November 2, 11,989 CE
Hall of Nations, Epornia City, International Neutral Zone, Khar'shan, Harsa System, Kite's Nest, Batarian Hegemony...
Imperial Assembly Representative Drathar, of the Batarian Inner Colony of Vana in the Vular System, watched in boredom as his compatriot, the Nationalist Faction Representative Albuze of the Zak'kon Domain, another one of Warlord Dretor's lackeys, remonstrated fiercely about their frontier losses.
"The attack on the security outpost and the destruction of the Turrenon represents the continuing aggression shown by this false terrorist front, this so-called 'Artemis Tau Authority'!" Albuze declared. "This band of brigands and pirates has repeatedly attacked outposts, scientific stations, businesses, and security forces of the Hegemony! The Outer Colony Domains may have bore the brunt of their attacks, but shipping to the Inner Colonies had been attacked as well! Are we to continue brooking this flagrant disregard for galactic law, this odious banditry? Should we allow the noble pride and dignity of our great Hegemony to be trampled by these bloodthirsty hooligans? Or should we take our right as a sovereign nation, and strike down these offenders? Well, as a true patriot, I say we should fight! Justice for the Turrenon!"
Drathar stood up with the other a number of representatives, almost all from the Nationalist Faction, to cheer, while secretly keeping his reservations to himself. Unlike most of the Nationalist Faction representatives, Drathar had started out a Conservative, but had been "persuaded" to join the Nationalists due to his planet's budding economic times. The Centrist and Reformist representatives looked on ambivalently, while the Conservatives shot openly-venomous looks at the Nationalist caucus.
"No one can deny the real divisions in the Hegemony- the struggle between the Conservatives and Nationalist Factions, the schism between the Consortium and Dem'novan- but we must look beyond these differences and look to what unites us, to deliver a swift response to these impudent scum! Thank you for your time!"
Albuze stepped down from the podium, and the Grand Vizier of the Imperial Assembly, Damath Kitlia, took the podium. "We thank the Representative of Zak'kon Domain for his comments. Now, let us adjourn the Assembly."
As the Representatives dispersed, Drathar made his way toward the front, where Albuze was mingling to several other Nationalist representatives.
"Nice speech, Albuze."
"Ah, thank you," Drathar turned toward Albuze. "It's about time to talk to Lord Dretor, isn't it?"
"Indeed. Governor Tinsel wants to know if he'll get a good return on his investment."
"The Governor… or yourself?" Albuze smirked.
"Hmmm…" Drathar narrowed his four eyes. "Seems like you have a little more bite than I thought."
"It's just a jest," Albuze shrugged. "Come on, let's go."
The two Batarian representatives left the Assembly hall, and went into Albuze's office.
Once they were secluded, Albuze activated his desk holo-communicator, and an image of Warlord Dretor appeared.
"So how did it go?" Dretor growled. "Oh, and you are- ? Ah, Representative Drathar, is it?"
"Indeed, Warlord. Nice speech your representatives have been making. But I don't think it makes the Conservatives hate us any less, and it's not done much to move the Centrists."
Warlord Dretor narrowed his eyes angrily. "Is this true, Albuze?"
"Y-Yes, my lord," Albuze managed nervously. "Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we'll have the majority we're looking for. Grand Vizier Kitlia is somewhat sympathetic to our cause, but the Inner Colonies and Old Nations seem to think this is mostly our fault. We could try to make a deal with the Reformists, however…"
"I am not about to be branded a radical!" Dretor retorted. "Yes, a last minute deal with them right before the vote could work, but aligning ourselves with those nutjobs now will only hurt our image!" He took a deep breath to try and calm down. "What about the corporate representatives?"
"Batarian State Arms, Camala Pharmaceuticals, and Verush Military Shipyards have expressed support, but the Coppal Syndicate and Unified Khar'shan Exchange have both expressed an intention to vote against us."
"Damn it… that's just not enough… this- this can't be what I lost Ran'perah for!" Dretor growled. "I don't know who's pulling the strings behind this 'Artemis Tau Authority', but I'll find some way to skin them for what they did!"
"If there was only some way to pin the Inner Colony terrorists on them too..." Drathar mused. "That would at least get the Centrist representatives from the Inner Colonies on board, if not the Conservatives as well. Some claim that they're inciting abolitionist and republican propaganda, arming the terrorists, something like that."
"Yes, yes, we need a false-flag operation of some sorts," A smile returned to Warlord Dretor's face. "I like your idea, Representative."
"But we'd need to be very careful about this, my lord," Representative Albuze warned. "Intelligence is good at sniffing these sorts of plots out, and if you're caught... well, it'll be our heads."
Dretor nodded sagely. "Don't worry we won't move hastily. This requires careful planning and time. We'll talk about this next time. In the meantime, it seems I have to send out a few more provocative raids against these bastards…"
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January 18, 11,990 CE
Special Tasks Group Base in Aegohr City, Nasurn, Betaam System, Annos Basin, Salarian Union…
STG Agent Etalae Liben entered into the laboratory where two of his technicians were meticulously unpacking the container their field teams had sent them.
"Greetings, Nadow, Rirmin. How's our specimen?"
"It seems horribly damaged," One of the STG technicians, Nadow Nunise shook his head in disappointment. "The field teams said the Batarians don't know how to handle merchandise, especially machinery of this type."
"Well, maybe we can still get something out of it," Liben speculated optimistically.
"The design is radically different from the previous ones the Batarians have sold us. Is this really from the same source?" The other technician, Rirmin Saeral questioned. "I don't trust the Batarians an inch."
Liben was silent, looking down at their "prize". It was a badly-battered mech platform of sorts, with extremely sophisticated locomotive hardware exposed through its broken shell and limbs.
Rirmin was right that this one was very drastically different from the fairly-crude, blocky mechs and crude alien constructs they'd previously purchased from their Batarian suppliers. Despite all the damage, he could see this one seemed almost… graceful at one point.
"Looks… almost like an Asari," Nunise observed closely. "And what's with this kind of shell? Seems almost like they want to pass as organic beings."
"Perhaps some sort of infiltrator mech?" Liben scratched his chin, for he couldn't help but feel something was oddly familiar about it. "Or something used for diplomacy- or even the trophy of the eccentric wealthy. Would explain the different design. Our previous catches would've been normal labor or expendable combat models. Not something we couldn't develop with our tech, but few would invest so much in designing this. Nadow, run scans and see what we might be able to salvage. Rirmin, extract the core… though if it's anything like the previous models, it's probably fatally damage-"
Suddenly Liben's eyes lit up. "Wait a minute- I need to check the Archives! Now!"
"What? Chief, you-" Nunise exclaimed in surprise, but Liben was already entering the decontamination chamber.
Minutes later, Liben was practically sprinting up to the Archives, where he swiped his hand over for entry. "Dad, I'll be damned if your tall tales actually came to something…" Liben muttered rapidly under his breath. It was too bad his father had passed away just nine years ago at the wizened old age of 42.
On the Archive terminal, he searched through his dad's reports, slowly narrowing it down using keywords he could recall from his dad's anecdotal stories.
"The Croschet-13 Incident…" He muttered, discovering the file. His eyes widened further as he began to read through it. "Hmm… if they're what I suspect… twenty-five years ago, they were already…" Liben typed in a series of coordinates. "And halfway between the Annos Basin and Kite's Nest… that's officially uncharted space… Perhaps we've been barking up the wrong tree all this time."
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February 2, 11,990 CE
Council Chambers on the Citadel Tower, Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula…
Asari Councilor Josua Liis entered gracefully into the Council Chambers, and greeted the other Councilors. "Now, let's get down to business. How's the situation in the Krahenhul Sector?"
"Stable I think. Violence has died down all along the front. A lot of Krogan forces have been seen withdrawing from the area. I was just talking about it with Councilor Irbot," The Turian Councilor, Posgatus, replied, attempting to look stoic, but Liis could tell he was quite pleased with his people's work.
The Salarian Councilor, Irbot, nodded in confirmation. "The Salarian people are quite thankful for the assistance, even if some feel it's been a long-time coming."
Several months ago, a fairly-popular Krogan warlord in the Terminus had been assassinated, and rumors abounded that the STG was responsible. In response, Krogan and Vorcha pirates and terrorists began launching a series of attacks on remote Salarian colonies at the fringes of Council space, as well as targeting Salarian shipping.
Disappointed by the slow response of the Salarian Union, which regarded the colonies as strategically insignificant, the colonists pooled resources to hire Eclipse mercenaries to retaliate. Unfortunately, determining which Krogan clans and pirate groups were responsible for the attacks was difficult, and Eclipse ended up launching often indiscriminate punitive attacks on several Krogan and Vorcha settlements in the Terminus regions, provoking yet further retaliation in turn. One Eclipse attack even inadvertantly killed three Turian arms-dealers who were trading with the Krogan, provoking a hostile response from underground Turian militias.
Finally, though, last week, the Turian Hierarchy had managed to dispatch a peacekeeping flotilla to patrol the area. Initially, the Turian patrols were forced to engage Krogan and Vorcha pirates who refuses to give up, but those incidents died down after a matter of days.
"Another bush war resolved," Josua Liis breathed a sigh of relief. "What about the situation in Artemis Tau and Kite's Nest?"
Posgatus shook his head. "We haven't been able to spare much patrols down there, and it's difficult to justify to Command when there are more pressing need for our ships elsewhere. What patrols we have conducted haven't turned up anything blatantly illegal. This 'Artemis Tau Authority' seems rather restrained and disciplined, and seems to have proven both effective at anti-piracy and rather popular with local settlements. The only problem is their escalating skirmishes with the Batarians, but to be frank, most Turians aren't too keen about helping out the four-eyes."
"The Batarians insist that the 'Artemis Tau Authority' and 'Hades Gamma Peacekeeping Fleet' are 'pirate regimes' and 'state terrorists', allegedly responsible for attacks on civilian freighters," Councilor Irbot took a careful sip of his Talathas wine. "These groups have also never attempted to officially make contact with us, so we can't approach them without drawing severe Batarian ire. That said, it seems only the outlying warlord holdings are serious about engaging these upstart defense forces. Most of the major states in the Hegemony are wrapped up in internal conflicts- the Inner Colony Insurgency and national border disputes on Khar'shan. Several nations are also engaged in an arms race of sorts. However, it wouldn't take too much of a spark…"
"Huh, curious," Councilor Liis acknowledged, hiding her surprise. "While it's true these organizations are rather undermining Council authority, I don't think we could justify to anyone attacking effective, anti-piracy vigilantes. What about the rumors that it's being run by synthetics? Or a brand-new uncontacted civilization?"
"Overblown rumors," Councilor Irbot scoffed dismissively. "While they seem to rely overwhelmingly on mechs, there's no evidence to suggest they are synthetics. The possibility of a brand-new civilization bankrolling them from behind the scenes is possible, but unlikely. Should consider more plausible culprits first. Corporations, mercenaries." He paused for a moment. "Maybe even a faction within one of our governments."
The Turian Councilor nodded in agreement as well. "Besides, we have more pressing issues to worry about than some baseless rumors. Our scouts have discovered a sophisticated pre-spaceflight civilization surprisingly close to Inner Council Space, in the Buluc Nebula, System C805D..."
