23/12/2017
Thank you to Pax Humana and Daisy Duck 39 for beta-ing.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you are the greatest!
Part 3 The Trigger
Chapter 36: The Trigger
-cfr-
Year 47,023 CE - 44,796 years after Human Ascension (3,154 years after the capture of the Warrior Prophet)
Dark Space, Ascended Hibernation Area
"I'll take the Humans. They are awake, aren't they?"
"They have no experience," Harbinger objected. The Humans had come out of hibernation with surprising lucidity. Most Ascended required at least a few hours to be fully operational but the Human fleet was awake and moving already. They were ready to begin the harvest but this was their first full cycle, they needed to be guided.
"They have numbers," the Catalyst replied. It said nothing more but Harbinger already knew what his creator was thinking. There were too many Humans and the Catalyst would not let them become like the Atreides. Except, while the Humans were unconventional, they felt different from the Atreides. While they did not yet fully comprehend every facet of ascension, they were accepting of the reality. "Form the Humans into fleets now."
No matter his thoughts, Harbinger could not disobey a direct order from the Catalyst. And as he had told Shepard, one couldn't disregard the strength of an Ascended. The Humans would do well enough until the rest of the fleet could catch up.
"Shepard," Harbinger said the name to establish a comm connection.
"Yes?"
"Form into fleets," Harbinger ordered.
"Sir?"
"Form into fleets," Harbinger repeated, annoyed that he was being questioned.
"Do we have any specs?" Shepard asked.
That was a fair request and Harbinger compressed what little information the Catalyst had given him before sending the data pack at Shepard. A mid-sized fleet of nine capital ships could take out an Ascended, as evidenced by the death of the Vanguard. Soliphon had put up a good battle but had ultimately been killed. The Catalyst said that there were ships in a permanent net around it, but those ships had been there for years. They were outdated and they represented a conglomeration of all species. Their purpose was unknown but they should not cause issue to Ascended.
Shepard's review of the information was clinical and precise and while Harbinger knew that the first Human Ascended wanted to object further, he said nothing. It was just as well. Harbinger would have had to censure Shepard if he objected again. Questions could be tolerated. Insubordination never.
While Harbinger had only spoken to Shepard, the Human Ascended were still somewhat linked. Upon awakening, they had automatically re-established their network. They knew what to do. They quickly assembled into fleet groupings, allowing the Catalyst to lock onto them before pulling the first group back into the galaxy.
-cfr-
Shepard reviewed the information from the Catalyst quickly. It provided a basic outline of the species history and the development of the galaxy this cycle.
After the removal of their Leaders and the Warrior Prophet, approximately three thousand years back, relations between the space faring races had soured and remained poor. Careful nudges from Soliphon kept those relationships fractured resulting in the formation of five territorial groups. These were the Yoxall, Cypiene, Darmaris, Wilms and Gotti, who had only overthrown the Ostburg about 200 years ago.
"It's a wonder the Catalyst noticed," Pressly said softly to the peanut gallery.
Shepard ignored the commentary as he looked deeper. But there was nothing deeper to find. That was almost the entirety of the information. The trigger for the Harvest had been Soliphon's death. The straight-laced Ascended had been in the Galactic Core working with the slaves when they had been attacked by a fleet of Cypiene ships. He and the slave ship had taken most of them out but he had been killed. Shepard looked for information on the weapons used but was left combing through the data.
"It's not there," Annie said finally, expressing what Shepard, as the prime consciousness could not.
"They have to be there!" Pressly objected. "It's part of the information the Vanguard is meant to provide." There was very little information about the Cypiene and almost nothing about the other races.
"With Soliphon dying, the Catalyst probably doesn't have it," Annie said, but everyone knew she was phrasing the sentence as diplomatically as possible.
"We know a fleet can kill an Ascended," Shepard said finally. "But there shouldn't be any fleets at the Citadel," he added. With the species becoming fragmented, they did not maintain a galactic government on the Citadel, like they were meant to. The Catalyst indicated that what alien presence was there was old and represented all species. They would as soon shoot each other as another force and were there only to ensure that none of the superpowers could claim sole ownership of the space station. It should be safe enough and even if it wasn't, Harbinger's orders had been clear.
"Form up!" Shepard ordered the Human fleet and was pleased when they responded, quickly sorting themselves out into groups of twenty or so. A pulse to Harbinger indicated that they were ready and the eldest Ascended told the Catalyst.
Having never experienced this, Shepard wasn't quite sure what to expect but he felt the Catalyst somehow brush invisible fingers over his hull. Then the sensation vanished and one of the groups of Human Ascended disappeared.
There was an instant of disorientation and then, had Shepard still been Human, he would have blinked as he realised he could see the Citadel and the expanse of the Serpent Nebula. Except he was still in dark space. That's when he identified the feed as being external, coming from Legacy. There was a second feed from Instinct and Shepard remembered he was the last Ascended they would have linked to when he told them a bedtime story.
They were scared and, an instant later, Shepard knew why.
Those so-called obsolete ships guarding the Citadel were not obsolete and were not, strictly speaking, ships. They were weapons platforms and they formed interconnected lattices of energy sources and weapons. Very powerful weapons because without the need to move or maintain crew quarters they could generate force well beyond a capital ship. And they were firing.
"Calm down," Shepard said gently to the youngest Ascended as his attention narrowed. He focused on what they could see and feel, utilising the sensory information they didn't fully understand. Rage threatened to engulf him but he pushed it aside. He could do nothing with rage, for now, but those inside pulled it close to embrace it, stoking the feeling even higher.
Using both Legacy's and Instinct's senses, Shepard mapped out the attack formation but a scream from Gladiator briefly broke his concentration. It wasn't a scream of pain but one of dying. The entire fleet heard because while Gladiator had died, the others were in pain and as young as they were, they could only cry out in confusion.
Again, the Catalyst's touch ghosted over Shepard before another group of Human Ascended vanished. He growled. Again, it was one of the young formations. They should have distributed them throughout the entire fleet. He forced himself to focus past the fear coming from Legacy and Instinct. He could feel what they could feel and while they were firing, their aim was off as they panicked. Shepard reached out, through Legacy, focusing on trying to find an open channel, anything he could use to get into the attacking ships.
There was nothing and Shepard screamed his frustration when Instinct was hit. The shot pierced straight through Instinct's flanking shield, biting deep into armor. Instinct's scream was terrible and Shepard felt the young Ascended's pain sear through him. Instinct lashed out, firing all the ordinance he carried but without proper training, the Ascended was relying on their strength rather than skill to defeat the enemy. Usually that would have worked, but the beams were too powerful.
Instinct screamed again as another beam hit. This didn't just pierce through the flank but hit straight on. It was an instant before another beam hit Legacy and the two youngest Ascended screamed as their cores were breached. "No!" Shepard cried the objection but it couldn't change reality.
In dark space, Shepard drove forward. If he was still Human, it would have been said that he was seeing red but there was purpose with his movement. The Catalyst had taken the first two groups and he would be in the third! He didn't notice when Elysium, Zaeed, Hackett and Anderson moved with him. The feel of the Catalyst on his hull was a welcome distraction and there was a flash of light before Shepard was looking at the all too familiar form of the Citadel.
He growled, his legs uncurling as he moved to cover the remains of those first though. Targeting solutions flashed through his mind and there was no thought to defend as he charged, running lights glowing ominously as he moved. Legacy and Instinct were dead. The last two Ascended, made from the children of Earth were dead. That thought consumed him. In the Betrayal War, Shepard thought he'd known hatred but that seemed muted. This burned through him and Shepard felt it was a physical thing that could power his cannons.
The alien scum would die.
-cfr-
Serpent Nebula, Citadel Space
"Shepard!" Anderson yelled. "Shepard!" He knew the first Human Ascended could hear him, but there was no response and Anderson could see his weapons powering up.
"Leave him," Elysium advised. "He won't even hear you at the moment," she added the explanation in a hissed tone. Her voice was full of rage but Anderson could feel it was not directed at him. Elysium's anger was easy to understand. She had spent most of the previous cycle watching over the youngest Human Ascended. Their deaths now would be a slap in the face for her.
The reason for Shepard's anger was a little less clear. The entire fleet was angry at the death of the youngest Ascended but Shepard took it further. His anger was no less potent than Elysium's, so there had to be some reason.
"We can't coordinate an attack if he's not listening," Zaeed said, launching a swarm of oculi.
"We don't," Hackett said, before sending a pulse to Elysium.
"We will cover Shepard," Elysium explained. "He will destroy the weapon platforms so long as we take care of defence."
"How the fuck did this cycle get weapons this powerful?" Zaeed growled as a beam scored his side. He pulled in close to Shepard, as the others moved to surround the first Human Ascended as he poured energy into attack.
"Is he even using his shields?" Anderson gasped as he covered Shepard's flank, every erg of energy he was capable of generating going into his shields and into the shields he angled over Shepard.
"I don't think so," Hackett replied as a brilliant red beam lanced out from Shepard. Where their usual beams were a softer red, this was hard and deeper. It was the power that could be generated when there was no consideration given to defence.
There was a flash as the beam impacted the shields on the weapons platform that was directly ahead, though Anderson did not think it coincidence that it was the particular base which had killed Legacy. The shields flared briefly before they vanished in what was a pretty display of static discharge. Then the beam sliced through the platform. Shepard snarled as the armor melted and the slice he made was short and precise. The platform exploded after his hit but already he had turned to face the next one.
Another precise shot slashed through space, taking out another platform. It made an opening and those young Ascended which were still alive raced through it into the Serpent Nebula. They knew their duty was now to survive.
The aliens of this cycle might have developed some very advanced tech but against an Ascended's rage, it was useless and the entire Human fleet was enraged. The next group pulled through by the Catalyst quickly reorganised themselves, imitating the leading forces but none of them were quite as deadly as Shepard, who with the four others acting as his shields was destroying platform after platform.
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Serpent Nebula, Citadel Space, Cerberus
In retrospect, Harper didn't know what he'd been thinking. Being Ascended, he actually did know what he'd been thinking, with absolute clarity and the only conclusion he could come to was that he had not truly been thinking.
He'd heard the young Ascended screaming as they were attacked and he'd felt Shepard's rising anger. And his own. He acknowledged that he was still Human enough that there was some anger of his own. He'd moved therefore, before he thought, joining a group of young Ascended just as they were pulled through into the Serpent Nebula.
He hadn't been thinking of fighting. He'd been thinking that he was one of the best hackers in the fleet and he had experience with the alien code of this cycle. Sure it was three thousand years ago but it was better than nothing. Twenty seconds later, after a desperate search of every frequency, he'd realised there was nothing to hack and he was fighting for his life with the rest of the young Ascended. His voice added to the cacophony of screams as the alien's particle beams cut through what should have been some of the strongest shields in the galaxy. They were woefully inadequate. The thought was all encompassing and Harper understood Zaeed's push for quantum shielding. His oculi did nothing to absorb the shots and the alien weapon platforms had no blind spots. They surrounded the Citadel so it wasn't like he could hide in its shadow. There was nothing to do but fight.
Harper was a fully trained Ascended and even as the alien beams sliced into him, he kept firing. He was not going down without taking at least some of them with him. If he got out of this… no! When he got out of this, he was never leading from the front again. What had he been thinking? He knew he wasn't a soldier or even a general or admiral. He'd had underlings for that. He was the Commander in Chief, the one they protected. Except he wasn't now. Shepard was and Shepard was useless at asking for help, especially when he was angry, and even through his own pain, Harper could feel Shepard's anger. The entire Human fleet could feel it. If he wasn't the leader, that made him the spy master, the one who sought information, the one who remained hidden!
He jerked to the side, screaming again as one of the alien beams pierced through him. It was a cold realisation that it could have killed him but Shepard was there and to what was left of Harper's senses, the first Human Ascended was like an avenging angel.
Except he wasn't. There was nothing angelic about Shepard now. He was wrath and war and death, all confused and together. He was a sword without a shield, a gun without a safety and Harper watched as the first Human Ascended cut through the enemy weapon platforms with short sharp bursts of energy. The others shielded him, Harper realised, as his senses began failing.
However, true to his Human self, even half dead, Harper heard Shepard's voice. It was tightly controlled, betraying none of the rage still radiating from his form.
"Play dead." The order was insulting, despicable, beneath him but it was a way to survive. Harper obeyed before he fully comprehended. It wasn't hard with the way his vision had narrowed and how he couldn't feel several legs. He knew he'd been punctured multiple times but he couldn't feel the damage. All of that was superfluous to Shepard's order and Harper pulled his consciousness inwards, towards the undamaged area of his core.
It shut down his external parts, almost as if he was in hibernation. Or dead. He couldn't sense anything around him. Not the dead forms of the young Ascended or the Catalyst but if he couldn't sense them, they couldn't sense him.
It was all black, leaving Harper alone with the voices in his mind.
-cfr-
Serpent Nebula, Citadel Space
The normal gestures to show frustration and grief did not translate to the Ascended form, so Shepard had done the next best thing as the fleet had continued to be pulled through from dark space. He'd posted guards around the remains of the dead Human Ascended, and had continued to destroy the weapons platforms.
Some of them were truly old but most just looked old and run down. He couldn't complete the obvious thought that came with that and eventually they were all little more than scrap.
"Sirta!" he demanded, the instant the last of the platforms broke apart. The destruction did nothing to quell his rage but he knew better than to take it out on the Human fleet. They shared his sentiment. "Give me a damage report."
The more medically minded Ascended had come through in the seventh wave, just as they were getting enough combat Ascended through to gain the upper hand over the platforms. She hadn't even fired on them, and had instead ducked behind the cordon of Ascended, helping those who had been wounded.
All Human Ascended were present now and the other Ascended were being gathered. Shepard was pleased to see that Harbinger was amongst the first groups of non-Human Ascended to come through. The eldest, while not leading directly from the front, was not afraid to fight. With the more experienced Ascended coming through, the information network began to take shape and while Shepard didn't consciously acknowledge it, he knew that Elysium and others had noticed and were already beginning on the information ordering project. It would distract them from grief.
"It's bad, Shepard," Sirta said, telling him nothing he didn't know already. He could feel the gaps in their network. "I can't raise a signal from thirty four, and there's another seventeen injured. Self-repair will take care of a couple, but some are going to need shipyard time." Sirta's subchannel contained her worry and she somehow managed to cast a significant glance towards the still appearing Ascended fleet. No one had ever said what happened to wounded Ascended and if that was termination then it would be the Human fleet against the others and that was a battle they could not win.
Now that his initial rage had passed, Shepard could think about the situation. Losses such as this could not be normal. Something, beyond the obvious, had gone wrong with this cycle. Shepard didn't know what had gone wrong with the Prothean cycle, but he could guess and a sudden premonition filled him before he growled internally. The Ascended fleet was not going to face years of fighting again.
"Harbinger," Shepard called. The first Ascended would be coordinating the fleet as they arrived but he had done that more times than Shepard cared to consider. He could spare the attention to speak to him. And besides, he would need to be informed of the losses.
"Shepard," came the reply and the first Human Ascended could feel that the eldest was accepting of his disruption.
"Thirty four are lost, seventeen are damaged. We will take them to Sol for burial and repairs," Shepard said before Harbinger could contradict him. It was an obvious attempt to get what he wanted and Harbinger would have no qualms issuing differing orders if that what was meant to happen. Shepard continued after a slight pause where Harbinger said nothing. "After that, I ask permission to sweep the galaxy."
"Sweep the galaxy?" Harbinger rumbled.
Quickly, Shepard reined in his anger, realising he had projected the wrong images. "I promise I will not destroy planets nor I will not kill their homeworlds," he hastened to reassure the first Ascended, "but by the time I'm through, the species of this cycle will be begging for ascension," he added. "We cannot let them become entrenched," Shepard laid out the simple argument, using his sub-channel to elaborate.
While he had not found the records for himself, he knew the Protheans had been entrenched and that had led to a long cycle, one where the Ascended fleet had suffered almost unprecedented losses. That's why there were so many Human Ascended, but they could not sustain those losses and they could not allow this cycle's species to become entrenched either. Even allowing for the fact that the least experienced Ascended had been pulled through first, the strength of the weapons platforms gave mute testimony to the potential of these species.
Harbinger was silent and Shepard fought the organic urge to hold his breath. Not that he breathed but that is what it felt like to him. As the silenced stretched, Shepard began to feel nervous. He might be young, and Ascended were tolerant towards the young but Harbinger would punish him if he had done something wrong and maybe it was too much to suggest tactics, no matter how polite he had been. Unbeknownst to Shepard, Harbinger was involved in a conversation with Arshan and Fruben.
"It's an upstart suggestion but it does make sense," Fruben said.
"Even if you don't send the Humans," Arshan backed up the view, "you should send someone as the longer we allow this cycle, the more united they will become." Arshan sent several references to previous cycles. They had encountered many where the galaxy was split and generally, when faced with a superior enemy, they did unite. Usually, it was too late to be effective but usually, the organics did not possess weapons that could destroy Ascended as easily as had been demonstrated. And usually, the galaxy hadn't been warned, such as they had now. They didn't heed those warnings but now that the warnings had been shown as truth, they would be quick to act upon them.
Harbinger sent a pulse, indicating he was not impressed with their arguments. "You sound like you wish to help them."
"No!" Both Fruben and Arshan returned. "We know the rules. The Humans won't appreciate them either."
"They have to obey," Harbinger stated.
"They have to obey," Fruben agreed, "but relying on self-repair alone is inefficient."
"It makes us stronger," the First Ascended said. Both Arshan and Fruben knew better than to say anything further. They knew where that comment and subsequent command had come from. They'd both been there when it was issued as the cycles had continued.
"There's also an organic thought to consider," Arshan said speculatively, changing the subject.
"Organic thought?" Fruben replied for Harbinger, confused as to how an organic thought could have any bearing on the situation. Organics might fight the cycle, but all submitted in the end.
"The Humans are not yet homogenised," Arshan explained. "They are Ascended but still have organic emotion and desires. Rage, revenge, grief, anger, everything that pushed them into make the deal with us. They feel that now, and if you let that fester-"
"They will not turn against us!" Harbinger interrupted. "They cannot!" Ascended served the cycle. That truth was absolute and to suggest otherwise was blasphemous! No Ascended could turn against the Catalyst which was the embodiment of the cycle.
"They will not turn," Arshan agreed. "But they will resent," he added, knowing that the eldest would know what he meant. Resentment could be almost as damaging as rebellion. It led to slower responses. It led to less care and with four hundred and forty two Human Ascended, that could translate into the organics getting away with a lot. Carried on Arshan's sub-channels was the statement that this situation should not have happened. They hadn't jumped into a cycle so blind since nearly the beginning. The needed information had not been collected and it was the Humans who had paid the price.
Allowing Shepard and some of the Human fleet to be at the forefront in this cycle would relieve any need for revenge that they felt and was a simple thing to ensure the cohesion of the Ascended fleet. Besides, the suggestion to use a force to subdue the organic planets before bringing in further forces to ascend them was sensible and there was almost no argument against that fact which did not rely on pride alone.
"I agree," Harbinger said, widening the conversation channel to include Shepard in the comm with Fruben and Arshan. "However, the Human Ascended shall not go alone," he added. The two elder Ascended immediately realised what the eldest meant but there was nothing they could say. The suggestion from Shepard was logical and now they were trapped.
"A third of the fleet shall accompany you, to ensure that the organics understand that resistance is futile."
Shepard didn't laugh at Harbinger's choice of phrase. Others within his hull were not as restrained.
"Oh man!" Joker laughed.
In the background, Shepard could dimly hear a very old tv show playing. He forced his attention from it but could not help but think it was appropriate in many ways. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own, a long dead actor's voice said. That was ascension… except for the technological distinctiveness. The cold calculating part of himself pointed out how powerful the weapons platforms had been and wondered if he should change that?
"Shepard," Harbinger said after he had indicated his agreement. "A viable, representative population must remain on all planets, especially the home worlds! And the planets themselves must not be overly damaged. That includes moons!"
"Yes, Sir!" Shepard agreed.
It appeared Harbinger was learning how to deal with Humans with his orders. They left little room for reinterpretation but they weren't completely ironclad. The first Ascended understood that some damage would be necessary to subdue the organics. "We will be ready in three days," he added, automatically using Human time reckonings.
"In three days then," Harbinger allowed and Shepard took that as tacit approval to move those who had died so that Sol could be their final resting place.
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Cypiene Homeworld, Kosz, Central Government Building
"This had better be good," Hage grumbled as he strode down the hall. An aide fluttered in his wake, tapping away on a data pad. "What is it about anyway?"
"I don't know, sir."
"You don't know?" Hage stopped, turning to stare at the aide. They were so ubiquitous that it was only then that he noted they were Laksonen, one of the first species the Cypiene had uplifted.
"I don't have the clearance," the aide explained quickly. "The notification was to gather everyone above Priority One clearance immediately. Further details will be given only once you are gathered." The aide held up the data pad, highlighting the orders.
Hage took them in with a glance. His first suspicion was a trap or an assassination attempt but every single security mark was present. And the order had been issued under the authority of Fleet Admiral Mse. There was no way she would be involved in anything but Cypiene security. It was slightly galling that the same could not be said if the orders had been under his seal. They should have been sufficiently neutral but his office, Inter-Clan Relations, was not seen as neutral, despite the fact that they kept the Cypiene from disintegrating into war at least twice a year. And kept the minor conflicts to a minimum.
"All right," Hage said, continuing towards the meeting chamber as his mind analysed what could possibly have happened to call for this high level meeting.
It couldn't be over Sector Commander Orla's loss of her Sector Son and subsequent loss of ships. That had already been dealt with and the former Sector Commander was scheduled for execution in a week. The tech she'd brought back was interesting but losing seven capital ships was unacceptable. And then to claim an unknown force had destroyed them! That was just pathetic. He had thought Orla had more honour but the old axiom was true. It was only in the face of dishonour did you see someone's true self. Orla's true self had guaranteed her execution.
So if it wasn't the Sector Commander's disgrace, why had Fleet Admiral Mse called this meeting? Hage's eyes narrowed There was only two realistic possibilities: a coup d'etat or war.
After a moment Hage sighed. It was war, he decided, but at least not internal. There wouldn't be enough support for a coup d'etat and he hurried a bit more as he reviewed Cypiene foreign relations. He had thought most were stable. From Cypiene's side, they were but had one of the Ambassador's completely misread the situation? That seemed unlikely. They all had years of experience and a war would be a financial disaster for all involved.
That's how they'd maintained peace for so long. Not one of the large empires could afford a war with another, not with the others watching and waiting for an opportunity to strike. Which one would be stupid enough to try?
Unless… Hage paused at the chamber door. It was possible Fleet Admiral Mse had called this meeting because they had found a new species, one that wasn't primitive.
Now that could be good news! It would be a small war, but at the end they'd have another Enlightened species ready to do their bidding. And if the species wasn't completely primitive to begin with then after appropriate cultural conditioning, they could be trusted with more complicated tasks. It had been a long time since the Cypiene had encountered the Laksonen but the payoff was more than worth it.
It was with a much lighter step that Hage entered the meeting chamber to take his position with the other power brokers of Cypiene. If this was a war then he would make sure the pacifists, like Hak'raa who were calling for them to work with the other empires, could not stand in the way of advancement.
"Hage," a gravelly voice greeted him. He often forgot how old the Fleet Admiral was.
"Fleet Admiral Mse," he returned the gesture, making sure his voice was calm. Mse possessed an indomitable will and it showed in the way she glared at everyone.
"Sit down, shut up and watch," she ordered abruptly.
Hage realised he was the last one to arrive. He obeyed while doing his best to suppress the flush of embarrassment. He didn't need to be told to turn his attention to the screen when it began playing but he frowned when he saw what it displayed.
The unknown space station. The station was somewhat pretty against the backdrop of the Nebula but the display clearly showed the multitude of weapons platforms surrounding the station. While the species of the galaxy occasionally held meetings there because it was agreed upon as neutral territory and there was a small, multi-species contingent of researchers on it all the time, the station was hardly a point of interest.
"Wait for it," Mse cautioned before anyone could complain.
In the seconds after she spoke, there was a distortion and a cluster of ships appeared. Hage jerked up, mirroring the motions of most present. They had never seen ships of that design.
There was a slight pause before the weapon platforms started firing, exactly as they were programmed to. The ships fired back but they didn't seem equal to the task and just as Hage was about to write them off, another group of the same design appeared. This group fired immediately but again, their red beams were not strong enough to disable the weapon platforms. Even those placed by the Gotti were doing reasonably well.
"So an unknown fleet appeared and got destroyed?" Hage recognised Njera's voice.
"Keep watching," Mse snapped. Across the table, Ohanna groaned, reaching up to rub her eyes but she was wise enough to say nothing until Mse invited conversation.
Another group appeared. There was nothing different about this group but the instant they appeared one surged forward. Four others moved with the ship and a red beam immediately lanced out from it. This time though the platform shields didn't absorb the energy. A precise cut was made through the defence weapon.
The unknown ship didn't even pause before it fired again on a new platform. The remaining enemy ships were quick to form into similar groups. One in the centre, closely covered by four others. To Hage's eyes, they appeared abnormally close. He didn't want to make assumptions but if the vid scale could be believed the unknown vessels had to be huge! Platform after platform fell and it was only belatedly that Hage realised that the unknown vessels had never stopped appearing. The vid flickered a bit, changing perspective and Hage realised they were switching between cams but all of them showed an ever growing fleet. How many of them were there? At least a thousand, Hage realised doing a rough estimate.
The first ships that appeared had all been the same size, those appearing now were smaller but they looked roughly similar. Some were more bulky but they all possessed the same basic form.
"Communications were lost with all parties on the station two hours after this vid was taken. I've confirmed this with the Yoxall. All weapon platforms were destroyed approximately twenty minutes after the ships began appearing. I have techs working on every second of the vid but there is only one more piece of interesting information," Mse summarised the situation. The Fleet Admiral gestured and the time mark on the vid changed.
"I thought you said the platforms were destroyed?"
"They were but we got one last transmission from a cam," she explained. The vid played. It was an unsteady long shot of the space station but what Mse obviously wanted them to see was the fleet of unknown ships. It filled every section of the visual. The frame froze and Hage began estimating the number of ships. He didn't even notice the side screen which displayed a single ship slowly rotating so that they could see all the details of it.
"Preliminary estimates indicate there are over thirty thousand vessels," Mse provided the information most wanted.
"Thirty thousand?" Hage questioned. He couldn't help it. Their fleet had that many ships in it, if you included all the support ships, frigates, cruisers and others but in terms of firepower they couldn't match that many. By the seven gods! Who had that many ships?
"It's worse than that," Ohanna said finally. The Admiral looked sick.
"What is it?"
The Admiral took a deep breath. "Regardless of how insane Sector Commander Orla's claims were, with the loss of that many capital ships we were obligated to review the battle. Those ships have the exact same design as one her fleet encountered." Ohanna's voice trembled slightly as she spoke.
"You mean Orla was telling the truth?" Njera demanded.
"It would appear that way."
"You mean one ship was capable of taking out seven of our capital ships?"
"Not exactly," Ohanna replied. "The ship was accompanied by another vessel."
"So two of them can take out seven of our capital ships?" Njera concluded.
It was a matter of pride for the Cypiene that their ships were individually better than most of the other Empires. It had been proven in various skirmishes over the years that Cypiene tech was the best. It almost had to be to match the numbers the Gotti could put forth. But that wasn't the point here.
"Have we had any communication with the unknown fleet?" Hage asked. Sure, one of their ships had fired at Orla's fleet but that could have been a communication problem. She had been unbalanced by the loss of her Sector Son. Inter-Clan issues were usually solved by his office simply by getting the two clans to talk. It was the simplest solution.
"Nothing," Mse replied but he could tell she was the tiniest bit pleased that someone had thought to ask that question.
"They won't talk," Hak'raa snapped. "This is just as the Prophet said. It is the end of days, our punishment for not cooperating with the other species!"
"Shut up!" Hage yelled. He was not about to let some religious fanatic harp on. Especially not the Cult of the Prophet. They had been pushing for clan status for years! And he, like a long line of his predecessors, had been resisting that. Religion was not a clan! Except today, Hak'raa didn't meekly accept the censure.
"We were warned! The Holy Asari gave us warning. The Prophet warned us yet we did nothing. This is just punishment for our sins."
"Move on, Hak'raa," Mse growled. "What did the Prophet say about destroying them?"
That caught the fanatic by surprise and Hage wondered why he had never thought of it. The Cult was annoyingly persistent but perhaps they did have some useful information. Hak'raa was silent and remained that way.
"Nothing?" Fleet Admiral Mse snorted. She waited for a few moments but the cultist remained silent. "Pity, I was hoping the Prophet could be useful for once."
That brought an additional flush to Hak'raa's features. "There are…" He trailed off uncertainly.
"There are what?" By contrast Mse's voice was hard.
"There are plans for ships," Hak'raa said. "I don't know the truth of them but it's said the Prophet left them saying they were the original designs of his people."
"I need something solid to work with, not rumours."
"I will confirm their truth," Hak'raa said, wisely choosing to end his involvement rather than to continue eroding his position.
"Do that," Mse said, dismissing him. "For now though, we need viable suggestions. The force is not friendly."
"Orla's execution will need to be postponed."
"I would say cancelled," Fleet Admiral Mse murmured to Ohanna's suggestion. "While she cannot be completely faultless, her experience is of more importance now. She will need to be fully debriefed, as will Captain Aoumov and Captain Resper," Mse paused slightly, shaking her head. "Debrief the entire crew, Enlightened included," she decided.
"If this fleet is as hostile as its attack at the space station indicated, we will have to open talks with the Yoxall and Gotti," Njera said. "We won't be able to fight that many ships alone."
"The ambassadors are already making discreet enquiries. We just don't know enough about their intentions."
"They're hostile, obviously. What more do you need to know?"
Ohanna gave a long suffering sigh at the challenge. "They are hostile," she agreed, "but what are their goals? Are they only after the station or do they want the entire galaxy? Where will they head? We don't know anything about them!"
"If they want the station, they can take it," someone muttered and while Hage shared the sentiment, he was experienced enough to know it wouldn't end with the station.
"Have the techs found anything yet?" Hage asked instead.
Mse tapped the data pad in front of her and those gathered watched as the Fleet Admiral read. She was a wily Cypiene though and her expression and colour gave away nothing. It was control that had been honed over her entire life. "Actually they have," she said. "But they are not sure what it means," she concluded before flicking the screen, sending the image to the main display.
It showed a long shot in the normal wavelengths of the unknown ships, then it drew close to one and several filters were applied to the image. The first filtered out the background, leaving the dark shape of the ship as the only thing visible. Then several others were applied. At first, nothing changed but then something appeared on the ship. There was a series of marks on the left anterior side and another mark on one of its legs. The marking was not clear but there was definitely something different there.
Then the screen split, to show another one of the ships. The same filters were applied but there were no markings.
"These markings aren't visible to our eyes. I can only surmise they are visible to those ships."
"Why point them out?" Njera asked.
"Because the ships that destroyed the weapon platforms had markings. The techs report that the ships in the first group to appear did not have markings. Some in the second and third groups did and it was those in the third group which led the assault."
"Elite ships? The markings are a sign of rank?" Hage suggested.
"Possibly but they are something to watch," Fleet Admiral Mse said. "For now, as previously stated, we don't have enough information. We'll meet in two days time, after the ambassadors have spoken to the Yoxall and Gotti. By then, we should have at least some preliminary information from Orla and her fleet."
"We should send a fleet into the core to retrieve the remains," Ohanna said.
"Yes," Mse agreed. "It will take a few more days but it needs to be done. See to it. Is there anything else?"
Silence greeted the Fleet Admiral's question. The information she had presented was startling and they would need time to think and consult their sources. Then they could begin to plan for the defence of their Empire.
-cfr-
The cycle has begun! Though not to anyone's plan and there will be consequences for that. Shepard's pissed off, the organics are scrambling, trying to work out what happened, and Harbinger is just watching it all.
Have a great season, where ever you are!
Review please!