CHAPTER FOUR: "...HUSHED AND EMPTY IS THE WOMB OF THE SKY"
A few hours later, Jane watched as Nihlus and Saren were escorted into a meeting room aboard Tohu station proper by Nimue's two assistants, Manu and Yemo; both looked understandably wary at both their heavily-armed and armoured escorts and Agent Chao, who was sitting at the front of the room with that same smile which seemed to be her resting expression.
"Please, have a seat," Nimue said, gesturing at the table and waiting for the two Spectres to sit. "I must apologize for the delay; there were some unexpected problems that came up on arrival which I had to take care of."
"Anything we should be worried about?" Saren asked, tone inquisitive.
"Not really, no. In any case, we needed you here to discuss the threat posed by the reapers," Nimue said with a shrug, "but I do believe that you two had some questions regarding the status and affiliation of the Demeter; I or Captain ED would be happy to clear things up and answer any questions you may have. Within reason, of course."
"Forgive me for being blunt, then," Saren stated plainly. "But the Demeter's not just any run-of-the-mill special forces-use ship, no?"
"No, it's not," Captain ED replied, shaking her head. "We're technically on loan, for lack of a better term, from the Systems Alliance Intelligence Services. We're not engaged in espionage or anything of the sort - not that I would fault you for failing to believe me."
Nihlus looked thoughtful. "But you are from an organization which has espionage as one of its primary functions."
Captain ED nodded slowly. "That's correct. We have been, however, under strict orders to simply file reports about what we encounter and our thoughts on them, which I'm sure both sides of this equation are doing regardless," ED noted. "Our mission parameters expressly forbid doing anything illegal or carrying out any action which could be taken in bad faith as evidence of spying or accessing data we shouldn't."
"Except, of course, failing to mention that you're technically spies?" Saren noted. "Sorry, I'm not trying to be rude - and while I'm willing to believe you at face value, I can imagine that there are a lot of people in Citadel space, civilian, and politicians alike, who won't be so forgiving."
"Simply being part of an intelligence organization does not automatically make someone a spy," Nimue said.
"We have extensive records showing that all we've done is write reports about what we've seen," ED continued. "That's it."
Nihlus shrugged. "Honestly that's not so bad - I guarantee you the Citadel's members have been doing their best to carry out espionage operations in Alliance territory, and I'd be damn near offended if the Alliance wasn't doing the same to the Citadel. Just good practice. But I'm more than happy to accept your word, Captain ED, that the Demeter's not been involved in anything shady."
"A lie of omission is still a lie," Miranda stated. "We're grateful that you're willing to forgive us for the deception."
"No problem. Understand that I will have to explain this to my superiors, though."
"Of course," ED replied. "We understand."
"I'm sure I can spin it fairly positively, and you have my word I'll do my best to smooth things over," Nihlus said, nodding.
"Intelligence Services ships just being, like you said, on loan," Saren offered. "For their expertise in record-keeping and observation. I think that's fair - no harm done. No offense, Agent Chao, but I was worried that they were part of your organization. Compared to that, this is just fine."
"None taken. I don't imagine Internal Security or its equivalent are popular anywhere in the galaxy," Nimue noted. "In any case, with that out of the way, we have more important matters to discuss."
"Right. The 'Reapers,' as Pilot Shepard says," Saren said. "And the artifact that KN here picked up."
"Correct. There's not much to say in terms of the Reapers, I'm afraid - we'll be relying on Legion and the geth database on Rannoch to come up with leads to follow. As for the artifact, we've already moved it to a secure location for study and containment," Nimue replied. "We have countermeasures - the same sort that Pilot Shepard and Titan KN have - available to distribute, as well."
"Will it require us - that being myself and the rest of the Lightspear's crew - to have data ports?" Saren asked.
"Keep in mind, too, my port's only one-way," Nihlus noted.
"The equipment has two components - first, a combination shield-sensor which will alert you to the memetic hazards while protecting you from their effects," Nimue said. "Second, containers that will let you, well, contain artifacts safely for transport. Anyone can carry around one of the containers, and as for the shield-sensor unit there's a portable one that can be worn, and one that requires a two-way data port and a nanite injection."
Nihlus frowned. "Is there an appreciable difference between the portable unit and the, ah, installed one?"
"Performance-wise, no - both require no external power and function exactly the same. Of course, the portable unit can be lost, dropped or destroyed," Nimue replied.
"The portable units will have to do for now," Saren said. "Next time we're on the Citadel with time to spare, hopefully medical tech will have jumped far enough ahead that we can all get safe data port installs."
"Very well," Nimue said after a moment. "The units are fairly small - they can be installed into any set of clothes with minimal bulk, or integrated into armour without any issues."
"What about widespread distribution, at least of the sensor package?" Nihlus asked.
"Internal Security's R&D teams are working on that as we speak. In the mean time, we'll have to check things as we go," Jane said, "and hope for the best."
"Huh. Well, it's better than nothing," Nihlus said as Saren shrugged.
"Alright. We'll adjourn for now, then do a proper debrief for everyone - full crews of the Demeter and your companions aboard the Lightspear," Nimue said, "where we'll introduce the basics of artifact handling and go over operation of the shield-sensor units. It shouldn't take too long - our goal is to have you guys back out into the field by early tomorrow. Grab something to eat, speak with your crew - I'm sure there's plenty to discuss - and take a break. I'll return to the main hangar in, say, two hours."
"Sounds good," Nihlus said, getting up.
"Agent Manu, Agent Yemo, please escort everyone back to the hangar while I debrief with the brass."
"Ma'am," both said in unison. They escorted the group out of the conference room, through the station's empty, spartan corrdidors and back to the security tube now attached to the Affront's top hangar; once everyone was back inside the hangar, Nimue's assistants simply nodded before sealing the doors. Jane and KN were about to follow Miranda and ED back up the ramp into the Demeter when Nihlus called out.
"Hey, Jane, KN, one sec," he said.
"It's alright," Captain ED noted. "Just meet back in my quarters," she said as she and Miranda left the pair with Nihlus and Saren.
"What's up?" KN asked.
"Just wanted to thank you for, I mean, not coming clean, because that sounds pretty terrible," Nihlus said, rubbing at his fringe. "You know what I mean. Just wanted to say I don't hold anything against you for hiding stuff from me - I know we've all got brass to report to and info to keep classified. But as long as it doesn't get in the way of the mission, it's all good, right?"
"Yeah," Jane said, putting on her most charming smile. "All good, Nihlus. All good."
FEBRUARY 1ST
The trip to Rannoch had only taken a day; both ships had landed at the same port they'd docked at previously, and Red had met the crews of both ships just outside in the spaceport. Red had handed over several OSDs containing all the information the true geth thought pertinent, and less than three hours later both ships were back in space and on their way back to the Citadel. The Demeter and Lightspear arrived just past midnight, and once they docked Nihlus and Saren met Captain ED just outside the Demeter's ramp.
"We need to go and brief Ambassador Goyle and speak with our superiors; we'll be using the Consulate's QEC units," ED said.
"Should we go on ahead to the Council?" Saren asked. "I assume Ambassador Goyle - and yourselves - will be meeting with them to discuss the intel we got from the true geth regardless."
"True, but it might be worth getting them up to speed anyways," Nihlus noted.
"Sounds good to me," Jane said. "If you guys are done before we're finished with our debrief just comm us and we'll go from there."
"Got it," Nihlus replied.
They all walked together to the same transit pad, and nodded at one another as Nihlus and Saren took their own shuttle to the Citadel Tower; Jane and KN followed ED and Miranda into their vehicle and arrived at the Presidium Embassies not long later. The area was fairly empty, and nobody paid the group of four any mind as they entered the Alliance Consulate. An embassy worker quickly escorted them into Ambassador Goyle's office; Anita and her assistant, Julia, were both seated at their desks, and about a dozen QEC units were active. Jane immediately recognized holograms of Director Harper and Defense Minister Hackett; she was vaguely aware of the others as prominent political figures and high-ranking members of SAAF High Command.
"Ah, one moment, please," Anita said. "The Captain, XO and CT from the Demeter have arrived. Captain ED and others, please, have a seat," she said, gesturing at a set of chairs set up by her desk, "and we'll get to business." Once they'd sat down, Director Harper's hologram lit up, and he smiled at the assembled group.
"Captain, XO, Pilot and Titan. Welcome back. It is, as usual, good to see you safe and sound. We were discussing the Alliance's information release and impending mobilization order," Jack said, fiddling idly with a kretek, "and I believe it'd be best to get you up to speed."
"Thank you, Director," Captain ED said, nodding.
"Two things," Minister Hackett noted. "The information release is fairly straightforward; most of it's just the information Legion, Prime and the rest of the true geth gave us, slightly polished up for a proper media release. In addition, the Alliance Parliament has recognized the threat posed by the Reapers and their so-called cycle; the Alliance-wide combat readiness status has been raised from Shield Yellow to Handgun Red. SAAF is mustering to combat positions, Militia reserves up to tier six are being called in, shipyards are moving to eighty-percent capacity and manuctories are ramping up for full armament. We're still negotiating with the Council regarding what sort of assets - above what we currently have - can be stationed in Citadel space."
"In addition," one of the binaries that Jane didn't recognize said, "please give our thanks to Legion and the true geth. While the geth refugees have been helpful the information provided by the true geth has been indispensable; I know neither the SAAF or the Citadel has much in the way of combat data regarding the geth, and we're working on building combat doctrine from scratch." The binary paused, then cleared its throat. "Ah, apologies - Colonel AX, Alex, SAAF, Combat Doctrine and Tactics."
"We'll do that, Colonel," ED noted.
"If that's all, then," Julia said, looking down at one of the dataslates on her desk, "we'll proceed to debrief the tactical data obtained yesterday by the Demeter and Lightspear."
"Thank you, Julia," Captain ED stated. She pulled a cable from her arm and jacked into the desk's private control unit; a hologram of several star systems, planets and structures of geth make appeared in the centre of the room. "The following information was provided by the true geth with a warning - that this intel is based primarily on speculation. While we see no reason to doubt the trustworthiness of the true geth, by their own admission these are estimations and suppositions, based on historical data and standard geth combat parameters. Nazara and the heretic geth have already proven themselves fully capable of tactics the regular geth would find odd or at least out of character - as Nazara's subversion of the true geth and its attack on the Migrant Fleet has shown. Keeping all of this in mind, here is the information the geth have shown us."
"System scans taken by both the true geth, SAAF ships and members of the Citadel Fleet have shown that the Tikkun system is most likely clear of heretic forces, though of course there is a risk that Nazara-aligned forces have been hidden on the surface of the system's planets," Miranda continued. "Logically, however, Nazara's current goal - construction of additional heretic platforms and ships, as well as a general increase in projection ability by the Reaper-aligned forces - leaves a few optimal positions for strongholds, supply lines and construction yards. The locations the true geth believe to be the most likely staging grounds for Nazara and its allies are in the Far Rim, which contains two systems - Dholen and Amata."
"Dholen used to have mining operations on the planet Gotha, helium refineries based in orbit around Charoum, and several massive construction yards on and around Haestrom; Amata has only one planet, Ammat, but prior to the civil war it was home to several fuel extraction sites and another construction yard," Jane noted. "It'd make sense for Nazara to utilize as much preexisting infrastructure to jump-start its rearmament efforts; in addition, the Far Rim relay provides connections to several other systems while offering only one way in. It is the belief of the Demeter's and Lightspear's crews that the Far Rim houses Nazara and its forces."
There was a long silence; several of the officials attending by QEC conferred with off-screen assistants or took notes on dataslates. Almost a full minute later, it was Minister Hackett who spoke first.
"Thank you for the information. Rest assured, the SAAF and Alliance will use this knowledge."
"I'll be meeting with the Council shortly," Anita continued. "You four are dismissed for the time being; I recommend you and the rest of the Demeter's crew get some much-needed rest while we decide on a next course of action." Ambassador Goyle gestured to the door, and Julia escorted Jane and the three others out of the room.
About an hour later, Anita Goyle leaned back in her chair as the QEC units deactivated, leaving her office feeling conspicuously empty. She sighed, picked up the coffee cup on her desk that she knew was empty, and set it back down on the desk before closing her eyes. "Julia, please inform the Council that, if they are available, that I'd like to meet to discuss the Alliance's information release about the Reapers, amongst other things."
"Of course, ma'am. One moment." Julia turned to the side and her eyes lit up for just under two minutes; when she turned back to Anita her expression was distinctly displeased. "They're ready to see you now, actually."
"What's the matter, Julia?" Anita asked, smirking. "Not relishing the thought of another meeting?"
"Anita, it is three-thirty in the morning. You haven't slept for more than five hours a night for nearly a month, I haven't had a proper rest-recharge cycle in weeks, and we've both been running time dilation far beyond recommended limits. All I want is to find a nice drinking establishment, sink into a comfy chair and drink heavily while recharging for at least two straight days," Julia groused.
"Okay, Jules, and I want to be queen of the universe, but that's not happening either." Anita shrugged. "I mean, I'm not happy about it either, you know."
Julia rolled her eyes and sighed. "Work is its own reward, or something like that, right?"
"Precisely." Anita got out of her chair and stretched her arms before yawning. "Alright, let's get a move on." The two left Anita's office and made their way downstairs; the night-morning shift staff were all at their posts, talking amongst themselves across the consulate floor, and all fell silent as they noticed Anita coming down the stairs.
"Oh, there's no need to put on your serious faces," Anita said as Julia followed her down to the main floor. "It's not like anyone's in here right now anyways. Tristan," she said, addressing the binary at the front desk, "we'll need you to hold down the fort."
"Of course, Ambassador Goyle," the binary said, with a deep bow. "My pleasure."
"I expect to find the Consulate in tip-top shape when I return," Anita said, addressing the staff as she and Julia made their way to the entrance. "No pillow-fights, don't drink too much pop, et cetera."
"Yes, mom," someone in the back said.
Anita chuckled and waved as she and Julia exited the building and walked over to the shuttle terminal; a quick ride later, they were at the top of the Citadel Tower. The small smattering of guards posted recognized the two, and after clearing their security scans they were directed into the chambers behind the man Council Hall. The two entered the usual meeting room to find all three Councilors discussing something; all stood and walked over to greet them, clasping arms and shaking hands.
"Ahh, Ambassador Goyle, Secretary Julia," Herane said with a smile. "Thank you for your prompt arrival."
"It's no problem - we just finished a meeting of our own," Anita replied. They all sat back down, and Anita pulled an OSD and three collapsible dataslates from her coat. "I understand you wished to discuss the Alliance's information release, as well as some matters regarding the SAAF's deployment in Citadel space."
"That's correct," Valern noted. "Secretary JL confirmed that the release will be happening later today?"
"Indeed," Anita replied, handing the OSD and slates over. "The full text is on there; there will be other broadcasts and alerts, but the tone and content of those will be informed by the release itself."
The three Councilors took the slates and read them; a few minutes later, Sparatus looked up.
"While the content of this text is in line with the information we intend to release today," Sparatus said slowly, "I must say that the...tone of the text is quite a bit more aggressive than I had anticipated."
Anita shrugged. "The Systems Alliance's culture is a, for the most part, a peaceful one - but that peace is backed by a powerful desire to protect the Alliance from threats, internal or external, with martial power. If the information we've gathered regarding the Precurosrs, protheans, as well as the Reapers and the heretic geth is even remotely true, then surely you would agree that adopting a defensive military posture is well within the realm of responsible actions."
There was a momentary pause, and it was Tevos who replied. "That's fair; the tone of the release is certainly not one the Council would take, but we are all from different cultures. Thank you for sharing this with us; the gesture is appreciated." Anita simply nodded slightly in response, and Tevos cleared her throat. "Moving on to military matters, some figures within the Lower Council and the governments which comprise the Citadel's members have expressed concern at the number of SAAF ships in Citadel space. Now, I understand that, speaking broadly, those concerns are borne out of a worry of the Alliance violating sovereignty and overstepping its sociopolitical boundaries - and while the Council may not share that belief, we believe it stems from a lack of transparency regarding, ah, the flexible terms we've had to agree to."
"Of course, these are extenuating circumstances," Valern said, "and we're not asking for an immediate renegotiation of the terms agreed upon during the original contact meeting or any of the emergency sessions we've had since then. But we do need to come to terms about what should happen if we do call upon the SAAF's assistance in, say, the defense of the Citadel."
"That's fair," Anita noted. "The current situation calls for specific negotiation regarding individual ships - I think that, at least for now, that can stand for the ships attached to the Gravitas's fleet. As for other ships, like those you suggested, say, coming to assist the Citadel Fleet in defensive action, perhaps an initial cap of two days to be extended at the Council's discretion? This isn't a hard treaty or terms - just suggestions."
"We'll have to deliberate on this, of course, but I believe that to be agreeable. We would like, mind, to request a hard cap on the number of ships operating in Citadel Space for now," Sparatus said. "I'm aware that the Alliance is not bound by the Treaty of Farixen, and that the Alliance's military is quite large - but I'm sure we can come to an agreement of some sort."
"Of course. Defense Minister Hackett's office is available for negotiations via our QEC at your convenience; if you'd like we can arrange a meeting to be held in the near future with SAAF High Command and members of the Alliance Parliament, too."
"I think that would be best," Herane replied. "Secretary Julia, we'll be in touch regarding that meeting shortly, if that's alright." Julia nodded, and Anita tapped the table for a moment.
"In a similar vein, did Spectre Kryik inform you about the data we received from the true geth?" Anita asked.
"Yes - he and Spectre Arterius gave a lengthy briefing on the issue. Mobilization efforts are ongoing, primarily shouldered by the Citadel Fleet and the Turian Navy," Sparatus said, "but in terms of scouting operations we'll continue to rely on the Lightspear and the Demeter, if that's agreeable."
"Of course, Councilors," Anita replied. "One hopes that the news they bring in the future will be good."
February 2nd
"Hey! Paul! Is it six yet?" one of the restaurant's patrons asked.
"Almost," Paul replied, setting down a plate of doro wat next to his seat by the restaurant's cashier. "Alright folks, no new food for thirty minutes, staff's getting dinner break and we're watching the news," he said, turning on the restaurant's "Dinner Break" timer outside and switching the holo in the corner from a hammerball rerun to the nightly news. The image changed to the FNN intro sting, the familiar flat-cap and glasses-wearing skull swooping in from off-screen, soon replaced by a tall, lanky binary with a dark-brown wood-metal chassis standing in front of a spartan news set.
"Greetings, viewers, and welcome to the Frontier News Network's Evening Edition. It's 6PM Harmony Central Time and the date is February 2nd, 463 Freeport. I'm TM-2QN33S9IM4, Thema, and I'm joined by tonight's co-hosts, Morrigan, Ye-seul Kim, and Sebastien Jimmu. Before we get to tonight's stories, however, we have an emergency broadcast from the Ministry of Defense."
The screen flashed and the image was replaced with a feed of Defense Minister Hackett - old, grey-haired, tired, eyes shining with a fiery inner strength - sitting at his desk; the restaurant fell utterly silent, all eyes laser-focused on the holo feed.
"Good evening, citizens of the Systems Alliance. No doubt most of you have seen the information released by the Citadel Council four days ago. The Alliance Parliament - and the Ministry of Defense - would indeed have released its own message, but recent events, namely the attack of the quarian Migrant Fleet, combined with information obtained in the past day or so by agents of both the Citadel and the Alliance, led us to delay. Tonight, the news I bring is not good news," he said, his voice gravelly and stern, "but I know you will all suffer it with the dignity and strength every citizen of the Alliance has. I will skip the basics of the matter - those of you who find yourselves not up to date on this information, I urge you to do your dutiful research on the matters at hand."
"I begin with the news regarding the Prothean message. The entity which attacked the Migrant Fleet, Nazara, is part of a race which not just attacked, but caused the extinction of the Prothean race over fifty-thousand years ago. Prothean technology - the Citadel, the mass relays and their relics - remained for the peoples of the Citadel to find and the Reapers were forced to retreat - all because the protheans found the Precursor technology which we have learned so much from. Now, Nazara has returned - and not only has Nazara nearly destroyed the Migrant Fleet with little more than a handful of escorts, it has caused a civil war amongst the geth. Nazara subverted more than three quarters of geth society, enslaving them and forcing them to serve its will - and destroyed almost all the others."
"Nazara has escaped to parts unknown, ready to continue what it calls the 'cycle of reaping and harvest:' war on all life, organic or synthetic, killing or enslaving all that stands in its way. Its brethren - which we have termed 'Reapers' - have not shown themselves, but given that Nazara styles itself as a herald, we must assume the worst: that these Reapers will, somehow, sometime, return to the galaxy at large."
"Nazara has shown no mercy. No attempt to communicate with the galaxy's peoples. No attempt to negotiate with the geth, which it enslaved without a second thought. No attempt to let the quarians, whose entire civilization exists in its fleet, flee from its unprovoked attack."
Stephen Hackett's expression as he leaned forward resembled a smile, but it was one full of teeth and oozing bloodlust in place of kindness.
"Personally, that suits me just fine. If Nazara and the Reapers wish to repent, let them. Otherwise, let us show Nazara that we too can be merciless. Let us show our newfound allies in Citadel space that the Systems Alliance is a friend, a comrade, ready to support it in dangerous times - and let us show Nazara that wanton cruelty and murderous arrogance have no place in this galaxy. Citizens of the Systems Alliance, today, the Alliance-wide combat readiness level has been raised from Shield Yellow to Handgun Red. All SAAF personnel, report in for tasking at once. Militia reserves from tiers one to six, report to your local barracks for duty. Citizens, in this time of conflict, I only ask that you do your duties as you always have. Perhaps this Nazara overstates its power, and we will only have to defend ourselves or our allies. But no victory was ever gained by preparing for the best outcome. This evening, eighteen-oh-five on February second of four-hundred-sixty-three Freeport, I officially declare: the Systems Alliance is going to war once again. Good night, and good luck. This message repeats once."
The room went silent for a half-second, before the entire restaurant erupted into shouting; Paul grinned, eyes flaring to life as he threw off his apron and stretched his limbs. "Alright, folks, no point waiting around - Chani, hold the fort down," he said to a young woman sitting across from him. "Who here's in the reserves?"
More than half of the restaurant's three dozen patrons raised their hands.
"Damn right - we're taking the truck to the local barracks right now. Let's go!"
DEPLOYMENT ORDERS FOR:
X-Sgt. PL-J6T169B0 (PAUL)
Militia, Tier One, X-Combat Engineer
PRIMARY PROCESSING COMPLETED AT:
Harmony Defense Force Base CENTRAL - Core, Militia, Frontier
1923HR/ February 2 / 463 Freeport
Assigned to: GROUND OPERATIONS, SECOND FLEET, DIVISION ONE
Assignment Location: Discovery / Frontier Relay
Purpose: Front-line Defensive Operations against Reaper-aligned forces
Length of deployment: Unlimited
Security Clearance: Green Six (Green Two Upgrade upon Secondary Processing)
Instructions:
Upon completion of Primary Processing, you have THREE HOURS of free time. After the allotted time has elapsed, you will move to Staging Area X-RAY and report aboard the Orbital Logistics & Support ship, OLS VORTEX, for tasking. Secondary Processing will occur either shipboard or on a station en-route to Discovery. During Secondary Processing, you will undergo testing to determine which Combat Re-Familiarization stream you will be placed in. Time-dilated simulation training will be carried out both en-route to Discovery and once you have arrived. Reinstatement of your previous rank will depend on your overall CRF score and testing observations by superiors.
You are advised to bring all of the weaponry and combat gear issued to you as a TIER ONE MILITIA, X-SGT. Failure to do so will reflect poorly on you, and may result in a penalty to your CRF score and a negative report by superior officers.
In addition, your personal belongings allocation as a TIER ONE MILITIA with a rank of X-SGT. allows for:
ONE Standard Issue Systems Alliance Armed Forces Personal Belongings Bag (SI-SAAF PBB) OR equivalent in size / weight.
ONE Standard Issue Systems Alliance Armed Forces Combat Rucksack (SI-SAAF CR) OR equivalent in size / weight.
Your personal belongings allocation as a BINARY also allows for:
TWELVE External Power Units, Portable, Medium
ONE External Memory Device
Thank you for complying with all orders.
The SAAF thanks you for your continued service to the Alliance, in life and in death.
THIS ORDER AUTHORIZED BY: SERGEANT FIRST CLASS AD-PZGWK3L
"Ah, may I ask who those people are? Pilots, I assume," Jalina said as she descended the shuttle ramp and set foot on the base's runway.
"Nadir," Makena Briggs said, taking off their helmet and watching the crowd of Pilots and Titans, all clad in bright red dress uniforms, assembled outside the frigate across the runway. "Bunch of nutcases, but you didn't hear that from me."
"Hmm. I did read that they were formed by the grandson of a famous IMC-aligned mercenary? I also read - according to a member of Barker's Bastards, mind - that their idea of conflict resolution is a combination of group therapy and trial by combat. Is that true?"
"It is," Makena said with an amused expression, clipping their helmet to their belt. "Nadir folks are, I dunno. You don't become a Pilot or a Titan without a, how to put it, a love of fighting on some level, but Nadir folks take that to a whole new level. Ah, our escort," Makena noted as a car descended from the base's airspace and landed nearby. "Seurat! We're good - you can get out of the ship now." Makena watched as a lanky Titan hopped out of the shuttle's side hatch, and both stood at attention as a uniformed woman stepped out of the car.
"Ambassador Atruus," the woman said with a small bow. "I trust your trip to Praxis was to your liking?"
"Ignoring the declaration of war, courtesy of the Reapers, and the near-destruction of the Migrant Fleet," Jalina said sadly, "yes, everything went well. I apologize for returning to Harmony on such short notice, Ambassador Moreau."
"It's no trouble - difficult times all around. Please, make yourselves comfortable, and we'll take you to Parliament." Hilary Moreau gestured to the back of the vehicle, and waited for Jalina, Makena and Seurat to enter before following them inside. Once they were all seated in the spacious rear of the car, she leaned into the driver's cabin. "We're all settled, Yasuke."
"We'll have to fly low for now," the cap-wearing binary driver replied, looking back into the passenger seating. "Bunch of big ships are gearing for launch - it'll just be a few extra minutes."
The car flew at ground level, maintaining a slower-than-usual speed; as they passed by the crowd of Nadir Pilots and Titans, Jalina managed to get a good look at the Pilot-Titan duo standing in front of the frigate's lowered ramp. The human Pilot looked old, and his face was more metal plating and prosthetics than skin; his Titan partner's chassis had more scorch-marks and dents than clean parts. The Pilot's arms were bare and exposed, revealing hundreds of ritual scars and tattoos, and similarly the Titan standing next to him had markings carved into its arms. Both were screaming loud enough that their voices could be heard as a muffled chant through the vehicle's plating, and Seurat snorted.
"I bet they're gonna do the thing," Seurat said, shaking his head.
"What thing?" Jalina asked.
Seurat made a disgusted noise and rubbed at his square head. "Just watch. Yasuke, windows?"
"Sure thing," Yasuke said, and Jalina watched as the assembled Nadir cadre began to beat their chest rigs in a slow, steady rhythm. As the windows rolled down slightly, the group's muffled chants became a howling roar.
"NADIR!" the duo at the front of the group screamed in a scratchy voice, "WHO DO WE SERVE?"
"ALLIANCE!" the group shouted back.
"NADIR! WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE?"
"FIGHT FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT FIGHT! KILL FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT KILL!"
"NADIR! KILL!"
"KILL! KILL! KILL!" The group chanted, howling and laughing and beating the thumping rhythm on their metal chests, over and over.
"Bunch of nutcases," Yasuke grumbled.
"Yasuke," Hilary said, her tone disapproving.
"What? It's true," he said, shrugging as he drove away and rolled up the windows.
"Not in front of the Ambassador. Please."
Jalina shrugged. "It's quite alright. Equivalents exist in every military, I assure you. It's a soldier thing, I think."
"Doesn't mean it's not embarrassing," Seurat whispered. "Yeesh. What a bunch of edgelords."
Several hours later, after a joint meeting with the Ministry of Defense's senior staff, with a few members from the Lower Council, the Turian Army's Strategic Command and about a dozen representatives from the Salarian Union Armed Forces attending remotely, Jalina stepped outside of the Ministry of Defense headquarters in downtown Core, can of coffee in hand. The weather outside was cool, the night sky illuminated by the endless rows of lights and buildings downtown; the section of boulevard was mostly filled with government buildings, though near the end of the block, an SAAF recruitment centre was still open despite it being nearly ten in the evening; a long lineup stretched into the distance, forcing pedestrians to weave through the crowd to pass by. As she approached, she heard the unmistakable sound of what the Alliance thought of as military music - personally, she thought it was both too cheery and too sombre to get her in the fighting mood, but it seemed be doing the trick. She paused as she noticed a pair of reporters identifiable by the camera drones hovering closely behind them, approached the crowds.
Maria paused, cleared her throat, and grinned as her camera drone swung around to face her - a binary with a humanoid face and chassis. "Before we start, like usual, please let me know if the stream's going wonky in chat, and we'll do our best to fix it. Alright, chat is live, feed is green - heya hey, it's ten PM and you're tuned into Sunset Beacon, Beacon Daily's evening on-the-street stream where we get the latest opinions from real people down on street-level. As usual, Sunset Beacon's hosted by me- MR, or Maria, and over there we've got my co-host, XY, or Xinyi for those of you who're new to this. Say hi, Exie!"
The drone shifted to the side to reveal a binary wearing a white cloak with a polished chrome chassis underneath; her faceplate had three vertical lights which glowed a bright green, and a pink ribbon was attached to her head. She waved, flashed her lights, and returned to standing with her hands on her hips.
"Aaaaas usual, XY's in time dilation right now at one to twenty ratio - Exie'll be reading your questions and answering as best as she can in chat. Standard rules, folks - be nice! Exie's not afraid to wield the banhammer so make sure you think before posting, eh? Okay, let's get this started. Tonight's topic - well, you all know what it is - war! Big news this evening with a message from ol' Hackett himself - we're off to war, even if it's just in a defensive capacity or giving a hand to our new Citadel neighbours. Alright - hey there!" Maria walked over to the crowds of both pedestrians and those waiting in line outside the recruiting centre.
"Hey! It's Exie and Maria," someone shouted; others turned and waved or cheered; people posed in front of the drones and took photos, and an obnoxious pair of drunk party-goers who attempted to grab XY's drone were shocked with a low-powered taser.
"Alright, alright, easy there people - we can't interview everyone tonight but we'll be here well into the morning! First up, you there, hello!" Maria said to a young man standing in line who was waving at her. "Declaration of war, big news - how're you feeling?"
"I'm pretty pumped," the man replied with a smile. "I mean, war sucks and I'm sure if I see frontline combat it's not gonna be fun - but man, deep down, this is exciting. We've got an enemy that is literally an evil squid spaceship that has, like, no issues with being a mass-murdering dick. No moral abiguity about that - hells yeah I'm in."
"So, you signing up for the SAAF?"
"Yup! I did two years as an intern for the Ministry of Defence a few years back and everything, but I didn't get called - Militia Tier Ten, but hells, I'm more than happy to sign up!"
"Alright, thank you very much - next person! Yes, you there, how're you feeling?"
The binary shrugged and made a sighing noise. "I'm not quite as excited - you know, I just feel so bad for those quarians and geth. The idea of all those people losing their friends, family and home, well, I'm not happy about that, you know? Really puts a damper on the idea of a black-and-white war, which'd normally would get me going. But hey, I'm more than happy to pitch in - I know every binary doing computation can come in handy for something and if I get called to service, Militia or otherweise, I'll be happy to pitch in."
"Well, service is service, however you do it - and if we've got any quarian or geth listeners, there's a place for you in the Alliance too. Can I get a cheer for that?"
The streets erupted into cheering, and Jalina watched as the pair of binaries approached her.
"Ma'am - yes, hi! I know visitors from the Citadel are still pretty rare and we'd love to get your thoughts on this!"
Jalina stopped and looked at the camera drone, her expression one of careful consideration. "Well," she said after a moment, "I can't say I'm excited at the prospect of conflict, but if there's an unavoidable fight, I can say that, at least personally, I'll do my part, whatever that is."
"Hmmmm," Maria said, her expression one of deep thought. "Well, I'd love to ask you more, actually - are you free, ma'am?"
"I'm afraid I have to get back to work in a little bit," Jalina said, shaking her head.
"Oh, okay - get going then! Don't stick around for our stupid show," Maria said with a wide grin. "Alright, alright, next person, let's see..."
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Topic: Alliance Citizen Reactions to Declaration of War
In: Boards ► Media Discussion ► Systems Alliance ► Sunset Beacon
Palaven Rising (Original Poster) (Ascent!)
Posted On Feb 3rd 2158:
Spirits, man. We're all reeling from what happened to the Migrant Fleet and that crazy-as-fuck press release from both the Citadel Council and the Alliance earlier today...so I decide to turn on some Alliance live feeds, see what things are like, and HOLY SHIT you Alliance people are NUTS. Look, I'm turian, I get the whole loyalty and duty thing - I did my tour of duty for the Turian Army and if I get called back for this fuckstorm of a situation I'll serve again with pride - but I'm not fuckin' EXCITED about it, yeesh.
Sorry, I don't want to be, I dunno, culturally insensitive but I sure as hell am not looking forward to fighting the thing that blew up more than half of the Migrant Fleet in less than a few hours. Anyways, if you guys are looking for some really creepy shit, you can find the link to the feed - it just ended like, an hour ago - here.
(Showing page 1 of 9823)
►Flashlight Party (Firelink)
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:
Hey, Palaven, that's really rude of you! Just because you don't understand our culture that doesn't mean you have to be rude about it ;_;
What's wrong with being excited about fighting an evil squiddy space ship? I think it's pretty noble that we're happy to take the fight to the thing that killed so many quarians and geth for no reason!
►Twochanka (Ascent!)
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:
I mean, I agree with Flashlight about not being rude...but even I'm kind of creeped out by this. Sure, every krogan likes a fight deep down, but war's a whole different story. Did you see the clip - about 2 hours in - from the combat vet binary? Dude said he's seen some shit but he's excited to "get back into it?"
Man, my grandpa was all about the blood rage and stuff, and even he'd be weirded out by how excited everyone in the Alliance is...the most negative thing I saw from the stream was people who weren't excited - not because, you know, WAR, but because people have died already. But they're still pumped to go fight.
That's kind of messed up, I think...
►VolusMolus (Ascent!)
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:
Yeah, I'm with Twochanka on this one. I knew Alliance folks loved fighting or someting but this is a bit much, don't you think?
►Sage (Ascent!)
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:
Holy fuck you guys are nuts. Look, nobody likes Nazara, we're all itching to kill whatever that thing is, but nobody's making you be excited about it.
►KretekStain (Firelink)
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:
Is it really that hard to imagine that we're excited to do some good in the galaxy? Nazara and the Reapers are as clear-cut "bad" as you can get! This is a nice, clean war - how often do things pan out that way?
►AgentSausage (Ascent!)
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:
Nobody's saying that Nazara's not evil or anything - that's not the thing that's freaking us out.
There were LITERALLY dozens of people on camera out there who were genuinely excited that the Alliance and Citadel species are building up for open warfare against an evil spaceship that apparently helped EXTERMINATE the protheans.
Come on, NOTHING about that seems off? Can you not see how that juuust might be creepy as shit?
►Dawn Of Socket (Ascent!)
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:
I've been telling you people the Alliance folks are crazy for MONTHS and I keep getting shit on - how do I look now, huh? Eight "world wars," all that stuff about Cerberus - which I still maintain was a false flag op - and the obsession they have over war and, no, Dawn's crazy?
What now?
►Ascalon (Firelink)
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:
What now? I dunno, you're still an asshole, so there's that.
►Red Smoothie (Moderator) (Ascent!)
Replied On Feb 3rd 2158:
Guys, I know this is contentious topic, so let's try and keep this civil, please. End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 9821, 9822, 9823
"We'll do it like last time," Captain ED said, focusing on the holoboard in the Demeter's CIC. "The only way in is through the Dholen relay - and if the hypotheses provided by the true geth are correct we'll be jumping into knife-fight range of Nazara's forces."
"How long do your stealth systems work for?" Nihlus asked. "I don't want to have you guys jump ahead just to get blown apart before you can jump for the return trip."
"Theoretically speaking, three hours," Chief Engineer Greg Adams noted, "but I'd like to point out that the three-hour figure is the maximum recommended operating time in the manuals, based on prototype testing. In practice we've never used it for more than ten minutes or so - and even with three hours that's really not enough time to do a comprehensive scan of the planets in Dholen, let alone jump systems to Amata. "
"What's the recharge time on the stealth system?" Saren said, eyes flitting about the system map.
"Depends on how much power we draw from the engines and capacitors - if we really need to we can reset the system in a minute or two," Miranda answered. "But, of course, that'll mean sacrificing power for everything else."
"Could we, say, chain together the stealth system so that when it drops - or if it drops unexpectedly - we exit into phase shift?" Jane asked. "That way we could, I dunno, jump in, scan, ease up on the engines, jump out of scan range, do a full recharge and then repeat the process until we're finished scanning everything."
There was a pause as the Demeter's team leaders chatted amongst themselves; Greg shrugged after a moment. "I mean, there's nothing saying that we can't. Power balancing will be tricky but if we keep a bunch of he binaries on serious time dilation we should be alright."
"You'll have to forgive me if I get it wrong since I'm not really up to speed on how all your technology works," Nihlus said, "but I thought your phase devices prevented you from...observing? Is that the right word? The, uh, 'normal' world, for lack of a better term."
"It's complicated, but to boil it down we have ways of getting around the limitation," Adams said.
"Hmm. It does leave the Lightspear in an awkward position - we can follow the Demeter around if you give us the all-clear, but there's no way we can follow you into the heart of Nazara's fleet without being detected," Nihlus said, idly tapping a talon on his arm.
"You could stay aboard the Demeter," Miranda offered.
Saren snorted. "Valern'll throw a fit - I guarantee he'll spew something about the dangers of letting an Alliance ship fly without an escort or something."
"That's not a very professional thing to say about your boss," KN noted.
"Valern's not my boss - he's one third of my boss," Saren said nonchalantly. "I'd suggest bringing the Lightspear along as a backup runner-ship, but honestly the Demeter's better suited to that task, too."
"Hmm. I'm not opposed to the idea either; it'd be fairly easy to just have, say, me aboard the Lightspear and have Saren and the rest of my crew stay behind," Nihlus noted, "This might be a bit paranoid, but I'd want to prepare for the worst. Let's say the Demeter is off scouting and the Lightspear is ambushed or attacked by hostiles - I don't want to be unable to get a signal off to you guys just because we're all split up or something."
"We could install a QEC aboard the Lightspear - we can fabricate a single unit, no problem," Adams said. "That'd address the communication problem, at the very least."
"I'd appreciate it," Nihlus replied. "How fast can we have that ready?"
"We did a full restock of fab-fuel on Tohu station so it''ll be fast - maybe an hour or two, tops," an engineer in the back of the room said.
"Do it," Captain ED ordered. "Nihlus, we'll do pre-flight and inventory checks - I know your ship's smaller, so I imagine you have a bit of time to check up on your crew and whatnot. We'll comm you when the QEC's finished printing and we'll go from there."
"Thank you. We'll take our leave," Nihlus said, and Saren followed him back into the elevator and down into the hangar; the hatch lowered for them as they made their way to the belly ramp, and once they were off the ship Saren patted Nihlus on the shoulder as they walked towards the Lightspear, which was docked in the next bay. "You go ahead and check on Raetor and Jaha - Itok, Valtha, Larix and I will deal with ship checks and inventory."
Nihlus said nothing for a moment before staring off into the distance. "Yeah. Yeah, I"ll do that. Thanks."
"No need. See if you can't get him to come - his expertise with the ship is second-to-none, and even with Itok and Valtha helping me the three of us aren't a replacement for his skillset. Not to mention, personally I find there's nothing like work to soothe the mind in troubled times."
"I'm not sure I'd classify vengeance against an ancient, species-slaying spaceship which has killed more than half of your peoples and is raising an army of enslaved AI soldiers as something soothing, Saren."
"I would. Sharpens the brain - gives you laser focus," Saren said, expression oddly neutral. "When you're under combat stress against overwhelming odds, there's no time to worry about how you're feeling."
"You're not exactly what I'd call a good example of the average person."
"I'm not," Saren admitted. "You and I are Spectres - the best of Citadel space. Raetor may not be a Spectre himself, but he's run with one for nearly three years - and, speaking from experience, quarians are tough folk. They've already been through a lot - this'll just make them stronger."
"Straight out of the tough-love Turian Army school of counselling, huh?"
"TA's got to have a good idea once in a while." Saren shrugged.
"What about his sister? After all she's been though, we can't just take away her brother."
"She has Ultina, right?"
"It's not the same, Saren, and you know it."
"I have a brother, you know. If I were in the same situation, I'd understand that sometimes you have to make tough calls. Turian duty might teach us that, Nihlus, but the quarians have learned it by necessity. Now more than ever."
"Alright, alright, you've made your point. I'm not promising anything and you know he has final say," Nihlus said somberly.
"Of course. I'm just asking you to try - I think you'll be surprised at how...resilient most civilians can be."
Nihlus pulled up Raetor in his contact list and called; a few moments later, the message was accepted.
"Nihlus? You're back already?" Raetor asked.
"Yeah. We're about to head back out in a few hours. Wanted to see how you and Jaha were holding up and pay you two a visit."
"Oh, sure," Raetor replied, his tone at once sad, calm and determined. "I've just been staying at Ultina's place - she's out getting groceries but if you'd like we can meet you at Chalua and see Jaha together."
"Alright, sounds good. I'll see you there." Raetor hung up first, and Nihlus sighed as he walked over to the nearest shuttle pad. Raetor and Ultina arrived before him, and when he exited the shuttle and walked out onto the pad he saw them waiting in front of the hospital on a nearby bench.
"Nihlus," Ultina said, waving at him. She clasped arms with him and smiled, stepping aside to gesture at Raetor.
"Raetor, Raetor, it's good to see you," Nihlus said, walking over and pulling Raetor into a hug. "Spirits, man. I know it's only been a few days..." he said, trailing off.
"It's alright, Nihlus, it's alright." Raetor extricated himself from Nihlus, and clasped arms with him. "I'm doing a bit better - still shaken, still upset, but you know what? I think the quarian people are going to bounce back from this," he said with grim determination. "And I'll be there with you to help things along, if that's alright."
"You're sure?" Nihlus asked. "I mean it. If you're not ready-"
"-I'm ready," Raetor said, nodding.
"Your sister?"
"That's the part I'm not ready for," Raetor said slowly.
"It'll be fine," Ultina said quietly. "She's tough - and I'll be around to make sure she's fine."
"I...I don't want to leave her, I won't lie," Raetor said quietly.
"Well, there's no point in us standing out here and guessing what she'll say," Nihlus noted.
Raetor led the three of them into the hospital and after a quick elevator ride they entered the quarian visiting ward; Jaha's room was a small, single-occupancy one, and she was sitting on the bed, staring out of the window. She flinched slightly as she noticed the reflections of Nihlus, Raetor and Ultina, and she spoke without turning around.
"Nihlus. Here to take my brother away?" she said in a flat voice.
"Jah-"
"Fine. Go ahead."
Nihlus sighed and rubbed at his fringe. "Jaha, I'm sorry, but-"
Jaha got up and turned around, cutting him off with a wave of her hand. "I said it's fine."
"Ja," Raetor said quietly.
"What do you want me to say? That I'm happy my brother - my only family until we find mom or her corpse - is leaving me to go fight... I don't even know what you're fighting against! The ship? The ship that just killed half the quarians in the galaxy?"
A long silence.
"Well I'm not happy," Jaha said in a near-whisper, her whole body shuddering and shaking. "I'm not." She looked up at Nihlus and her tone was venomous. "So get the hell out of my room before I change my mind."
Raetor seemed ready to reply, but Ultina grabbed his arm and led him out of the room; Nihlus met Jaha's gaze, unflinching.
"I won't pretend to know how you feel, Jaha. But you have my word that I'll do everything in my power to bring your brother back unharmed."
"You'd better," Jaha said flatly, turning around to face the window again.
Nihlus simply nodded and left the room, meeting Ultina and Raetor outside. Raetor sighed, and shook his head as the door closed behind Nihlus.
"Honestly," Raetor said slowly, "that went a lot better than I thought it would."
"She's a tough woman," Ultina said. "She'll bounce back from this. I know it."
The trio returned to the ground floor of the hospital and made their way outside to the shuttle pad; Nihlus looked back at the hospital, then at Raetor.
"I meant what I said earlier, Raetor," Nihlus said. "If you want to stay-"
"-I don't, Nihlus. My instinct is to stay, sure. But the right thing, deep down - I need to be out there, doing what I can do."
"Mmm. Good. Come on then - we've got to get you up to speed. Ultina?"
"I'll stay for now - Jaha needs someone, anyone," Ultina replied.
"Fair enough. We're getting a QEC unit installed on the ship courtsey of the Demeter - if anything happens, either on the Citadel or in general, you should be able to use the Alliance Consulate's units if the ship's out of comm range."
"I'll keep my head to the ground."
"Appreciate it. All things considered we should be back from our scouting fairly soon. If we're not back in, say, a week, and you can't ping us, you know the codes to my place and the lockboxes?"
"Yeah. I know the drill," Ultina said, nodding. "I'll head back to your place for now, make sure my memory's still good," Ultina said, waving as she got into a free shuttle. "See you guys around."
Raetor and Nihlus rode in silence back to the Demeter's bay; once they arrived, boarded the ship and entered the hangar, Raetor ran over to the rest of the crew, who were working on an exposed section of tubing and circuitry.
"No, no, no, what have you done?" Reator said, gently pushing Saren aside. "The tertiary fuel lines - I wrapped those around the eezo transfer nodes to slow the injection rate by a small amount without electronic control - you can't - ancestors, I leave the ship alone for a few days and you people ruin everything," Raetor said, shaking his head as he flash-fabricated a small set of clamps with his omntiool. "Pressure's gonna be all wrong. Itok, fuel tap, reservoir, and cable guide. Everyone else, out! We have work to do!"
Saren smirked as he watched Itok scurry over to a nearby storage locker and retrieve a handful of items; Valtha grinned at Nihlus and ascended the emergency ladder to return to the main deck.
"Told you," Saren said matter-of-factly. "Laser focus. Nothing like a little stress to get the mind going."
"Don't you go lording this over me."
"Spirits bless, too - we screwed the ship up with only, what, four, five days gone? We needed him. Badly."
"I know, I know."
"Sister's cut from the same stock, Nihlus. Tough people, tougher family, I bet."
"Why are you two still here?" Raetor said, still looking at his work. "Out! Out!" he shouted, gesturing at the elevator.
"Alright, alright, we'll get out of your suit," Nihlus said as he led Saren over to the elevator. "Heads up, Alliance people are bringing the QEC onboard in an hour or so - don't get mad at them if they barge in."
"It's been less than a week, Nihlus - I haven't lost the diplomatic touch," Raetor said as Itok smiled and patted Raetor on the back.
"It's good to have you back onboard, buddy," Itok said.
"Don't you go calling me buddy - I bet you've gone and re-calibrated the guns to favour total output over heat reduction."
Nihlus and Saren chuckled together, the sounds of Itok and Raetor bickering fading away as the doors closed.
February 3rd
Both ships idled next to the Tikun mass relay, Rannoch - and a small number of patrolling Citadel Fleet ships - visible in the distance; the side airlock hatch off to the side of the CIC lit up, and a moment later it hissed open to reveal Nihlus in full combat gear. All of the Demeter's crew within sight stood at attention; Captain ED clasped arms and shook hands with Nihlus once he exited the airlock.
"Why's everyone standing at attention? Last I checked, I'm not Alliance," Nihlus said as he removed his helmet and clipped it to his belt.
"You've shown me the same courtesy and respect on more than one occasion - so it's only fair, as a visiting Captain, that my crew show the same to you."
"Unnecessary as it is, I appreciate the gesture."
Captain ED smiled, and led Nihlus into the cockpit. "Go ahead, Helmsman."
"Lightspear, this is Demeter," Helmsman Goldstein said into his comm unit. "Spectre Kryik is on board and we are ready to jump. Destination is the Dholen relay; we're about to activate stealth systems and will signal on arrival. Do not follow, I say again, do not follow unless the all-clear signal is given. Confirm, over."
"Demeter," Valtha replied, "this is Lightspear. Spectre Arterius is now in acting command. We will stand by and await your signal. If no signal is given within five minutes, we will fall back to staging point two and proceed with contingency one."
"Instructions confirmed. Demeter out." Goldstein leaned back in his chair, and his faceplate light turned off for a moment before shining brightly. "All personnel, stealth drives online in thirty seconds. Engineering to stage one positions and standby." Goldstein's light flickered for a few seconds, and a moment later a panel unfolded from above his seat, revealing a small lever. "Stealth drive online in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, mark." Goldstein pulled the lever and Nihlus watched in astonishment as the ship flashed with the blue-white motes of light that followed every Alliance ship's FTL jumps; a moment later, the lights were gone, replaced with an odd, blue glow which filled the ship.
"Helm, this is Engineering," Chief Engineer Adams said via comm. "Stealth drive stable and holding, capacitors ready for jump."
"All crew, fifteen-jump sequential ready, drives online and green across the board. Stand by, jumping in five, four, three, two, one, mark."
The Demeter filled with the screeching howl of FTL and the view beyond the cockpit was pure, pitch black; Nihlus grit his teeth as the unnatural wave of discomfort washed over him. After what felt like an eternity the noises stopped and the ship was abruptly deposited into normal space again, not far from the system's mass relay. Nihlus stared out of the cockpit, not sure of what he was looking at, then swore loudly as he understood.
The Dholen relay was surrounded by a loose, multi-layer sphere of geth gun platforms and heavily-armed ships, all painted in the black-silver livery of the heretics with their hardpoints deployed and aimed at the space where the Demeter currently was. The Demeter itself was in the middle of what Nihlus guessed was a thick minefield; the ship clipped through the mines as if the traps were nothing more than holograms.
"How - never mind. I imagine the 'how' of this is classified," Nihlus mumbled, looking up at a countdown display which suddenly lit up near GS's consoles.
"Stealth drive still green," Adams said over the ship's comms. "Timer at two hours and fifty-nine."
"I don't know how it works," ED replied quietly, "but it's the only reason why we're not scrap - I won't question it. Helmsman?"
"Signals," Helmsman Goldstein said, nodding. "Message four."
"Understood," Samantha Traynor said from her station behind the cockpit. "Sending 'hostile territory - standby' signal. Reception confirmed, Lightspear holding position."
"Take us out and around the picket," ED said.
The Demeter eased its way through the loose defensive line of heretic ships and beyond the relay; the entire Dholen system was packed with massive clusters of heretic server stations and defense platforms. Endless, swarming lines of tiny transport ships snaked between all three planets in the system and construction yards placed in their orbits, ferrying materials directly to assembly bays and manufacturing stations.
"Scanners online and scan range at maximum," Traynor said, her voice flat. "Legion?"
"This unit estimates roughly two to three hundred ships equivalent to the frigate designation used by the Citadel Fleet, not including ships under construction. Most match IFF designations held by ships previously used to maintain geth defense patrols. Preliminary signals evidence suggests the majority of infrastructure and ships are of geth make, also re-purposed to support the heretics' needs."
"Hmph," Captain ED grumbled, "this isn't the worst case scenario, but it's not good, either. Interstellar Operations could win this fight right now - load carriers up, dummy ships in first to draw fire - but it'd still be nasty, lots of casualties on all sides."
"Still haven't accounted for Nazara," Nihlus noted sourly. "That...thing wiped out more than half the Migrant Fleet with a dozen escorts. I know the Migrant Fleet isn't - wasn't - entirely composed of military ships but thirteen against fifty thousand and nearly coming out on top?"
The cockpit went quiet for a moment as ED tapped the wall next to her for a moment.
"Odd, then, that Nazara's not here. Legion, anything of note?"
"Scans of the ships being constructed in the orbital yards near do not match known designs. We recommend closer analysis."
The Demeter flew closer to the planet closest to the relay, Haestrom, and soon enough the construction yards orbiting the planet came within viewing distance of the cockpit, and the entire ship seemed to fill with gasps and curses as everyone took in the sights. Hundreds of bays housed half-finished ships of all sizes, but all shared similar elements: black-silver frames, and tentacle-like protrusions.
"Spirits," Nihlus said, "They're...they're not building new Reapers, are they?"
Captain ED's eyes narrowed. "They're definitely a lot smaller than Nazara, but even a few dozen gunships with a fraction of Nazara's firepo-"
"Captain, we've got incoming Ark FTL signatures," Samantha interrupted, her voice urgent. "Stand by, six targets, dropping into phase!"
"Received," Goldstein said, eyes flickering at a furious speed as he interfaced with his controls. "Adams, stealth?"
"We're good, we're good, drives are stable," Adams replied. "Phase detection, green and holding."
"Are there any other Alliance ships supposed to be out here?" Nihlus asked, watching as the familiar black-on-black tears appeared in the distance.
"No," Captain ED whispered, as six boxy ships in the Alliance style, all-silver and bearing an all-too-familiar, three-pronged symbol suddenly appeared in the system. "Oh, no."
The Cerberus ships drifted for a few seconds before all turned on the Demeter, and began accelerating.
"Contact, contact, contact, six Ceberus frigates, Dagger class, approaching fast!" Goldstein shouted, pulling the Demeter away from the incoming ships. "How the FUCK can they see us?"
"They're not in phase - it's in ark stealth like us!" Samantha replied. "It's the only way they cou-"
"We'll think about this later! Cyberwarfare, maximum cap! CT, standby to repel boarders! Nihlus, helmet on, get downstairs to deck two and stay with Jane. Miranda, bring my combat rig," ED shouted as Miranda took off at a sprint towards the armoury, Nihlus only a step behind.
"Why the hell aren't we bugging out?" Goldstein said, looking back towards the cockpit at Captain ED.
"Helmsman, Cerberus isn't supposed to be outside Alliance space," ED said, calmly checking her sidearm. "They can see us. And they have stealth tech. An impossible feat - and only the Demeter should have that technology."
"Great! How about we figure that out while we're not in the middle of a damn geth stronghold?"
"Just what I was thinking. Helmsman, five-jump sequential to a random location, please."
"What?"
"GS," ED said, her voice cool. "That was an order."
"Fu- all personnel, stand by for emergency FTL, five jump sequential. Ark Engines stable, jumping in three, two, one."
The ship rocked as it disappeared from the Dholen system and reappeared in a stretch of empty space.
"Jump complete, we're in the middle of nowhere, now what?"
ED simply stared at her console. "I bet they'll follow us." Seconds later, the cockpit crew watched as a lone Cerberus ship emerged from its own black-on-black tears; the single ship angled towards the Demeter, but remained still.
"One ship," Samantha said. "Why one ship?"
"I don't like this," GS muttered. "Smells like a trap, if- wait, what the hell?"
The Cerberus ship flickered for a moment, suddenly shifting from clear visibility into being covered by the stealth drive's blue fog. A small port on the front of the ship opened and ejected two small white flares, and its nose lights began flashing repeatedly, a battery of white and orange.
"What in the actual fuck," GS whispered. "Two whites flares, and white-orange tap? That's-"
"-Cerberus ship is sending surrender codes," Samantha said a moment later. "Wait, what? No, that can't be...no, it is, it's SAAF standard for a surrender. Captain?"
"Gunnery at condition one and standby for weapon lock," ED barked. "Stand by to drop the stealth drive. Traynor, open a one-way burst."
"Ma'am?" GS asked, dumbfounded. "I'm sorry, you want to drop out of stealth?"
"Yes. If that ship can see us anyways, we're just wasting power."
"Understood, Captain," GS said slowly. "Stand by, dropping into realspace," the Helmsman said, flipping the lever above his head. The ship rocked and shuddered for serveral moments; there was a sudden sound, not unlike air being sucked into a vacuum, which echoed throughout the ship as the blue haze receded into nothingness. "Drop complete, power balance returning to combat stance."
"One way burst primed and ready, Captain," Samantha said. "Ready on your mark."
"Unidentified Cerberus ship," Captain ED said in a steely voice, "we see your surrender signal and will accept if you immediately jettison all weapon hardpoints. You will also respond with the correct flare pattern for signal code DCTEN-FIVE-SOLV, and tap code for ICR Nyx. Failure to comply within the next thirty seconds will result in your destruction."
The Cerberus ship's weapon ports opened, and a dozen weapon modules shot out of the ports, drifting off into empty space; at the same time, the ship launched a line of a half-dozen flares of various colours and flashed a complex pattern with its nose lights.
"Identification Call-Response Nyx pattern completed, signal code received," Samantha said uneasily. "Cyberwarfare and Signals estimate that all possible weapon ports on a standard Dagger-class were opened and ejected a weapon module. All signals clear."
ED stood up as she heard Miranda return with a cloak-like module, and stood up as Miranda installed the device into her back; the module slid over ED's body, covering her body with a thick layer of armour and several weapon modules. "Cyberwarfare to maximum capacity - ship hardening at full. Type three barrier communication line - hail our Cerberus friend, please."
"Line's open," Samantha replied a minute later.
ED's console lit up with an Audio Only readout, and her tone was utterly flat. "Unidentified Cerberus ship. Explain your situation at once."
The voice that responded was quiet and soft-spoken, with a distinct Harmony accent - perfect enunciation, like that of a newscaster. "Alliance ship, thank you for accepting our surrender. This is Adeptus-Thaumaturge Major Kaiden Alenko, Captain of the Shield-class Blasphemer, First Thaumaturgy Fleet, Cerberus. Our ship has sustained heavy temporal damage; our residual timeline systems were damaged and our flicker delta is currently at seven thousand out of one hundred. Without being certain of our current situation and standing, I have decided, as leader of the Thaumaturgy One fleet, to offer myself and my ship as a sign of goodwill while our other ships continue to carry out intelligence-gathering operations on the Great Destroyers present in the Dholen system.
ED glanced around as most of the other crew onboard looked around, confused.
"What the hell? This...Alenko guy, his voice kept cutting out. I couldn't make out half of what he said," GS said, face-light blinking in confusion. "Are our systems damaged? And what the hell kind of wingnut names their ship the Blasphemer?"
"No, they're fin- hells, my head hurts - we're all clear on the cyberwarfare front, so I have no idea what's going on," Samantha said nervously. "Captain ED, did you hear all that?"
ED stared blankly at her console for nearly a minute before opening her mouth. "I did." She stared at the Cerberus ship - the Blasphemer - and shuddered, her memory banks stuttering at the memory of what had happened aboard Tohu station. She calmed her processes and gripped her armrest a little more tightly than she had been. "Major Alenko," she said, her mind doing its best to ignore the full title he'd given, "stand by. We will respond with a decision shortly. Our previous mandate stands: any attempts at sudden movement or any action that could be construed as hostile will result in us opening fire. Is that understood?"
"Of course."
"Alliance ship out." ED terminated the link, and spoke via the ship comm. "Pilot Shepard, Titan KN...and Spectre Kryik, please meet me in my quarters at once. Miranda - take over for now, and I'll fill you in once we're done."
"Ma'am," Miranda said, terror leaking out of her carefully-chosen tone.
Captain ED walked slowly towards the elevator that would take her to her quarters, mind racing with an infinity of possibilities all too terrible to truly comprehend.