Chapter 51-Omnissah's Judgement

Kullas had been in a trance for several hours now. In the Council Chamber he stood, fingers splayed gently over the holographic display before him. It was a large thing, reams of data written in some tongue that no living linguist could understand scrolling across the hovering light. Charts showing information unbeknownst to all but Kullas were on display, lines and bars fluctuating as statistics and figures changed by the moment.

A gentle litany of binaric chattered from his position as he communed with the ancient machine spirit of the massive station, attuning his very being with the intelligence that controlled the structure. Through its mechanical mind he travelled, his own consciousness seeming vastly insignificant in comparison to that which governed the Citadel, but despite this, even more powerful; the Citadel may have been ancient and constructed by artificial intelligences, but Kullas was both organic and machine, supported by the knowledge of the Adeptus Mechanicus and far greater than the sum of his parts.

Ancient security systems rose up to confront him as he pushed further and further into its mind, but he simply bypassed them, trapping them in reams of data that confounded them and allowed him access with ease. Alerts were caught before they could be sent, and one by one Kullas moved across the system, dealing with each and every measure the Citadel's security tried to halt him with one by one, slowly but surely forcing it to comply with his will. Life support was found, and at strategic points he vented atmosphere, or altered the gravity to crush enemies and topple buildings upon them. Every auxiliary system that was used to maintain every day living on the station became his to view and command as he pleased, and soon enough, as the very last of the station's programming came under his control, Kullas found what he was looking for.

"Brother Captain," he announced to Malleus, who was waiting patiently behind the Forge Priest for him to finish his work. "I have our generators. We are ready."

#

The plan had changed somewhat. Instead of setting up generators at the tips of the arms, Kullas had simply located ones already there and, with his newfound mastery of the Citadel's systems, taken control of them. One was a power source for the maglev railway system that ran throughout the Kolaera arm, the second a ship's drive core in Cord-Hislop Aerospace's shipyard on the Citadel, hooked up to the station's grid for testing. The third was part of the experimental Light Herathon Collapser facility, the massive power draws needed for the experiments on the quantum particles resulting in it needing its own, independent substation. The fourth was drawn from the generators in the Eezo refineries at the end of the Zakera arm, but the fifth lacked any that was situated close enough. Instead, the Normandy now clung to the tip of the arm, cables tapping into the power grid and stealth systems activated, awaiting Kullas' signal.

There was a faint humming sound as the Forge Priest stepped along the gantry of the landing bay he had chosen as his firing station. His bionic eye glowed like some ruby as he kept a remote link to the vast network of the Citadel's systems, ready to command and channel, the advanced cybernetics working to their limit in order to contain and control the colossal amounts of data flowing through his systems.

He stepped to the very end of the platform, raising the weapon and sighting down into the void, looking through the advanced sights of his bolter in search of his target.

"Brother Captain, are you in position?" he asked across the Vox.

"Aye," Malleus said. "We're ready to defend the shipyard."

"The mag-lev's secured," Ashley added on the channel.

"And we're dug in on the Collapser," Samara said. "We're ready for anything."

Kullas nodded.

"EDI, is the Normandy ready?" he said.

"It is," EDI replied. "Beginning system interface now."

Kullas grimaced as he felt the AI's digital consciousness slide into his own, systems intermingling in preparation. He was almost at full capacity now, the being of the Normandy his to observe along with that of the Citadel, and he began to worry that he was going to have to commit the unthinkable act of overclocking simply so he could aim straight.

He freed up CPU by releasing control over some of the Citadel's minor automatic systems and ending a few life support processes in enemy-controlled territory, he picked his target. Hyper-enhanced, bionically augmented eyesight saw through the thousands of miles between the Citadel and the besieging fleet, picking out his target despite the distance.

"Second Lieutenant Williams," he said into the vox suddenly. "I believe there is a legend in the religious canon of the Abrahamic faiths of an individual who killed a giant with a stone from a sling, correct?"

"David and Goliath, yeah," Ashley said.

"Indeed," Kullas said. "I believe I am about to put him to shame."

And with that, he fired.

The first shell of the magazine of adamantium-cored Kraken bolts was struck from the rear by the hammer, the firing pin activating the propellant and sending it moving at a speed of just over two thousand metres per second. Within a third of a second, it was seven hundred metres from him, and it was then that the mass effect generators activated. Lightning crackled into it from the tips of the five arms, catching the shell and sending the one and a half kilogram shell moving at a speed of two hundred and eighty five million metres per second, a speed that bent and warped the very fabric of reality around the bullet.

The shell hit its target with a gigaton of force, ripping through the shields and into the hull of the Reaper. The sheer power of the impact warped its armour, crushing it in on itself as the sheer frictional force of adamantium against whatever dark metal made the dreadnought up generated heat to melt both to atoms. Even with a tonnage in the millions, the massive ship was sent moving, gently drifting away with an immense hole punched into it, internal mechanisms completely ruined by the hit.

Across the Citadel, lights dimmed and machinery powered down, the energy draw demanded by the firing draining everything else. After a moment, electricity returned, and Kullas nodded as he mentally looked through. Even with safety parameters on the power draws bypassed, the generators were still able to fire.

A second shot screamed free of the Citadel, the red-shift effect on the shell leaving a crimson trail in the eye that faded from view, another Reaper struck down. The three remaining ships began to flee, but Kullas simply adjusted his aim, calculating their position in regards to their speed, and fired. The lights on the station grew dim once more as a third Reaper died, and Kullas checked the systems. Still able to work.

"Brother, we've got enemy forces on our position," Malleus' voice warned across the vox, the sound of gunfire faintly audible in the background. "You may wish to hurry up the ship elimination."

"Understood, Brother Captain," Kullas replied, carefully aiming. He fired once more, and a split second later the shell hit a Reaper with the force to crack a continent, the shell ripping through its hull and crushing it in on itself.

He could see warning signals beginning to come through, and EDI chimed; "We will need time for the generators to cool."

"We will not have it," Kullas replied, seeing the Reaper beginning to hew towards the Citadel in a desperate bid to try and halt the horrifying weapon. "In the Omnissah's name, I strike ye down, scum!"

The shot was accompanied by a distant explosion, and the entirety of the Kolaera arm blacked out, but his mission was complete. Kullas' arm dropped as the final Reaper was near-obliterated, smashed into debris, and he diverted power to the arm before he released control over the Citadel's computer systems, pausing only to divert power to the arm along backup cables.

"What just happened?" Ashley's voice came in from the vox. "The place just went up in flames."

"Apologies, Second Lieutenant," Kullas said. "I miscalculated the effects of the power draw. Are you injured?"

"We're fine," Ashley said. "Still, I've a weird sight over here."

"What's that?" Malleus asked.

Even across the vox, Kullas could tell she was smiling as she said; "We've got ourselves a whole load of surrendering Batarians."

She laughed.

"It's a sight for sore eyes, believe me."

#

The Batarian delegation that had been sent out to parley with the forces defending the Citadel ring were understandably nervous as Malleus met them at the base of the tower. Some two hours had passed, the time filled with the threat of Kullas firing once more on the Batarian fleet. The four-eyed aliens had fallen back to their more heavily dug in positions while Malleus had warned across all radio channels that the Forge Priest was prepared to cast his judgement upon the fleet once more. That was an out and out lie, but with the unstoppable power that he had at his disposal not one of the aliens was prepared to call his bluff.

The final Reaper soldiers had fought to the last, either unaware or uncaring of their controllers' demise, but with the Batarians gone and the determination and resolve of the beleaguered C-Sec forces boosted by their unexpected victory they were dealt with without much difficulty. The Yahg had been more stubborn, but without support they were eventually forced back.

One of the Batarians that was to meet Malleus stepped forwards, this one one of the few not wearing some kind of military uniform; instead he wore a suit.

"You are in charge here?" Malleus asked.

"I am, yes," the Batarian replied. "Prime Minister Thallen of the Batarian Hegemony."

"And you were the one who joined the Reapers in alliance?" Malleus said.

"We were forced into it," Thallen said. "We had little choice."

Malleus nodded, before his submachine gun unfolded in his hands, and he said; "Then by the authority granted to me as senior commander in the Council military I find you guilty of supreme treason against life itself, and sentence you to death."

Before the alien could try to flee, the weapon chattered in his hands and the Batarian fell to the ground, limp and lifeless.

"Who is second in command here?" Malleus demanded, stepping forward with the firearm still held in his hands. There was a silence. "Well?"

"That would be me," one of them said, this one wearing some kind of general's uniform. "Are you going to shoot me too, then?"

"Not necessarily," Malleus said. "Though considering the circumstances under which we meet, I am sorely tempted."

To his credit, the Batarian held his ground, and asked; "What do you want?"

"An answer," Malleus said. "What motivated you to join the Reapers?"

"We were forced into an alliance at gunpoint," the general replied. "It was either join them and be spared or have every Batarian in the Hegemony killed. We had no choice."

"You had the choice of not collaborating with the greatest monsters to ever crawl into galactic history," Malleus said. "You had the choice of not causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, on this station. You had the choice of acting with honour and not spiting our collective foe."

"That's preposterous," Batarian snapped. "Our people would have been killed."

"They would be killed anyway," Malleus answered. "When we face the Reapers, either we fight, or we die; it is as simple as that. Perhaps we will die when we fight, but at the very least we will go down with glory. At the very least, we will have taken a stand. Because the Reapers are not creatures that make deals, they are not creatures that act mercifully, they are not creatures that keep promises. Their entire purpose of being is to serve only themselves, without regard for others, and you made the mistake of joining them. And look what that has led to."

The Batarian simply looked at him, unreadable black eyes trying to size up the Astartes' glacial countenance, before it said; "What do you want."

"I am going to offer you redemption," Malleus said. "Either you join me and the rest of galaxy in the fight against the Reapers, or you die. Either by the hands of the Reapers, should they succeed in vanquishing the Council's forces, or through the efforts of an extremely angry galaxy that will no doubt see you as traitors."

"We could still take this station, you know," the general replied.

"Kullas can eliminate your fleet from here, and then you would have to deal with me," Malleus replied. "You and I both know that trying such a thing would be pure foolishness."

The Batarian nodded.

"I can't argue with that," he said, shaking his head. "Fine, Scandarum, we'll fight for you, so long as you don't kill us all."

Malleus nodded, before he said; "Provided you don't give me cause to, I won't."

"Glad to hear that," the general said.

"Good," Malleus said. He smiled wryly. "Now I simply need to deal with the Yahg."