Chapter 24 : Insult to Perfection

This is Natalie Homer, recording from our former base on Site 1: Promise, Eos. Once again, if any of you, my 'children', found this recording before I officially declare victory after the Invictor's defeat, then it means I'm already dead or captured.

As Kithara agreed to not join the siege attempt, he will be in charge of everything until I can confirm my survival. Should we find the odds to be against us, Adana will be sent back to coordinate the family with Kithara and continue whatever you need to live on in the Andromeda galaxy. If the mission ends in failure, do not attempt rescue. I repeat, DO NOT attempt any rescue mission no matter what.

...

Hold on. I better explain why we are in such a rush to go on with the mission. Long story short, by the time we arrive back on Eos after six days of FTL travel, Prodromos was alerted that Kett convoys were seen converging on Site 1. We had to wait for three to four days; hiding to be exact, up until Bradley's traversing scouts went back to the outpost.

We knew they are about to come back, this time they'll be scouring Site 1 for real. We have to conserve our manpower and assets; we can't risk squandering them on Bradley's men. Let him find his own challenges, Adana said.

As a result, we had no choice but to burn down our base at Site 1 to prevent Bradley from figuring out anything. Now I'm recording from a shuttle heading to the Kett base on Sheartop Mountain; we'll drop Kithara and two other drones to hide somewhere. I know that we'll never go back there eventually.

Logging off.

xxxx

(The camera films everything as Natalie proceeds with her plans in motion. It started with one Kett shuttle arriving on the base's entrance; its passengers were already outfitted with Reaper indoctrination implants. These Kett were interrogated by the entrance's guard, to which they answered with responses dictated beforehand by Daval. After all is confirmed good, the passengers walk along with the guards all the way up to the security gate, only to massacre the guards once Druzzo, Nemeth, and Sharcov overtake their nerve systems. The remaining shuttles arrive shortly as the first batch of Kett stand motionless.)

Good job on the direct intervention, you three. Now, we move to the second phase; disable the barrier protecting the base.

(Danaur : Allow me to take five slaves to secure the east security console.)

(Rhanaia : Sharcov and I will provide you with additional firepower.)

(Adana : Very well. Damostl, Lyrio, Wyren, all of you accompany me to hack the other console, also bring five slaves. The rest of you, get the remaining slaves to distract the Invictor's forces.)

(Lyrio : Understood.)

Oh, wow, I didn't think you'd be able to assume command as good as Kithara. Then again, I have to compliment you on that. Move out, everyone!

(At Natalie's mark, the group is split into three sides, two for deactivating the barrier's generator, and the last one serves to clear out the Kett's resistance. The indoctrinated pirates are mostly sent forward to bring down the Behemoths and Destineds, leaving the turrets intact so the rest of the Reapers can hack them. After ten minutes of heated struggle, the base's defenses are either down or operated against the Kett. Half of the pirates are dead, while the brainwashed Kett are mostly unharmed.)

(Once all is done, Natalie gathers her Reapers and the remaining indoctrinated slaves to plow through the legions of Kett Chosens, Wraiths, and the newly-arriving reinforcements. Shuttles are blown, Kett are butchered, and gas tanks are collected before being blown up to breach into sensitive areas, at least those are what Natalie's camera sees, anyway.)

(invictor : INSULT! OUR PERFECTION CANNOT BE DEFEATED! KILL THEM, KILL THEM ALL!)

Yeah, yeah, I didn't know the Kett are obsessed with perfection. Your technology is still profoundly reliant on standard plasma power and gas tanks, it seems. One does not call itself perfect unless said being can seek out new energy sources.

(Adana : Are you insinuating that plasma power source is primitive?)

In a sense, yes. Plasma is no different from Helium-3 or nuclear, while Element Zero is an energy source unlike any other. As far as I can observe here, there is no technology of theirs that utilizes anything other than plasma, so you can pretty much call the Kett as primitive planet looters.

(Negal : Kett troops annihilated, let's move to the next phase.)

xxxx

(The next part involves finding a way to shut down the alarm system, and with it, the security mechanics which will allow them access into the Invictor's chamber. Turning off the alarms is the easy part; by accessing the base's network, the Reaper drones are able to disable them all at once. Opening the locking mechanism is the hard part. From thirty five drones participating in the assault, Natalie delegated ten to hack the base, lowering their defenses which were diminished when the last surviving pirate slaves were shot down by the shuttles. The indoctrinated Kett, by this point are no more than twenty individuals or so, are stationed around the inner base circle to shoot down any approaching enemy reinforcement.)

(Invictor : What madness! Don't just stand there! Annihilate the unworthy aliens! Call support if you have to!)

(The target apparently resides in an underground chamber with windows overlooking the canyon below the mountain. From the camera's perspective, Natalie's ordeal seems to increase by twofold; the surviving Destineds and Behemoths were assembled in a two-story hall, where the Invictor, using the same energy orb like the one the Cardinal used on Voeld, arranged for the grand finale.)

(Invictor : You are all worthless creatures! Our genetic perfection shall triumph over your crudeness!)

I guess you don't have a mirror to look at yourself, huh?

(The ensuing battle is brutal and wild. The two-way ambush Natalie planned ended up being the death of her remaining Kett slaves, but it does provide an opening for the thirty five drones to launch retaliation on the last of the Invictor's soldiers. As for the Invictor himself, the drones devise a strategy; hurl big objects to the Invictor whenever the old Kett isn't teleporting so their master can use her sword to break the Kett's energy orb and attack him. By carefully repeating this tactic three times, Natalie had her pleasure on ruthlessly mutilating the Kett and has her 'children' preserve his corpse as a future experimenting material. His death alerted more Kett, however, so Natalie had the entire Reaper drones tap into the base's network once again. This time, the speakers all over the base produce a low but persistent infrasonic sound wave that'll plague the incoming Kett.)

(It is a tense moment, for none of the Reapers are standing by the chamber's entry door and Natalie casually sitting behind the Invictor's desk. By the time the Kett soldiers finally enter the room, they are letting out heavy breathing as if they're sick or tired, and their eyes bleary and glazed.)

...

Well, look who's finally here. Good day soldiers, are you ready to take new orders from your new administrator? Don't worry; I won't spread death threats on you yet.

(Kett troops : (with emotionless voice) ...Yes, master. We are yours to use as you please.)

Excellent, now if you don't mind, hand over reports on how many troops available on the base right now, how many resources do you have here, and what kind of information is available on this base. We are going to have work soon.

(Kett troops : Affirmative, master.)

Very good, now go. Adana, please call Kithara and the other two drones to go and set up their stuff here, as for you Daval, check the system and make sure there are no cyber viruses that could disrupt our future operations. From this day onward, the Eos Kett base is ours to inhabit. It is here where we'll build our strength, and where all of you, my 'children', will finally construct a bigger version of yourselves, preferably as large as Commander Shepard's first ship until we can secure enough materials to develop larger platforms.

Ah, please make a reminder to outfit all indoctrinated Kett with the implants you 'children' invented on Kadara. We're going to have some serious jobs to do for weeks, and I'll have all of you present for the job.

(And as the day goes by, as the sun finally sets, the camera records the bustling activities around the master's new operations center from Natalie's first person view. From a monitor screen on the master's table, freshly indoctrinated Kett forces are seen collecting dead bodies of their own around the premises, no doubt for Natalie to dissect as she desires. With the base under her thumb, it is possible that she will have no problem invading Prodromos, unless she decides otherwise.)