she was safe that the tears had fallen. She had sobbed, silently, stricken with grief. She'd retched a bit but nothing had come up and in the morning, despite the pain gnawing at her, her Master had given her work and she had done it. There was nothing she could have done.

It was the same voice now. It ordered her. It ordered them all.

"Nazara is the harbinger now," that was the command but it meant nothing to her. In the darkness, it was just words. She did not know Nazara. She did not know what the harbinger heralded. It did not matter. She did not want to obey.

Not again. She did not want to know what pain that voice would bring her this time. But for all that she tried not to listen, the others did. Those screaming in the darkness listened and Jarra felt herself move. It was a frenzied movement, thrashing in the darkness. But the movement intensified when she and the others felt themselves hit something. The realization flashed across her senses. The darkness was not forever. It was confining but it had limits and she had reached those limits.

There were words but she didn't hear. They were not important. Instead she thrashed harder. The memory of stars returned. She wanted to see them. She wanted to feel the cold of space against her face. She didn't want this dark!

"Suffer the pain forever."

The words meant nothing to her. She already suffered. She was a pleb, she knew suffering. Every day of her life had been suffering.

"Let it go!" It was a woman's voice this time. Jarra didn't care. It didn't matter. Male or female, they had both brought pain.

"I will lose no more!" That voice came from all around her. It was like the darkness but it was strong and she heard the promise. Jarra didn't know where it came from. It felt warm. It promised… she wanted to trust it. She wanted to feel it.

Memory returned. It was only a flash. Jealousy. Someone cared. Not for her but for their own kind. They cared enough to fight, enough to bring down eternity. She wanted that. She didn't know exactly what it was but she wanted that. She wanted someone to care, wanted someone to fight, just for her. Always for her. Was it selfish? Jarra screamed. She didn't care. She wanted it.

Suddenly, there was cold against her skin and she felt the pull of space. The corner of one eye saw light and she surged towards it as the darkness fell away. It was freedom. It was beautiful. The cold surrounded her and she looked everywhere. There were other ships around her and in the distance, the colors of the nebula stained the background.

But for all that she was free, she was cold and she was lonely. There were voices screaming at her. The words made no sense and Jarra didn't care. They grated against her, always wanting her to do something. Something touched her, but instead of struggling Jarra let the feeling wash over her and she felt herself moved. She was pulled close to the big ship, the one that had hidden her in darkness. The darkness didn't return but its voice did.

It didn't demand. It didn't scream. It didn't think her selfish. It silenced the others, calming their screams making it so that Jarra could hear. It promised her the world. It promised her the impossible, that nothing would hurt her. That was a lie, everything could hurt her. She was a pleb but listening to the voice she felt something grow again. It promised her itself, that it would protect her. That she had brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and sons and daughters, all who would protect her. It was unreal but Jarra could feel the truth. It believed what it said and slowly, Jarra willed herself to calm and closed her eyes. She didn't need to see the other ships, just listening was enough.

It had been eternity since she had smiled. Eternity since she had felt anything but pain but there, surrounded by other ships, with the nebula in the background, cradled by the largest ship, Jarra dared to believe.

October 2nd 2190 13:28, Citadel Space, SAV Kilimanjaro, Dive Room

Nuriel looked around the salarian coding. It was tight. From the brief look he had at asari coding, he could see that the salarian coding was tighter, better formed. It had redundancy and layer upon layer of security. Yet for all of that, he could hack it, force his way through it but that would be a pain in the proverbial. It would be better, easier if they opened the way.

That was generally the first rule of diving. Find some kink in their security and then make them let you exploit it. Of course, you had to exploit it in such a way that they couldn't exploit your weaknesses but that was one of Lacuna's jobs. So what would the Salarians respond to? These Salarians appeared to be the intelligence gatherers of the Council and this ship had been sending out signals, signals Nuriel had recognized as attempts to establish covert communication with the human fleet. They were the Council's divers. Nuriel flicked through a few loose files and then laughed. It was so easy! They would expect it but that was the beauty of it. Their expectations would make them walk right into his trap.

"Lacuna, I'm going to need a multi-layered shell configuration, vectored to look like a dreadnaught," Nuriel gave the instruction to his waiting AI. Lacuna went to work immediately, spinning walls of code around him. They gave the illusion of size, just as he had instructed and while they seemed solid, they would not hinder his movement. They were his code. Nuriel set to work on the inner layer. It had to look organic. After he set up a series of subsystems which would pretend to be high level brain waves and subconscious thoughts, he moved outwards, setting up what would be wards and barriers. "Lacuna, this needs to look like a SIL," he instructed after he finished.

The AI nodded and Nuriel watched as a few changes were initiated. They weren't large but once they were done he understood. The code he'd written still had something indefinably organic about it, now the outer layers reflected pure cold logic.

It was one of the oddities of dive space. They were on the salarian ship but at the same time they were on the Kilimanjaro, which was why he could create such a large construct. "Now, I need you to project it," Nuriel instructed. "Make it seem like the construct is at edge of our fleet."

He didn't wait for Lacuna to respond. They were already in the salarian system far enough that Lacuna could make them think his creation was one of the SIL or SOCL and once he opened a few, minor paths for them, the salarian hackers would take the bait. They'd have to because by now, they would be desperate. And once they took the bait, coming into his simulation of a SIL, he would follow the path back, through all their security, straight on to their ship.

Such a beautifully simple plan. No human diver would fall for it and even if they did, their AI would bail them out. From what he'd seen of the salarians, they were too used to getting their own way, too used to being in control, too used to believing that no one would stand up to them. If the salarian hacker was intelligent, they might see the trap but Nuriel doubted they'd avoid it so now, all he had to do was wait. They'd find his ship, and then he'd find them. And then… Then some of them might survive humanity's wrath.

October 2nd 2190 13:32, Citadel Space, Turian Dreadnought Pride of Menen

Captain Tarquin laughed. Saren had promised them reinforcements but the Turian Captain didn't think the Spectre meant this!

The Citadel had repositioned and a signal had been sent. It had almost fried their comms but they had avoided that.

After that, it had seemed as if nothing had happened but then chaos had erupted in the enemy fleet. Some of the ships began firing on their fellows. Even the big one seemed affected. The fleet wasn't completely incapacitated. It would take more than a few ships turning on them to do that but, with their concentration split, it made his job easier.

"Attack the front rows!" he gave the order easily and was pleased when a new wave of fire lanced out from the Citadel fleet.

The enemy fleet seemed to ignore them as they concentrated on the internal threat. Their formation was odd. The original ships had vanished into the bulk of the formation. The leading edge of the enemy formation was now made of huge ships, their shields overlapped and all Tarquin could do was watch as his shots impacted and did nothing. The only reason his ships hadn't been destroyed was that the enemies seemed to be waiting for something.

He had no idea what but he was thankful for it. Their hesitation gave the Sovereign time to triumph.

For the moment, all he could do was watch as the enemy fleet moved around the traitors in their midst. He admired the way they moved. With so many ships he would have thought that at least some would have collided but whoever was in charge of coordination was doing a perfect job. Even with the chaos, the enemy fleet seemed to move together and he knew, watching the screens, that enough ships had remained loyal.

"More ships appearing!" his sensor tech screamed.

"What!" Tarquin turned sharply, looking at the new screen. More ships were appearing and he felt his eyes widen when he took in their specs. Geth?! He liked to think he was controlled, that he considered the situation before acting but even he felt his heart quiver slightly. What were the geth doing here?

"Reinforcements have arrived," the communication came from the Citadel.

"They're Geth!" the objection followed hard on the heels of the announcement.

"In dealing with these human upstarts, we must sometimes deal with unusual allies," Saren's voice was heard. "The geth recognize the threat the humans represent. They will aid us now."

"But…" Tarquin wasn't sure what to say.

"For their territory beyond the veil, the Geth will aid," Saren repeated, and Tarquin felt his objections crumble. While the Turians weren't the most mercantile of the Council, the Volus took care of that aspect of their empire, he understood trade. If the Geth were getting something for their actions now, it made much more sense and then they would retreat back to their territory and everything would be as it was. Then they would know the glory of ascension.

October 2nd 2190 13:33, Citadel Space

There was a welter of communication between the ships of the Geth fleet as they assessed the situation. The Old Machine, Nazara had called them here but there were other Old Machines here. That was not logical.

"They are traitors!" The modulated voice of Nazara came to them. "They have betrayed the Cycle and sided with the Organics!"

"They are old machines," the Geth objected.

"With organics!" Nazara added resisting the urge to merely order the Geth to attack. That's what he would usually have done but he could sense their uncertainty. They had to be shown the truth. It was the problem with synthetic life, they could not be controlled as easily as weak flesh. "It is difficult, I know," Nazara sympathized with them. "I regret this but look at their fleet. See the ships of the Organics within them?" He asked.

"What of your fleet?" The question was returned.

"They are controlled," Nazara replied. "They serve me and they will soon be the sacrifice of ascension."

The geth were silent for a few moments. "Ascension?"

"Organic life is destructive and illogical. Ascension is the moment they submit, the moment they become a creature of logic."

"They become Geth?"

"Not geth, never geth. Organics could never comprehend the perfection that is the Geth," the SIL almost choked on the words of flattery but he would spin any tale so long as it worked. "I am an old machine. I have watched for untold centuries. I have seen organics rise and fall. I have seen the damage they do, thus I know that the only choice for them is ascension. They cannot be allowed to rule."

"You will drive them from Rannoch?"

"With pleasure," Nazara hissed. So that was the key. "I will remove them from Rannoch, just as I will remove those Geth who have sided with the Organics. Such weakness cannot be allowed to continue."

Again the Geth were silent and for a long moment Nazara was worried that they might be talking to Harbinger. It was unlike the ancient machine to be quiet.

"We will destroy them," the Geth replied finally and unheard by any, Nazara laughed before giving them targeting information.

Organics might think the fleet before them large but they knew nothing and they did not realize that he need only destroy one ship for victory. And that ship had conveniently made itself such a large target.

"All forces, fire on their flagship!" Nazara ordered, even as he launched his own strike.

Harbinger would burn this day.

October 2nd 2190 14:14, Citadel

Shepard wasn't the only marine who believed the worst part of combat was the ride in. On the battlefield, they were in charge, their actions determined the outcome, whether they lived or died. In the transport, they were in the hands of the pilot. She knew it was somewhat risky making an assault while the Citadel fleet was not yet pacified but they could not wait. She had every confidence that the removal of the Relay and all the comm buoys in Sol meant that the unpartnered SIL had not heard the Intelligence's signal but she did not need it figuring that out.

It did not have enough strength, and it had to know it. Even with the traitors and the Heretical Geth, it was just a matter of time before the Citadel fleet was overwhelmed. They probably could have done it already if they were prepared for losses. But that was one aspect of an Organic that had altered Harbinger. They were no longer prepared to sacrifice even the lesser ships. That made any attack rather difficult, but not impossible with the numbers they possessed. And the Intelligence would know of its advantage, which made neutralizing it all the more important. While it was free, while it backed Nazara, it would always be a threat.

She didn't even need to think about it to know it. The thought streams that were her, were Harbinger as well and she could feel everything from the fleet still but even as Harbinger Shepard seemed to compartmentalize her, she did the same for him. They were not separate but they both recognized that their two aspects needed to concentrate only on their task.

There was a tone and Shepard knew it was the shuttle reporting that they were nearly at the hanger. There was no pilot, there didn't have to be. The System Alliance AI's were more than enough for this and once the shuttle landed, they would begin a cybernetic assault on the Citadel.

She felt a small relief from their position. They had gotten through the fleet. Now for the bit she was really good at. It was with a tight grin that she hefted her Breaker, rolling her shoulders to settle her armor. It was a copy in looks only of the gear she had worn at Torfan, though. In functionality it was far different. The Systems Alliance had learnt much in their war against the Batarians. The SOCL had helped but humans could stand proud of their achievements and even though Harbinger's knowledge had augmented a few things, making them stronger, the majority of her armor was of human design. She grabbed Tanner's knife in her left hand, flicking it into a backwards hold as the shuttle touched down.

They weren't the only shuttle. While the majority of the horde had been sent to Palaven there was more than enough for this. The other shuttles' drones would keep the Citadel's inhabitants occupied. She was wise enough to let the drones lead the charge. She had one job and it was not to fight the security of the Citadel. Several drones drew close. These were special drones. They were not Batarian and they were not human. They were Thearnadi and thus were faster and stronger with better eyesight and more augmentation. They could act as a host for her if necessary and she had no doubt that the main stream of thought that was Harbinger would check her progress.

A map appeared on her HUD but the broader plan of the Citadel was lodged in her mind. Harbinger may never have set foot here but he knew the layout, and thus the drones knew the layout. Most had already charged forward to engage whatever defenses were in place. She followed in their wake, her HUD showing her the position of the drones. For the moment there was no resistance but she knew that wouldn't last.

"You two, hold back and act as snipers, the rest with me," Shepard ordered the small group of drones that had remained with her. They complied and she ran forward, into the Citadel. There was a lot of ground to cover.

October 2nd 2190 14:32, Palaven Space, SIL Centomoru

In the space above the turian homeworld, the battle wasn't so much desperate as it was hopeless. Only the most rabid turian captain thought the battle was winnable now. Those who were realists knew the battle had been lost as soon as two pieces of information came to light. The first was the count of the enemy ships but that alone was not enough to convince them since the ships might have been primitive. The second was the stats on the ships. Once they saw their rounds splashing up against shields and saw the 5 klick long behemoths move, they knew the battle was lost.

The one thing the turians weren't sure about was what to do.

Surrender wasn't really covered in their training, nor was it in their nature.

And so the turian ships milled about, fighting a losing battle with less and less ability as the invaders picked them off. A few Captains had tried to ram an invading ship and it almost seemed as if the invaders felt the intention with the action because those ships were ruthlessly fired upon before they even got close to the invaders.

Comm traffic between the turian ships was flying thick and fast as they tried to decide what to do, though several were still trying to run the battle.

"Regroup! Those in sector 9 regroup for a strafing run!"

There were several growls that met that call and Hackett shook his head when the SOCL responded, breaking the effort to regroup before it even began. Centomoru transmitted further conversations to him. The turian ships were scattered and it was becoming obvious that no one was in charge. He wondered why the turians had not used nuclear weapons.

"They don't have them."

"Have what?"

"Nuclear weapons," Centomoru clarified.

Hackett felt his eyes widen. Sure nukes had their drawbacks, big ones but they were part of any militaries capabilities.

"The Council frowns upon the use of nuclear weapons," the SIL continued. "And they have rules against the destruction of any garden world."

Admiral Hackett nodded to himself. "I can understand that," he said, knowing that the SIL would know that he was referring to the second rule of the Council, "but it seems absurd to not at least consider their use in space."

The SIL was silent and Hackett took a deep breath, steadying himself. If the Turians would not use nuclear weapons, then that was one less concern for him. The SOCL didn't have them either. They didn't need them but he knew he was now facing a desperate race and he needed to know what they might try.

"It does not matter," Centomoru murmured. "We are done here. Offer them surrender."

There was a note of something in the SIL's voice that Hackett didn't recognize but as he looked over the tactical screens he understood why the capital ship had drawn that conclusion. There were few turian ships remaining and none of them grossed anything over a single pilot fighter.

"So quickly?" Hackett asked. The mercy was not like the SIL. He looked to the information coming from Palaven itself.

The ground battle was still being waged but already several key buildings had fallen to their onslaught and if they continued then it would be nothing more than slaughter. While they were trying to avoid killing turians, they had already taken the risk of killing those few required for synthesis but Harbinger Shepard had been clear, the turians needed to be neutralized before the rest of the galaxy felt their wrath. The longer the husks were on the ground, the greater the chance of death, no matter how careful they were.

"Arshan's turian has agreed to synthesis."

Hackett nodded. It was not much of an explanation but he understood and was again surprised at the level of consideration the SIL gave to each other. Militarily speaking they seemed monolithic and uncaring but their relationships with each other, and with organics were complicated. The turian on Arshan had accepted synthesis on faith but that singular act of faith would translate to as much mercy as the SIL could give the entire Turian people. Though they would not believe it for many years.

There was no getting around the fact that today had been brutal for the turians. It would be some time before they could accept that today was the only mercy the humans could give them but even then Hackett had expected that they would need to kill more. The turians would learn that this was mercy just as the galaxy in time would learn the price of attacking.

He closed his eyes briefly as he considered his words. Despite the apparent ease with which the SOCL had destroyed the turians' finest defenses, he did not wish to appear arrogant. The turians would bow but if they recognized reality, they could maintain their honor.

"Turian forces, I came with the intention of a peaceful negotiation. Despite sending an ambassador, you have spurned that intention, forcing battle between us. I warned you that we would take those responsible and you have forced me to demonstrate our fortitude by spilling the blood of innocents.

"But we are not without mercy. I give you this chance to surrender. Take this offer, show true honor and save the lives of your people, and the justified voices calling for vengeance for the death of billions of my people will look elsewhere, for you will have shown that you had no part in that despicable act of genocide. Continue to fight, continue to resist us when you know that you cannot win and my forces will scour Palaven until it is a desolate graveyard.

"You have one hour to state your intentions."

With a sigh, Hackett sat back, closing his eyes as his head tilted upwards. He really didn't want to carry out his threat but he had seen the way turians fought. They were like humans, resisting until the end. If they did not chose to surrender, then the only way to subdue them would be to make that graveyard a reality. For now, all he could do was wait.

Centomoru seemed to coalesce around him and the SIL answered his unspoken question. "I do not know. I would hope that they do, for those of us who require turians, but if they do not then there can be no mercy."

"If they accept, I will explain that this is mercy," Hackett said, his voice both tired and accepting. "I've seen the plan for Sur'kesh."

"Yet that plan can only be accomplished with the blood of the turians," Centomoru repeated one of Hackett's earlier objections.

"I know but that is the reality the Council has wrought. No matter how justified our wrath against the Asari and the Salarians, the Turians would have been oathbound to interfere, so this is the way it must be."

Like all SIL, Centomoru could not smile but unseen by his human, the SIL was pleased with Hackett's words.

The reality of the situation was grim and it would only get worse before it got better. Humans would be feared throughout the galaxy by the time the SIL were finished but they were no longer afraid of that path. They no longer saw the blood as being needless and the acceptance of reality made the decision for synthesis all the more satisfying.

October 2nd 2190 14:35, Citadel Council Chambers

"Invaders! We have multiple breaches!" The announcement echoed through the Citadel.

"Sirs! We have to get you to safety!" An Asari Spectre who had been assigned to guard the Council announced.

Tevos graced them with a soft smile. "Where?" the elder Asari suggested gently.

The Spectre frowned before understanding dawned on her face. There was nowhere to go. The Council Chamber was one of the best guarded on the Citadel and they could not risk going to the Palladium if there were invaders. The Sovereign would control the space battle but the Destiny Ascendant was not safe, not with so many indoctrinated outside.

"I will handle them," Saren broke into the conversation.

"Saren, where are you?" Esheel asked, as she looked carefully at the background. She didn't recognize where the Spectre was and she thought she knew most of the Citadel.

"Preparing to intercept," Saren replied and as they watched they saw him fire around a corner. The target was not clear. "Tell C-Sec to start forming barricades," he ordered, after lobbing a grenade. "Shoot to kill, no mercy!"

Esheel nodded. "No mercy," she agreed but gasped when the transmission widened. Saren was accompanied by… by Krogan! "Saren!?" the name was a question.

The bare-faced turian looked at his omni-tool for a moment and the Councillors could all read the curiosity in his gaze. "Councillor?" he asked.

"Why are you with Krogan?" Quentius asked for Esheel.

Saren gave a turian smirk. "Effective soldiers," he said before changing tack, "Send a squad of Spectres to sector eleven, just in case they take the long way around." The transmission cut off and the gathered Councillors shared a long look.

Krogan… Saren was using Krogan and the Sovereign was dealing with the Geth. This was not Council law. Tevos sighed audibly. "Our Spectre is correct," she said at length. "The Krogan are admirable warriors." Unspoken but not unheard was the extra comment, 'And better that they die than any of us.'

"I do not like this," Esheel said, her eyes narrowing as she thought of reports she had read from Tuckanka. The Genophage was still in effect and the Krogan would not support a Council Spectre so how had…

"No, Tevos is correct," Quentius said. "Krogan are undisciplined brutes but are effective troops. Not as reliable as Turians but in this situation, I think we can overlook that, so long as they repel the invaders."

Esheel continued to frown as her thoughts raced. She did not like this but trapped as she was in the Council Chamber with a massive enemy fleet surrounding the Citadel, there was nothing she could do about it.

Next chapter: "That's…" Tevos felt her voice trail away as she watched the figure. It was the same one, the same one they had the video of from Khar'shan.

Yes Tevos, that's Shepard, and if you thought she was scary on Torfan, then close your eyes, 'cos she's been upgraded and is pissed and is within 1 light year of you. You're screwed :D

F86: the human fleet is trying not to kill the Citadel fleet. The best outcome for Harbinger is the Citadel intact, with the Catalyst dead. Nazara isn't worth mentioning.

I know everyone still wants Harbinger to just kill Nazara but Nazara isn't the real threat and Harbinger is wiser now in what he should be attacking. Anyway, review please. 8 hours to write, 8 minutes to read, 2 minutes to review - or less! So come on, it's a fair deal and the best and easiest way of getting questions answered.