Sorry for the late chapter. I'm doing research for the next one. The subject: gamma radiation and antimatter annihilation.
On a related note: did you know that lightning storms can generate gamma rays? Something to think about next time you find yourself flying through a thunderstorm.
EDIT: Thank you, deitarionSSokolow, for pointing out my error regarding gravity waves. I had been operating under an outdated assumption, and we all know what happens when you assume.
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Chapter Forty-nine
2190
Citadel, Council Chambers
Sparatus spared a glance at the exoskeleton-clad C-Sec officers before pushing through the door. It was such a waste of time and resources, in his opinion, to outfit them with that kind of equipment. Past events aside, the Citadel was not a warzone. Of course, try telling that to Irissa. He shook his head as the door closed behind him.
While he had an inkling of what was on the agenda today, it was still an unwelcome sight to see Councilor Valern in the company of another salarian that he detested. Dalatrass Linron. He could not for the life of him imagine a more self-serving individual. Since Tevos's death and Irissa's ascension, the Dalatrass had been slowly acquiring the political capital to depose Valern's seat and replace him with a puppet of her choosing. The salarian councilor had seemed, if anything, resigned to letting it happen.
"And so the last guest arrives," the Dalatrass drawled. "Now we can get started."
Irissa merely nodded a greeting as he approached. "Let's just get this over with," the turian grumbled, shooting a glare at the salarian woman.
"Councilor Valern, you are hereby relieved of your position as the representative of the Union. Your replacement, Councilor Isheel, will be arriving shortly."
"On behalf of the Republics, I would like to thank you for your selfless service to the galaxy, and I wish you the best in your future endevours." Sparatus mentally snorted, certain that the words burned Irissa's throat in transit. The asari had made no secret of her disdain for the "appeaser" of the Alliance. He had no doubt that she actually wished he would suffer a horrific death rather than a nice calm retirement.
"As does the Hierarchy. Your insight will be missed."
Valern nodded in acceptance, and the short little ceremony was over. The aides with the cameras left the room, and Sparatus turned to walk back out. He was mildly surprised that Valern moved to join him.
"Why didn't you fight for your seat?" he asked.
"Because there would have been little point," the salarian replied. "My position was tenuous even before Vyrnnus killed Tevos. With Irissa and the Republics providing backdoor support, it was only a matter of time."
"Yeah, well now I'm the only one left to reign the Council in," Sparatus pointed out. "Unless I'm mistaken, Isheel and Irissa have no idea the realities that our soldiers would face in the field, or any extended experience with the Alliance."
"Which is exactly why Primarch Fedorian has refused to cave to Irissa and the Dalatrass's demands to replace you," Valern countered with an amused smirk as the turian eyed him with surprise. "Just because I didn't fight my replacement doesn't mean I have given up. More than anything else, I want you to know that you are the last bastion of sanity on the Citadel. No matter what, you can't leave now. The alternative is to move into open war with the Alliance. And you know as well as I do how such a venture will end."
The turian smiled ruefully. "Nice to hear you have confidence in my position as the sole voice of reason. I don't have much hope that I can convince Irissa to lay off."
"You have Matriarch Aethyta as an ally."
"Really? Isn't she Irissa's primary backer?"
"Have you ever heard the saying 'you can trust your enemies, but not your allies?' My sources in the STG tell me that she is more interested in deescalating tensions. For example, I have it on good authority that she has been bankrolling a number of the talking heads on the Extranet that are screaming about how the Alliance is manipulating us from behind the scenes."
Sparatus frowned. "Why the hell would she do that if she's trying to lower tensions?"
"She's thinking in the long term," Valern answered simply. "The more time passes where these people rail against the humans without anything happening, no conflicts or incidents, the more the people will disregard them, and public opinion will start turning against the warmongers. She's propping them up as a visible contrast to reality. The average person out there can see that things are not as bad as they imply. That and the strain on families and our economy will dampen public support for military mobilization when the threat doesn't materialize. Or that's the theory." The salarian snorted. "I am not quite so confident."
"Talk about a complex gambit," the turian breathed, rubbing his forehead before a thought occurred to him. "Is that why you proposed that the Alliance close their embassy and make arrangements through Shanxi?"
"I thought it would further undercut any efforts to play agent provocateur with the Alliance."
"So you've known about this from the beginning."
"I suspected," the salarian corrected. "Aethyta has also gathered an astonishing array of allies back on Thessia, including many who would normally oppose her just on principle. Naturally, the STG has yet to determine the details, but the way they all jumped to support her the very same day she announced her sponsorship of Irissa's seat makes me suspect some form of leverage. This flies in the face of her past activities. She withdrew from Thessian politics almost two hundred cycles ago, and has mainly spent time as a dancer, mercenary, and bartender, in that order. It would be understandable if she had information on a few matriarchs, but so many at once?"
Sparatus shrugged. "Maybe she saved up a lot of money to buy the information from the Shadow Broker."
"Unlikely. Such a heavy reliance on one source of information could be crippling."
"Well do you have any other theories?"
The salarian shook his head. "Admittedly, no. But I digress. The reason for this talk is to make sure you are aware of your current position of influence, and to tell you to seek out allies. You were a soldier, and you have been a fine politician thus far. But now you will need to step up your game."
"Sir," a C-Sec guard approached. "Councilor Isheel's transport has arrived."
Valern sighed. "Well, this is goodbye. I wish you luck."
Sparatus waved as his former associate left, and then began going through his list of contacts. He had gotten the message loud and clear. His first call would be to the Primarch. Time to get to work.
Bahak
Scattered throughout the system were various probes. Particularly expensive ones that communicated with a transmitter hidden in a free-floating asteroid. They had been planted a few years prior for a singular purpose, one that they would fulfill today.
The probes were run by mere subroutines. Through quantum-entanglement pairs, they formed an instantaneous sensor net that stretched across the entire star system. Around the entire galaxy, there were several more networks like this one. Each positioned to cover the entire system they resided in.
And each in a system inhabited by a Mass Relay.
To destroy a relay was unthinkable to most. For the majority, it was a question of sheer size. A fifteen-kilometer structure of supremely durable material would qualify as functionally indestructible to the layman. For others, it was a matter of sanity. At the center of that massive night-indestructible construct was an extremely energetic core operating at critical capacity and somehow sustaining itself without any known input source. Even the brightest minds in the galaxy could not understand the mechanism, but it was no great stretch of intellect to understand that the rest of the relay functioned to keep the energy in the core safely contained and usable.
Any potential compromise of the structure could release it all at once. In purely energetic terms, the yield would be horrific. Even more so if the relay was in the process of accelerating a spacecraft to beyond relativistic speeds across the galaxy. But the energy of the core also affected the very fabric of space-time. When taking that aspect into account, a few of those bright minds believed it could greatly expand the damage radius of the explosion. Potentially, the entire star system would be forfeit, along with every inhabitant.
Which was exactly what those minds wanted. Which was why the relays had been subtly altered, sabotaged, to fail on command in the worst possible way. Which turned the entire star system, with its sensor net and relay, into a gigantic trap.
One of several star-system sized traps lain on the edges of the galaxy to cause tremendous damage to the enemy. And that enemy was about to arrive.
There was another side to the insidious strategy, one that predated the star system's self-destruct and that of its cohorts. Immediately after the Alliance had learned of the Citadel Races and their heavy reliance on the Mass Relays, Cerberus had gone into overtime, sending out scads of agents to covertly map out the Citadel's network as well as lay the groundwork for a reconnaissance network the likes of which would utterly terrify the Citadel races.
The Salarians had once considered establishing something similar. They had even implemented a much cruder and slower version during the Krogan Rebellions by stationing ships near the relays. Most remained hidden while one was always within thirty seconds of leaving via the relay to alert the turian fleets to oncoming Krogan marauders. The makeshift network saved many worlds and countless lives, but the fact had remained that it was reliant on people, and communication was delayed.
The Alliance network, by comparison, literally spared no expense. This fact was unknown even to the Alliance itself, save for those who served two masters. It was also far larger than the Alliance was aware of. Through the efforts of those two-faced individuals and the second party, the network had been completed far ahead of schedule. Numerous powerful sensor banks had been integrated into every known Mass Relay and linked to a supercomputer that could map and analyze all traffic through the relays by matching ship signatures from one set of sensors (at the departure point) to another (at the arrival point). Literally no one could use the Relay network without the knowledge of the operators.
Of course, the network had limits. It would not know the identities of ship owners, passengers or pilots, nor could it determine cargo, point of origin, or final destination. But it could enable strategically placed interceptor units to pounce on any area of the network and make short work of the target.
The cost of the entire project was mind-bending. One accountant had estimated it to be the value of every ounce of real estate on planet Earth. Twice over.
But Donovan Hock considered it money well spent.
Unknown space
Hermann Ubrect sighed and tossed his hand on the table. "I fold."
One of the hidden station's engineers across the table grinned and swept the pile of chips toward himself. "Ye really should have kept it, laddie."
"Yeah, just you wait," the Cerberus agent muttered, taking a dagger and idly flipping it around in an impressive display of dexterity before sheathing it again as the dealer shuffled. "I'll get you on my next break."
He stood up as a new round of cards was dealt, and walked toward his post.
"Three twos, a jack and a six, eh?" Hislop smirked, drawing an unimpressed look.
"Like that's a brilliant deduction for you when you've hacked into the breakroom cameras."
"Hey, Lars was right. You should have held out."
"Bragging rights got old real fast once it sank it that I'm stuck here for about another four years," Ubrect replied, deadpan, "ever since Miranda Lawson up and vanished."
Hislop's face turned serious. "She hasn't found out where Lawson went?"
"The director reassigned her to Admiral Hackett, and even he doesn't know where the woman went to ground."
"Well, you're in the right place to catch her if she uses the relays."
"Only if someone identifies her before that. But she was trained by the best. She's not going to be that easy to track down."
A loud chirping came from the computer terminal as a message appeared onscreen.
"Huh? Activity in the Bahak system?"
Ubrect smiled. "Finally, we can give the Reapers a proper welcome.
Bahak
At the edge of the net, distant signatures were coming into view. They were approximately twenty light-hours away, but that simply meant they would be physically present soon.
Since the Alliance had gotten their hands on the Leviathan of Dis, moles from within had constructed a signature profile that the computer would match up against other Reapers. Given the nature of the ancient ship, it was not perfect. Later on, the computer would be discovered to have only found a 63% match on characteristics with any of the Reapers. But it would suffice.
They came as a massive host. The number of signatures quickly reached triple digits. Roughly thirty peeled off from the mass, sailing through space at breakneck speed toward Aratoht, and easy batarian prey.
The rest eagerly swarmed towards the relay. The ancient machine powered up and began to fling the Reapers into the galactic interior, one by one. Meanwhile, the glut of newcomers grew. Nearly four hours after the initial sighting, the system was packed. But now the numbers ceased to grow.
And now the signal arrived. A small adaptive program had analyzed the relay's energy signature under operation, building a model and tweaking it so that it could properly time the detonation signal for the hidden explosives to destabilize the relay's core at the point of maximum yield. With the authorization signal, the program was fully released to fulfill its purpose.
The most unfortunate Reaper in the galaxy moved forward to take its turn, and a tendril of Dark Energy curled off the ancient machine, almost like an alien limb, readying a throw. But then the explosives detonated, severing an armature and causing its contribution to the containment field to dissipate. Old programmed countermeasures activated, diverting a not-insubstantial amount of power to increase the strength of the other field armatures to contain the energy. But it was too late.
A new stream of Dark Energy speared from the core, blasting the Reaper straight on the front glacis of its hull. The chaotic energies wreaked havoc on the material, causing the machine to "bubble" in the very brief remnants of its existence before it was imploded and shot away from the relay.
Meanwhile, the energy lost in that small jet was but a drop in a vast ocean compared to what the increasingly strong magnetic containment field was struggling to hold back. But the laws of physics demanded failure, and with a silent groan, they did.
The tremendous current running to the armatures found a slight imperfection in the conduits that increased its local resistance just a bit more than the rest of the connection. At normal load, it would have been negligible. But now at nearly thirty times the operating current, it caused a significant temperature gradient that was enough to reach the melting point. The line severed itself, and suddenly, the current had nowhere to go.
Except where it was never meant to. The current shorted into the ancient machine's chassis and hull, traveling across to various other conduits at the speed of light, causing a near instantaneous failure of all the subsystems.
And finally unblocking the core and all of its pent-up energy.
There are few things in the universe of regular physics that are faster than light. The propagation of gravity waves through the fabric of space time, under the influence of the Mass Effect, is one of them. Thus, by the time the mass of Reapers near the relay visibly saw the core containment failure, they were already in the process of being destroyed, crushed in on themselves by a gigantic spike of Dark Energy that roiled outward, snuffing out everything in its path.
Literally, the Reapers closest to the relay never saw it coming.
The wave continued traveling, sweeping across the five planets in the system and wreaking havoc as it passed. The inhabitants of the sole colonized planet were crushed to a pulp against the surface of the planet, dying instantly. They would be lucky. And then the blast wave reached the system's sun.
The impact compressed one hemisphere, pressurizing the stellar core as it passed through the chromosphere and the convection zone. The star deformed into an ovoid around the core as the wave struggled mightily against the sheer mass of degenerate hydrogen. Then, like a rubber band, the mass snapped back. But not before the pressure around the stellar core dropped below the critical point. And the core popped like a water balloon.
The effect was catastrophic. Nearly one eighth of the material was suddenly free, spewing out back in the direction of the now non-existent relay as a massive jet of plasma, accompanied by an explosion of gamma rays, that fried three of the planets and stripped off their atmospheres. The rest of the core was propelled in the direction of the blast back into the rest of the star's material. Meanwhile, the trough of the gravity wave hit, reducing the effect of gravity as it passed through the star. Now, the force that used to hold the star together was effectively non-existent. And all the energy still remaining inside was unleashed.
The star exploded, finishing off what was left of the star system and the Reaper host still inside. The rest of the machines froze in Dark Space as they felt the cessation of one tenth of their number. Then, frantic notifications flooded in from their brethren, trapped deep inside the galaxy, of ambushes by human craft. Alliance craft.
And now the picture became clear. And a host of machines began plotting revenge.
2191
The galaxy discovers that the Bahak System, home to approximately three hundred and five thousand Free Batarian citizens, has suddenly become inaccessible. As Citadel science crews rush in, their instruments detect a massive gravity wave that is far too large to be a natural occurrence. Rapid efforts to triangulate the origin of the wave place it approximately where the Bahak Relay was. Upon arrival at the edge of the system, a journey that ends almost three months after the initial discovery, the first ships were overwhelmed by cosmic radiation, with almost three entire crews succumbing to acute radiation exposure despite the shielding of the craft. Further attempts to explore the system are cut short by reports of other planets dropping out of contact around the Viper Nebula.
Various human colony planets in the Terminus system suffer total devastation. Initial reports determine the weapon damage to be very similar to that caused by the Saren Dreadnought. STG scouts describe the sites as reminiscent of a retaliation strike.
Eden Prime, Landing Area
"Thank you major," a militia general said as the two asari and their escort approached.
Liara looked around as her mentor strode forward with a smile and an extended hand. "Hello," Doctor Gen'aris greeted the officer. "I assume you're in charge around here?"
"You assume correctly," the man smiled. "General Oleg Petrovsky, militia commander of Eden Prime. And I assume that both of you are familiar with Captain Kaidan Alenko?"
"Afraid I'm not," the doctor replied. "Should I be?"
"He is one of Shepard's officers," Liara explained, drawing a knowing smirk from the other asari.
"Once upon a time, Doctor T'Soni," Kaidan corrected her. "I was detached from her command, and now I have my own duties. Today, I'm your lead escort while you're here on the planet."
"Well at least we have a handsome face to look at," Gen'aris noted with a sultry grin.
Petrovsky coughed. "Ladies, I will take my leave, and place you in the care of these two capable officers. I hope you enjoy your stay."
"Ancient ruins, the thrill of discovery, and some nice-looking examples of humans all around," Gen'aris looked pointedly at Liara and waggled her eyebrows. "You bet I'll enjoy it here."
Liara sighed, masking her internal disappointment with well-worn exasperation for her teacher. It had been one of her staunchest hopes to run into Shepard during this excursion. She had been counting on it, knowing that the woman had the most exposure to her out of any Alliance personnel. But Kaidan was fulfilling that role instead.
"Ladies, your carriage awaits," the escorting major called, standing next to a militia transport.
"You look kind of familiar," Gen'aris commented as she took her seat and strapped in.
"We met on Feros," the man replied, "back when I was on active duty. Ethan Jeong, the liason officer."
The senior scientist's face lit up. "Ah! How nice to see you again! You're retired now?"
"More or less."
Meanwhile, Liara and Kaidan took the rear seats. "Expecting someone else?" Kaidan smirked as the transport lifted off.
Liara scowled in response. "I haven't been able to talk to her since Saren's attack."
The smirk changed to a more serious expression. "She's not in a talkative mood. Her brother died in the Embassy attack two years ago."
"I know."
"She's been assigned to a training post back in Sol, teaching our best and brightest how the Geth and the Vex fight."
"The Vex are geth that allied with the Reapers, right?" The officer nodded. "How is she?"
Kaidan shrugged. "Honestly, I haven't talked to her in over a year. I heard that she and her mother aren't on good terms right now."
"Her mother?"
"She's an admiral. She called in some favors to put the captain's little brother on the Embassy Garrison detail. The captain blames her for getting him killed, and her mother says that she should have been there to protect him."
Liara grimaced. Guilt tearing apart a family was never pretty.
Kaidan leaned in closer. "You really care about her, don't you?"
Now Liara blushed. "Y-yes," she stammered.
The man leaned back, a melancholy expression crossing his face. "You're lucky, doctor. You have a way in. I sure as hell don't."
"What?"
He sighed. "I had a crush on her too, back when I was first assigned to the Normandy. But I knew it would never go anywhere. We have laws against fraternization," he explained bitterly as Liara stared blankly, "'For the purpose of maintaining good order and discipline,' two service members in the same command structure can't be involved with each other."
"I don't understand," the doctor murmured.
"One way or another, there would be a difference in rank and authority. In the military, we can't tolerate any suggestion of favoritism. If she used her authority to order me around more or less than anyone else in the unit, that would get us in trouble. But with Shepard, even if we were in different units, she would never start anything with another military member."
"But I'm not military," Liara finished.
"Right," Kaidan nodded. "That's why I'm saying you have a way in. She might be more open to you."
Liara's eyes narrowed. "So you're just giving up on Shepard? How do I know you're not trying to sabotage me?"
"That's not who I am," he snapped. "I know I don't have a chance with her, but I would like to see her happy again. As long as she smiles, I can live with that."
Liara looked away, lost in thought as the transport flew on.
The door opened, and the group of four stepped out onto the dig site. "Doctor Gen'aris?" a technician called out. "Follow me."
He led them over to a couple poring over a portable terminal in a tent. "Doctor Benson? The experts from the Hypathia institute are here."
The man turned around and grinned through his beard. "Ah, so glad you could join us," he said with an extended hand.
"Pleasure's all mine," Gen'aris replied. "Doctor Richard Benson, was it?"
"That's me alright," the man laughed as he shook Liara's hand. "And where are my manners? This beautiful young lady is Orianna, my assistant."
"Try babysitter," the woman said, standing up from the keyboard. "I swear, he would forget to breathe if I didn't remind him."
"Why do you think I keep you around?" the boisterous scientist chuckled. "But you're not here for a family sitcom. Here, let me show you."
"You didn't say much in the contract," Liara recalled.
"I wished to avoid having one of my colleagues hearing about the discovery and being hounded for answers before I had them," the man explained as they walked. "Substantiate, or suffocate, as we say."
"Or in other words, publish or perish," Gen'aris remarked.
"I would have preferred not to contact anyone else for that reason, but alas, our Prothean experts are not as learned as those in your society. We are unable to sufficiently translate the Prothean language for our purposes."
"That part is a real pain in the ass," the asari agreed. "We took centuries to fully learn the Prothean language, but you guys have pretty much just started translating."
"That is correct. But this is more than just simply Prothean language. We uncovered an ancient computer, and we are trying to interface with it. Doing so has proven to be quite difficult."
"You found a computer system?!" Liara exclaimed.
"Oh we found much more than that," the doctor laughed as the group crossed the top of a hill. "Take a look."
The group stopped. Liara's eyes popped open at the sight of massive structures that had been buried underneath tons of dirt.
"By the goddess…" Gen'aris gasped.
"Yeah, this is what we found deep under the original dig site that my old colleague Jacob Sterns started. It took me a long time to get clearance to come and finish what he started."
Kaidan stiffened, and Liara looked at him questioningly. "Professor Jacob Sterns of the Martian Institute?"
"That's him," Benson nodded. "Welcome to the Sterns Dig Site."
Kaidan's mind raced ahead before making a decision. "Doctor T'Soni, as I recall, we both know someone who can perfectly understand the Prothean language. Maybe we should go get them."
Liara instantly realized who the officer was referring to, and her heart leapt in her chest. "Absolutely! She could really help us out here."
"You have an expert on hand?" Benson clapped his hands excitedly. "Wonderful! Please bring them here! I would love to have their input!"
"Major, I'll take Doctor T'Soni with me. I'll leave Doctor Gen'aris in your capable hands."
Major Jeong nodded as the two began sprinting back to the transport, then stiffened as Benson's assistant sidled up to him and began whispering into his ear, his eyes holding a faint greenish tinge.
Codex: Silent Cartographer
While Alliance policy regarding Mass Relays near their territory is prompt removal and relocation, such a policy is ill-advised when dealing with the Citadel. The natural inclination to otherwise destroy those relays was argued against by cooler heads who proposed an alternative.
The premise was simple: the Relays restrict potential enemies to known routes of travel. Destruction of the Relays would deny the Alliance a potential vector of information, as well as make things more difficult should the Alliance try to call up the militia fleets in the event of an all-out war. Instead, a plan was made to place sensors and communications equipment around them.
The Silent Cartographer Project is restricted to relays known to the Citadel races for security purposes. Approaching inactive relays would reactivate them and alert the Citadel. In addition, there is little reason to place sensors around them.
Codex: Thermal Superconductor
This highly secretive element serves as the primary armor for the Alliance military flagship, the Olympus. The unique qualities of the material are combined with a complex and multi-faceted support infrastructure to create an armored hull that is functionally invincible to any weapon except direct antimatter exposure.
Where an electrical superconductor can allow massive current flow with negligible resistance and heat generation, a thermal superconductor allows near instantaneous and uniform heat distribution throughout a block of material. For example: applying a blow torch to a steel plate would create a hot spot, a result of non-uniform heat distribution. Attempting the same to a plate of this material will heat up the entire plate at the same rate, and much more slowly due to the vastly increased amount of material to absorb the energy.
Backed by a high-efficiency cooling system, sufficiently large and thick plates are rendered immune to any form of energy weapons. Uniquely, even acute gamma ray exposure does not affect the material. Only hardlight blades, antimatter, and tremendous shearing impacts can inflict any kind of physical damage. The former are what is used to cut and shape the material once it is molded, and only in small amounts.
I might have had a little too much fun describing the destruction of an entire star system in this chapter.
Say, what's going on with Ethan Jeong?
Obviously, this was an alternate version of the Arrival DLC. That was an evil trap that EXALT sprang on the Reapers, wasn't it?
Next chapter, you get to see the Olympus in action. In particular, you get to see it fire its main gun.
When I do timelines, I make it a point to separate them into various specific entries. My rule of thumb is no more than a paragraph, or five sentences, per entry. This is to make sure I leave enough about the event up to the reader's imagination, and it gives me generous maneuvering room to tie those events into the story later.
Also, it forces me to break things up and avoid the "wall of text" effect that can drive some people away. Paragraphs are your friends, people.
Once again, I stress that when you write, you want some degree of ambiguity to give a story that sense of mystery and anticipation that keeps drawing readers back for more.
