Chapter 53 - Bit of a Bad Day

Date : 10.30.2172

Location : Arcturus Secure Comm Facility

Hackett

"She's found more of them?!" Given the nature of the captives in cryo, Hackett's not surprised at Asari's tone.

"That is correct. Her initial report indicates another 42 found in stasis. We don't know how many have survived yet." The first batch had some pretty important people. Two asari matriarchs, a salarian dalatrass, a hanar faith keeper, two volus banking executives, two turian legates, and the son of a prominent Alliance representative. With the exception of the batarian slave Shepard was looking after, they'd all either held considerable power at one point or had significant pull with those in power.

"With clear bafflement: why were these people in cryo stasis? For what reason were these pirates holding them whilst demanding no ransom?"

"An excellent question. Not only were there no ransom demands, but there were no attempts to capitalize on their abductions. I have consulted with the Master of Circles and he can think of no practical reason why these pirates would attempt to hold someone with no monetary objective. The only explanation he could conceive of is that these pirates were hired to do so by an as yet unidentified third party." Drell's declaration draws speculation from all corners.

"I can think of a few groups in the Hegemony that would want ranking people from the council races killed, but none that wouldn't try to make a public spectacle of it."

"This is most vexing ksssht. The banking executives would have been worth a substantial ransom ksssht. Why were they simply being held?"

"This one has a theory. With perusal of records pertaining to the rescued individuals, this one's agents have uncovered a common link. Each abductee was at the time of their disappearance, a vocal advocate for improving relations between humanity and the Citadel races. For example, the matriarchs were both campaigning for the establishment of a cross species biotic training program. Their disappearance put that push to an end. The honorable turian legates vanished shortly after they began advocating for larger reparations for those harmed by General Arturius's illegal actions over Shanxi. Even the numinous faith keeper was planning a multi-faith convention to build new ties between races based on common points of ideology amongst various faiths. While we will need to wait for the identification of the Fulcrum's newest rescued persons, this one believes that this batch will be of similar disposition. It would appear that whoever called for their abductions desired a stagnation in relations between humanity and the rest of the galaxy."

"But why? The hegemony I would understand, but who else would possibly want this?"

"Turian supremacists, asari fundamentalists, and any of a thousand other regressive organizations. My people haven't exactly had a passive rise on the galactic scene. We have no shortage of enemies. I recommend we wait until the newest victims are identified before any more speculation."

"This one agrees. Where will the Fulcrum go in the meantime?"

"She's currently escorting over a hundred rescued slaves to the safety of a fifth fleet battle group. Once they arrive, the fleet will take the shuttles onboard and take them to the Citadel. As for the Fulcrum herself, I'm not entirely sure. Apparently she has some new cargo that needs sorting out before moving on, but details are scarce."

Date : 10.30.2172

Location : Pale Horse - cargo bay

Jane

"Just, stay behind them and don't let them do anything rash." Lia nods at her. Jane's nervous about this. She thinks the triplets have some trust in her, at least that's the hope. This is gonna stretch what trust they have to the absolute limit. Kal, Kalia, and Kalen are standing around Century's crate, completely oblivious as to what they're about see. "Okay guys, we've been together for a little bit now, and I'm hoping that'll buy me a little faith from you. But just in case, as your captain, I'm giving you all a direct order. Stay calm, keep an open mind, and do not shoot what's inside this box. Just remember, no matter what you may think of them, the person inside this crate helped on that station. They're the reason we were able to save all those people."

"Don't worry ma'am. We can take it, whatever it is." Kal's confidence spreads to his siblings who nod their own agreement. Keeping hope in her chest, Jane steps to the side of the box and keys Century's comm channel. The crate's doors bloom out, letting Century make his entrance.

"Greetings, we are Century, a terminal of the geth. We look forward to peaceful interaction with the Creators." They react better than she'd feared. Kal immediately goes for his rifle, while Kalia and Kalen both draw pistols. They all start shouting at once.

"GETH! GETH!- CAPTAIN GET CLEAR!- SHOOT IT!" Jane barely gets between them and Century in time. A flash of amber energy blocks their shots.

"All of you stand down right now!"

"But Captain that's-"

"I GAVE YOU AN ORDER! STAND DOWN! NOW!" The surge of power accompanying her order shakes the entire ship. Luckily, generations of living on starships have given the quarians an instinctive respect for the chain of command. The triplets stop trying to shoot, but she can tell that single twitch from Century would be all it would take. "I know this is… odd, but he helped us."

Kal jabs a finger at the geth, "Captain, that… thing, is a geth! It's probably just looking for a way to stab us in the back!"

Century, lacking even Jane's limited social graces, just has to speak, "We do not seek violence against the creators or Shepard Lieutenant. The consensus seeks peaceful interaction. This unit also does not posses any means of inflicting a puncture wound."

"Don't you dare speak machine!" Kal raises his rifle again, intent on putting a dozen rounds in the geth's chest, so Jane decides to put an end to the situation. Before Kal can react, she surges forward to rip the rifle from his hands.

"I gave you an order Kal! Obey or go home, it's your choice." The young man looks from her to century and then back to her. She can hear the growl in his voice.

"Alright. Alright, I'll stand down, but captain… we have to get rid of it. They turned on our people, drove us from our home, slaughtered billions of us! Please, why would you bring that thing on board?!"

"Because he helped us, and he's offered to continue helping us." The triplets are stunned, vacillating between ancestral hatred and youthful curiosity. "Century is coming along for a while."

"Are you insane?" Kalen steps forward, "We can't let it stay here. The geth can hack into almost any network, break through almost any security. It'll take over the ship, blow us out the airlocks the first chance it gets or flood the halls with coolant. There's no way we can just carry on like normal with it here."

"We're not. Kalen, you're going to be learning how to lock down FTL comms to keep him from making any unauthorized calls. Kalia's going to rig a special failsafe on navigation to prevent him from taking control in any way. And Kal, you're going to be running a full battery of tests on the materials he's made of to make sure that if anything does happen, you'll be able to take him down."

Some of the tension bleeds away as the triplets warm up to the ideas. "Those are actually some really good ideas ma'am. Thank you for taking this seriously."

"Don't thank me, thank him." Jane waves back at Century, "Those ideas, he thought of them all."

They all turn to stare at Century, "You? Why would you be giving us advice on how to handle you?"

"Our desire for peaceful exchange is sincere. Shepard Lieutenant made it quite clear that we would be required to make concessions to earn trust. Trust is necessary for a candid exchange of data. Our path is clear. We will expose ourselves to the possibility of harm if the creators will allow us the opportunity to coexist upon this vessel and to make an equitable exchange of data." Jane pats Century on the shoulder.

"So, what do you guys say?" The triplets take a moment to talk on a private comm line. Upon reaching an agreement, Kalen and Kalia nudge Kal forward.

"Okay. If you think this is a good idea captain… then I guess we can give it a shot. But we've got a condition," Jane, already fairly certain what the condition is, gestures for him to go ahead. Kal steps past her to poke a finger at Century's chest, "If you ever do anything to put any of us in danger, no matter the reason, you're scrap. A single scratch, a single burn, anything out of order whatsoever, and I'll put enough rounds in you to turn you to slag, then we'll chuck that slag out the airlock. Got it?"

"We acknowledge this declaration. You should be made aware that Shepard Lieutenant provided a similar ultimatum before allowing us to come aboard this vessel. We predict that any attempt at hostile action on our part comes with a 99.2613% chance that our existence will be terminated. Therefore, we shall endeavor to maintain non-threatening behavioral patterns for the duration of our time aboard."

"I'll be watching you geth." Kal leads his siblings away, leaving Jane to sign in relief. It had gone better than she'd been expecting, what with Century and his node still unperforated.

As the triplets exit the cargo bay, Jane can hear the geth quietly speak, "And we shall be watching you Creator Kal'reegar." Her new crew member turns to her, flexing the metallic flaps around its flashlight head as it processes the entire encounter. "We believe this interaction has been highly successful."

"I'd say so. Just remember, it's going to take a while for you to earn their trust. Don't be nosy, stay away when they tell you to stay away, and never try to break through our security unless prompted for testing. It can take years to build up real trust, but it only takes a single act to destroy it forever."

"Acknowledged." With that, Jane leaves Century to his node.

Date : 2.5.2173

Location : Arcturus Secure Comm Facility

Hackett

"The final checks have been confirmed. All the people the Fulcrum has rescued were heavily involved in improving relations between humanity and the rest of the galaxy. Moreover, their disappearances appear to directly coincide with the rise of several mercenary groups in the Verge, Traverse, and the Terminus. The conclusion our analysts have come to is that whoever was paying for the abductions did so to destabilize the region. We are still unsure if the surge in piracy was the goal or if there is something else to come."

"Whatever the goal might have been, this what does not believe it will come to fruition anytime soon. The relentless Fulcrum has yet to cease her activities, despite nearly 5 months of continuous activity. Human, how many pirates has she been credited with destroying?"

"She's personally responsible for killing at least 600, and when coupled with her crew, that number rises to just over 1100, with nearly 30 raider ships destroyed."

"With overtones of respect: Let us not forget the people she has rescued, nearly 500 total. Cautious optimism: With her help, the piratical threat in the Skyllian Verge is being bled dry."

"Indeed. It's raising some serious noise in the Hegemony. The only reason they haven't tried anything is that she's working her way away from batarian space. Hell if she keeps this up, the Fulcrum will be tearing her way through the Attican Traverse in no time."

"I gotta say human, I'm surprised it took someone as powerful as the Fulcrum to put these pirates down. Why have these animals been given free reign for so long?" Krogan has made a point of needling him at every turn. It wouldn't be so infuriating if he could actually do anything about it. Thankfully, he's not the only one that understands this.

"You can thank the council for that. I have spoken to my people's councillor on the matter. Tevos is under the erroneous belief that a proper show of strength would exacerbate the situation, and she's peddled this idiocy to the other councillors. The threat of sanctions have kept the Alliance from expanding their military to a sufficient degree. Thankfully Diocartus is approaching his retirement."

"True enough. Diocartus was an excellent choice when he was appointed, but his fire has dimmed over the years. I've begun pushing for a replacement that will work towards tighter relations between the Hierarchy and the Alliance. I believe the Imperator will agree with my recommendation."

"Back to the matter at hand, this one would recommend that the Fulcrum be encouraged to take a short recess from her hunt. She may be able to go into near continuous battle with little respite, but it is unlikely that her crew can handle doing the same."

Date : 2.8.2173

Location : Pale Horse - Mid Raid

Kalia

This isn't going well. It's not going well at all. With Jane, Kal, and Lia ripping apart the other ship, John's the only one left onboard with any combat training, but he's down on the crew deck, keeping the pirates from getting to the engine room. Dr. Chakwas, Vollor, and Gavin are with him, while Kalen is with her on the bridge, manning the internal drone controls.

Things had started well enough. They'd been loitering in system, hiding behind an asteroid while they waited for the target to show up. After a couple hours, a single vessel dropped out of FTL, intent on lying in wait for one of the merchant ships that frequented the area. The initial attack went great. Kal had been accurate as ever, blasting the ship's weapons to dust. He was upset that he still hasn't gotten to use the main gun, but the captain was very clear that it was only to be used when absolutely necessary. Once the raider was drifting, they'd followed the usual pattern. Line up with the airlock, cut their way in, and wipe them out. It wasn't until the captain was away that the problems started.

The pirate ship has almost five times as many men as usual, so the captain and the others got bogged down halfway to the bridge. While they were hacking their way through bodies, a couple dozen of the pirates had snuck around to hit the airlock. The airlock barrier held until someone planted some kind of EM charge in front of it. With the barrier broken, Kalen activated the internal drone system. Each drone is pretty weak, but there are dozens of them and they blow up like a small grenade when destroyed. Several pirates are slain but the drones weren't enough to stop them all. A few slipped by to try getting to the engine room. The others kept pushing through the drones to hit the bridge, eventually overwhelming the drone system through sheer bloody mindedness. Kalia can hear them pounding on the door, shouting about all the terrible things they'll do to her once they get it. "Captain! They're at the door!"

"We're almost back! There's a gun under my chair if you need it! Just remember to activate your new servos before you use it!" Captain Shepard had made some basic plating for all of them. Kal's was full combat gear, but Kalia and Kalen got servo plates to assist with ship repairs, or in this case, holding off attackers.

"Kalen! Check under Jane's chair!" Her brother starts trying to open the lockbox under the captain's chair, searching for the gun. He has to use his plasma cutter on the locks when the stress of the situation keeps him from remembering the right codes. Once through, Kalen yanks a massive shotgun out of the case and primes the weapon. "Remember to use your servos for-" The bridge hatch is blown inwards by a shaped charge, barely missing them as it sails by. A huge batarian stomps into the bridge with rifle raised. No more time to think, Kalen points the huge gun and at pulls the trigger at the same time as the pirate. Her brother has always been lucky and that luck holds true as the pirate's shot barely grazes his faceplate. His own shot hits the invader dead center, ripping his torso into bloody ribbons. The recoil from the gun throws Kalen onto his back with a huge cracking noise.

Kalia runs over to him to check, but she can hear someone else coming through the door. A tap on her thigh activates her heavy lifter servos, giving her more than enough strength to lift the huge gun. As the next pirate runs in, Kalia levels the shotgun and pulls the trigger. Even with the servos, Kalia still feels like her arm's been wrenched out of it's socket, leading her to loose her grip. Thankfully her shot was a good one. The pirate's body is thrown back into the hall, minus his head. Painkillers start flooding her body, leaving her a little giddy, but her relief is short lived. Another raider is making his way onto the bridge. The gun is too far away for her to reach as the raider aims at her faceplate. Before he can fire a heavy spanner slams into his head, caving the back of his skull in. "We will not allow you to harm Creator Kalia'reegar."

She'd almost forgotten about Century a few times over the last few months. It stayed out of the way, never tried to get where it didn't belong, and with the exception of the time it accidentally surprised her and she shattered it's eye lens with the very spanner it is currently holding, he never approached without permission. "Century? How did you get up here?"

"There is sufficient space in the ventilation system for us to enter, so long as we disengage all but the most essential components." She only now notices that the geth's internal machinery is completely exposed. The flashlight head snaps back to face the doorway, "Incoming explosive!" A grenade flies through the door to land a few feet away from Kalia. The painkillers have her too dazed to react, but Century doesn't hesitate. Not built for combat, its movements are awkward, clunky even, but it still does the job. The near skeletal geth drops itself down on top of the grenade, curling around the explosive as tightly as possible. Century's body is blown to pieces by the ensuing explosion, scattering scraps all over the bridge. Kalia can barely believe a geth would destroy itself to save her. Before she can start worrying about another pirate coming in, screams start echoing in from outside the bridge. A flash of golden energy fills the doorway, followed shortly thereafter by a severed head sailing through.

To Kalia's immense relief, her captain and brother come through right behind it, bathed in blood and snarling in rage. The screams are gone, but she can still hear gunshots as Jane kneels next to her, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I used that gun and it really hurt… even with the servos. Kalen forgot to activate his so he probably got an even bigger dose of painkillers than I did." Jane hurries over to check Kalen too, breathing a sigh of relief when she gets a pulse, "Captain… Century… He's-" A blast echoes from the lower deck, cutting her off before she can tell Jane what happened.

"Tell me later. Here," Jane hands her a heavy pistol from another hidden compartment on one of the consoles. "Lia, Kal! Stay with them!" Kal pulls her and Kalen behind cover while the asari takes position watching the door as Jane charges out.

Jane

The rage is almost impossible to keep in check. Jane can't believe how careless she has been. The entire thing had been a trap, and she'd lead her crew right into it. It wasn't a particularly good trap, but they'd still been caught flat footed. The cargo holds had been full of signature masked raiders, just waiting for them to charge in. While she'd been slicing heads off, pirates had flooded in behind them, blocking the way back for several minutes. Now Kalia and Kalen are hurt, something's apparently wrong with Century, her ship has been damaged, and there are still intruders attacking her crew. Jane storms down the hall towards the stairs.

Three raiders are at the top of the steps, trying to fire down at someone. Jane doesn't slow her charge at all, simply barreling into the small group. All four of them tumble down the steps, landing in a heap at the bottom. With her bare hands, Jane starts ripping the pirates into bloody chunks, screaming at them in rage the whole time, "You don't get to hurt my friends!" The last of the three dies as she wraps a fist around his spine and tears several vertebrae out in a spray of gore. Jane gets to her feet to hit the only remaining invader but Vollor beats her to it.

"You will not harm this one's honorable shipmates!" The hanar has the last pirate wrapped in four tentacles, two holding his arms at awkward angles and the other two are curled around the pirate's throat. "Know the Enkindler's wrath, you vile brigand!" A small surge of violet energy surrounds his tentacles as Vollor hefts the raider into the air before slamming him back onto the ground head first, splattering his brains across the floor. "This one humbly suggests that you pass into the inferno and dwell there for all time." The sounds of battle fade away, leaving behind nothing but sighs of relief. John is leaning against the bulkhead, struggling get his breathing under control. The rifle in his hands is shaking wildly as the adrenaline starts to drain away. Kal was apparently doing a good job teaching him to shoot though, at least if the dozen bodies crumpled near the steps are any indication. Gavin and the doctor both lower their pistols.

"John go up to the bridge with the doctor. Kalen broke his arm and Kalia may have dislocated hers." John leads Karin up the steps to check on the others as Jane turns to Vollor, "I didn't know you were a biotic Vollor."

"This one does not enjoy using his Enkindler bestowed gifts for such things, but this perfidious invader left this one no choice. With the good captain's permission, this one would enjoy the opportunity to soak in his rest area. This has been a trying day."

"Go ahead Vollor. It's been a crap day all around." Jane leaves him behind and returns to the enemy ship alone, "Lia, I'm gonna finish the sweep with Spits. Watch the airlock for me." It doesn't take long. Most of the pirates are already dead, and this ship doesn't have any slaves or secret compartments. After finishing the sweep, finding nothing of value, Jane has Gavin take navigation for now, "Take us to a safe distance and let's blow that son of a bitch away. I've had enough for today." Once the ship is nothing but scrap, she finally notices a patch of charred metal and wiring on the floor. It looks like someone stuck a grenade in a computer. As she tries to puzzle out what happened, Kalia comes back into the bridge.

"Captain…"

"Do you know what happened here?" She points to the scorched spot on the floor."

"Captain…Century."

"Oh right, there was something you needed to tell me. Where is he by the way?" Kalia stays silent, simply pointing to the blacked spot on the floor. It finally clicks, "Goddammit…"

"I'm sorry captain… he covered a grenade with his body… Century let himself get blown up… just to save my life." Kal steps over and kneels next to the blast site.

"Never thought I'd be thankful for a geth…"

"We acknowledge your thanks Creator Kal'reegar." Kalia jumps as Century's voice booms out of the bridge speakers.

"Century?"

"Yes Creator Kalia'Reegar?"

"I saw you blow up… where are you?"

"We must apologize for creating confusion. Before the explosive destroyed our mobile platform, we transferred ourselves to the storage node located in the cargo bay. We are currently using the ship's intercom to speak to you."

"Was the transfer complete? Did all of you make it?"

There's a slight pause. When century speaks again, his voice is much quieter, "Unfortunately no. The transfer process suffered a .21 microsecond disruption. This disruption caused slight data corruption. 12 runtimes were irrevocably damaged during transfer. We were forced to... delete them... to prevent further damage. As a result, we are diminished. We apologize if our efforts to preserve your runtime were insufficient Creator Kalia'reegar."

"You sacrificed part of yourself to save me? Why would do that? Why would a geth give up so much for a quarian?"

A short blurt of static comes from the speakers before Century responds, "We have no desire to see the Creators harmed. Shepard Lieutenant made it clear that we would likely be called upon to make sacrifices to prove our peaceful intentions. To that end consensus has been reached. We are willing to sacrifice ourselves to preserve the Creators." The triplets are completely silent, blown away by the idea that a geth would ever willing lose part of itself to save a quarian.

"Thank you Century… Maybe… maybe we could start trusting you a little bit more." The triplets leave the bridge to get to work.

"Alright Century, I need the intercom for a bit."

"Acknowledged. Intercom ready for ship wide broadcast."

"Okay everybody. We're pretty much done in this sector. Once the bodies are disposed of and the damage is taken care of we'll take it easy for awhile. There are a few smaller jobs we can take care of before hitting anything big. Let me know if there's anything you need. Let's get to work." Jane hits a button on her chair to shut down the intercom, "Century."

"Yes Shepard Lieutenant?"

"Please, for the thousandth time, just call me Jane."

"Acknowledged Shepard Jane."

Growling in defeat, Jane plows on, "Can we get you another platform? Or are you stuck in the node from now on?"

"Acquisition of a new mobile platform would require a significant investment of time and effort. It would be more efficient if we were to remain inside our node and use the comm array to exchange data with you." Kalen comes up to the bridge, arm wrapped and painkillers flowing.

"You might wanna shut off the intercom ma'am. You're broadcasting all over the ship." Jane looks down at the panel, only now noticing the shard of shrapnel stabbed into the side. She rips open the panel and runs a temporary patch before hitting the control again. Jane gets a clear signal as Kalen speaks again. "I heard what were saying about Century. If it really lost so much to save Kalia, then I might be willing to help you out right now."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I've been studying Century's node for a while now. I think I can make a smaller version of it. If you'll give me your omnitool and your chestplate for a few hours, I'm pretty sure that I can incorporate a mobile node into your armor." She likes the idea. Century has proven extremely useful for data analysis, and he was better at hacking into computers than any of them. If she can take him along, he'll be a hell of an asset in the field.

"Does that sound good to you Century?"

"The idea is intriguing. We acknowledge and accept Creator Kalen'reegar's offer of assistance." With that, the whole crew gets to work. The bodies are first on the to do list. Jane helps Gavin and John strip the bodies down. There is some decent gear to salvage, but most of it goes into the fabricator to be broken down into omnigel. After taking all the gear, they space the bodies. The damage is relatively minor but it still takes several hours to finish repairs, giving Jane plenty of time to send one of her occasional reports to Anderson. He and the admiral constantly badger her to keep them up to date. She'd eventually started writing after engagement reports just to shut them up. Less than 10 minutes after transmitting the information, Century comes over the comm, "Shepard Jane, there is an incoming communication for you from Alliance commander Anderson." Jane routes the transmission to the vid screen next to her chair.

"Hello Anderson."

"Hello Shepard. I understand you had a bit of a rough day."

"Nothing too serious. We'll be underway soon enough."

"Glad to hear it. The reason I'm calling is because something has occurred to me. You and your crew having been working non stop for damn near five months. I think it would be a good idea to take a break for a while, maybe get some rest on the Citadel."

"We're okay Anderson. Why would we need to stop?"

"Look Shepard. You might be able to keep diving into battle non stop pretty much indefinitely, however most people can't. Things might seem fine to you, but I'd be willing to bet that your crew is starting to wear a little thin. Even if you don't need a break, it would still be a good idea to give them one every now and then."

"I… I hadn't really thought of that. Kinda feel like an idiot now."

"This is your first true command Shepard. There's a hell of a learning curve. I've got another idea if you're interested. You might consider expanding your team. The people you've got now may be good, but you should rotate them out of combat every now and then. It'll help them avoid burning out."

"That's probably a good idea. Is there any chance I can get my fireteam from bootcamp?"

"I figured you'd ask for them. I'm sorry Shepard, but fireteam Toombs is doing good work as part of the 186th orbital assault group. Toombs himself has already made corporal, got a good future ahead of him. I have a few alternative candidates if you'd like to hear them."

"Actually, there is one other person I'd like to have, someone I met a long time ago, before I even met you. I looked him up after coming to the Alliance. He joined up a few years ago and I've been keeping track of him ever since." She transfers the file to Anderson.

The commander spends a few minutes looking up the marine in question. "Looks good Shepard. Sterling service record, commendations for bravery and daring, excellent biotic and tech skills. It'll take a month or two to get him for you. Can you be at the Citadel on or about the 13th of April."

"I think we can manage that. There are a few little things I want to take care off before we come in. Mostly just a few satellites to blow up. Once that's done, we'll take a break for a couple days."

"Glad to hear it Shepard. Good hunting, Anderson out."

Date : 3.30.2173

Location : Torfan

Taracus

He shoves his way through the fanatics waiting outside the boss's office. Jortan is standing by his window, looking out over the ever expanding fortress. Work never stopped. They had room for thousands of soldiers, slaves, and room for colossal amounts of stolen loot. Things were really looking up for the Wake, at least they were until the monster had started slaughtering everyone in the Verge. They've gotta do something. Taracus has been shifting men and material around to try and coordinate a defense, but she moves like a ghost. They'll need someone a little more experienced than him to take her on.

Taracus takes a spot a few feet behind Jortan, saluting smartly. His boss has changed over the years. He has a few paper thin cybernetic tendrils here and there, and lately his eyes have occasionally flashed blue. His fanaticism is growing too. He's utterly convinced that the bitch is a demon, and it's slowing their growth. At least the new guys are loyal to an insane degree. "Sir, she's destroyed another comm array. That makes four in a month." Jortan doesn't answer. "Sir… we have to do something. If we keep waiting like this, she'll bleed us dry. The Verge is almost completely empty of guys loyal to us. We need to do something."

"Don't worry brother Taracus. All is as it should be. We walk upon the path of destiny and her death is assured. You merely need to have faith." He about to try arguing but Jortan turns to face him. Thankfully the blue glow is absent. It unsettles him to see the changes taking place, "If you truly believe you must act, you have my permission to petition our friend in council space for aid. However it will do no good. He will accept, but will not be able to stop her. It is not his destiny." Jortan turns back to the window, effectively dismissing Taracus without speaking.

He leaves to get the ball rolling. Their friend in council space had worked with them for years, keeping the human's down as much as possible. While his help was expensive, he could accomplish anything. Even though it'll take awhile to get the ball rolling, he's confident it'll be worth it in the end. After all, she might be able to slaughter pirates, but a spectre was another beast altogether.