-June 2157. Day 0 of Operation Eclipse. GAS Avalon -
Aethyta noticed many of the same things Benezia had on her first trip to the Avalon. From inside to the outer hull the ship was all smooth curves and angles. Form meeting with function. Even the smaller, more angular ships she had flown past seemed to exhibit an artistic flair, a design style that incorporated both deadly precision and artistic beauty. The lived-in look and feel of the corridors of the Avalon and old plexi-leather smell of the transport told her that these were machines that were meant to last, to be a home for its soldiers. It spoke of a command that cared for those serving it and a crew that had great attachment to their vessels.
It was a long walk to the observation deck. Not so long as to feel like someone was stalling but long enough to let her get a good look at the people serving on the ship and to prepare herself for the upcoming conversation. Her honour guard was three soldiers in full body armor of different colours and a young boy of about twenty-one who unlike his armored friends didn't have a helmet to hide his stare.
Aethyta smirked, if she had been a couple centuries younger she might have given the young Jedi Knight something to really stare at. She could already see at least on a physical level why so many of Benezia's crew had become attracted to these humans. And the reports to the Matriarchs spoke highly of their bravery and kindness during the battle with the Batarians. Here was a species that looked similar to the Asari, had the martial core of the Turians, sciences that surpassed the Salarians, and who knew what else back in their home systems.
A simple door slid open and allowed Aethyta to enter the observation deck. Her escort did not follow her in. Instead they took up positions on either side of the doorway. The helmeted guards removing their helmets, revealing two males and one female, each one with different coloured hair and skin. For some reason that was both shocking and amusing to Aethyta even though she had read the reports and she found herself chuckling as she entered the arboretum.
The arboretum stretched for dozens of meters each way until running up against the transparisteel bubble that let them view the Citadel and its fleet below them. On a warship a space like this would be a structural flaw that could be exploited during a battle. But this wasn't just a warship she supposed, it was a symbol. And really if something could blow through the shields of something this big then she doubted whether armor would matter at all.
Standing beside Benezia was a woman with flaming red hair tied in a braid that fell down to her back and an old wrinkled man who's hair barely covered his head. Both were wearing the same kind of garb the young knight she had left outside had been. Her agents had gotten their names but she was still unsure how the ranks worked in their order. She had enough bad run ins with the Justicars and hoped this order would be a little more reasonable.
"Welcome Matriarch," The old man said holding out a hand for her to shake "I'm Grand Master Alenko and the young lady to my left is my granddaughter Hannah Sheppard. And you are of course familiar with Matriarch Benezia" Master Alenko said with a chuckle.
"We have met before yes" Aethyta said feeling a chuckle being drawn from her in response to the old man's laugh. She could feel it, the subtle draw that the other Asari had talked about "I have to say I wasn't really expecting to meet with anyone else when you said I could come aboard."
"That was actually my idea Aethyta. I asked them to join us up here." Benezia said and touched a button on a small communicator attached to her wrist. Beside a small group of saplings a small round table with four benches rose out of the ground. "Come sit, before we talk we need to 'talk'".
"Ohh Bezzi we've never done it in a park before. If I had known you were this adventurous that trip to Rygon IV could have been much more interesting." Benezia rolled her eyes at the innuendo while Master Alenko let out a loud belly laugh.
"You know very well that is not what I mean." Benezia said taking the bench under the tree. Master Alenko and Knight Sheppard sat on either side of her leaving Aethyta to take the seat directly across. "I know how suspicious the Matriarchs are and I know that you make all of them look like a elcor passed out on hallex. So before we talk to you I want to show you that I'm not their little pet asari"
"We?" The pet asari part had of course crossed her mind and she herself would have suggested a meld before moving on. But it was the 'we' that confused Aethyta.
"Yes we, and hopefully you." Benezia said reaching out across the table and taking one of Aethyta's hands. This surprised Aethyta more than anything else at the moment. Benezia was never very emotional at the best of times, let alone in front of others. " Your concerns about our people, and how to deal with it, I've been thinking about them of late and trying to figure out how to fix it. And I think I've found the answer. These people want the same thing you and I do. But not just for our race but all of the Citadel."
Aethyta honestly didn't care much for the Citadel or any of the other races. Even the Krogan weren't all that special to her despite having a Krogan father. She was more concerned with the Asari Republics. She had read the reports, both the ones Benezia had sent out and the ones her agent on the Sofia Fos has passed along, and was thinking that these people were just what the Republics needed. And as she had noticed earlier they weren't too bad to look at either. "So why are they here?" She asked waving her hand towards the two jedi on either side of her.
"We're here to talk to you once Benezia has convinced you that we haven't brainwashed her or anything. And also to make sure you are here for the reasons you say you are." Alenko said
"You're going to read my mind, aren't you?" That had been one part of the report she had trouble believing. Sure Asari could meld with other beings but it required contact. No one could do it from inside a room.
"Why is reading minds always the first thing that comes up? It's either that or mind tricks" Sheppard said in an exasperated voice. " Jedi don't just go around reading minds. We can sense emotions from others and maybe a passing thought or two if someone is basically yelling it in their head. But we have to actually concentrate to be able to glean any real information from a person, something that we don't do often because of the damage it could cause to the subject. Think of this more like a lie detector test except not as inaccurate."
"So you're going to ask me how old I am, what my favorite colour is, and what planet I grew up on and then ask me why I'm here?" Aethyta took her hand back from Benezia's and clasped them together on the table.
"Ohh I would never ask a woman her age Matriarch but yes in its simplest form that is what we are going to do. While Benezia speaks highly of you the fate of all our people relies on us getting this right. So precautions have to be made." Alenko said in a patient tone.
"Ok then ask away" It was actually Hannah who did the questioning. While Hannah had more experience sensing the emotions and thoughts of the Asari than her grandfather and a deeper connection to beings emotions due to her battle meditation her grandfather still had decades more experience using the force in circumstances just like this. Well not totally, but close enough.
The questions went by quickly enough and during them Aethyta could swear she felt something tickling the back of her skull. It wasn't completely like how the beginning of a meld felt but it was close. After she had been cleared and told them that she had come to speak to Benezia about how they could help the Asari she and Benezia had entered the meld. Not fully, it wasn't as close and intimate as it had once been. But it let her see and hear everything Bezzi had from the moment her ship had popped out in front of the Human fleet to getting to the Citadel. There was nothing in her memories or emotions that made her think that Benezia was anything other than her normal self.
Aethyta closed her eyes and rubbed at her temples as she came out of the meld. That much information with all its emotional baggage over that little amount of time hurt. Opening her eyes to a world that now seemed much too bright she saw Hannah and Master Alenko looking back and forth between each other and her with a shocked look on their faces. "What is it?" Aethyta scowled, melding with Benezia always left her feeling vulnerable afterwards, a leftover bit of emotion from Benezia's side of the meld.
"Tha..that was a force bond." Hannah said "Or at least the closest thing to it I've ever seen in a non force user. Your force presences merged together for a moment before separating. There isn't anything connecting them anymore but there's still a bit of the others presence in each of your auras."
"Is that unusual?" Benezia aimed the question at Master Alenko who was rubbing at his chin.
"All Jedi create force bonds to some extent. Weak ones to their friends and family. Stronger ones between master and student or between a Jedi and their significant other. But only rarely does a true force bond happen where both people retain a bit of the other within themselves and are able to keep their presences connected at all times even across great distances. And this has never been seen outside of jedi before."
"Honestly we don't know what this means." Hannah said looking between the two of them. "So far Asari are the only biotics we have been able to sit down and sense. The turians didn't have any biotics in their fleet."
"No, Turians are more distrusting of biotics than some races. I think they just don't like any weapon they can't take from an enemy and beat them with personally" Aeytha didn't need much time to recover and start asking questions. If this was something the Jedi considered important she needed to be paying attention. "Could it have something to do with our biology?"
"Your species ability to bond with anyone could play a part in it. But there was something more to it than just basic biology" Hannah said. "What makes this even stranger is that our docs had been theorizing that eezo may block out the ability to connect with the force due to the way it bonds to the nervous system. If not, well…" Hannah trailed off and Benezia changed subjects.
"So now that everyone here knows that the other is on the level I need to ask you one final question Aeya" Benezia said using a name she only used on the most personal of occasions. "Could you agree to a plan that could help raise the Asari to new heights and save the lives of countless trillions even if it means that we will no longer be the guiding force of the Citadel."
Aethya thought about that for a moment. But only for a moment. She married an asari, she had a pureblood daughter, she even pushed for the Asari Republics to try and separate itself from the Citadel. But she wasn't stupid and despite all their fights and arguments she had never doubted Benezia's drive. "Yes, besides a little healthy competition will keep the Matriarchs from getting lazy and slipping back into bad habits. So what is it you have gotten us into Bezzie?"
Master Alenko chuckled and placed his hands flat on the table. "Long ago one of our earliest democracies, a people called the Greeks, outfitted their citizen soldiers with shields." Master Alenko was briefly interrupted by a long suffering sigh from Hannah who apologized for her grandfather's habit of starting off conversations with a philosophy, or in this case history lesson. "The cliepus had at one time been the most advanced shield they equipped their soldiers with. But as time went by and technology evolved the cliepus became something that wasn't given to the main army but to their allies who were fighting for them."
Aeytha didn't need the rest of the metaphor explained to her. In this case the Humans were the Greeks and they were viewing the Citadel races as the ones who would be using these shields. "But aren't you afraid of someone reverse engineering your technology and using it against you?" That was one reason the Asari had never revealed their hidden prothean beacon. That and because the lie had been so old at the start of the Citadel that revealing it now would shake up the entire alliance.
"That is of course a risk. And if the only people we had met had been say the Batarians or possibly Duccellus and his fleet we would be keeping this to ourselves. Focusing on our backup plans. But as I told Benezia we are people who have seen time and again what an alliance of different groups can do. And aside from the fact that this tech is totally alien to you and you guys do not have the infrastructure to power it let alone build it the tech will still be two or three generations out of date." Alenko said with a knowing smile.
"And anyways hopefully by the time operation Cilepus is in full swing and we have finally gotten your infrastructure to the point where you can build ships like the Nebula, MC 90, or the Majestic Frigates their won't be a you and us, their will just be the Alliance" Hannah said playing the good cop.
"Which alliance is it going to be? The Citadel Alliance or perhaps the Galactic Alliance?" Aeytha posed, "And even if it is the former how do you expect to get the galaxy to follow in step?"
"That is where we come in." Benezia said, "Operation Eclipse, and yes the humans do love their code names as much as the Salarians do, is going to be a push to introduce human culture and technologies to the galaxy and draw the civilians and the soldiers into the Alliances sphere of influence. Once that battle is won the politicians will either follow suit or will be voted out and replaced by others who are more open to a new way of doing things."
What Benezia had just described had sounded like a coup. A coup on a galaxy wide scale orchestrated by an alien government. A coup that would change the very foundations of a way of life that had stretched back to before these people had probably even discovered steam power. Surprisingly she didn't find herself shocked at this. Or rather it was unsurprising, her dream of a more independent and forward looking Asari Republic was always going to require changes to how decisions were made. "So what kind of time table are we looking at? I assume humans also like to move as quickly as the Salarians as well?"
"Yes, I have been called back to Thessia to meet with the Matriarch council. While I'm doing that I need you to help with reaching out to some of our contacts in the shipping and construction sector. While I'm on Thessia I'll work on diplomatic relations and publicity. " Benezia said
"Ohh so the're 'our' contacts again are they?" Aeytha said with a chuckle. Operation Eclipse, the plan to overshadow the Citadel as the leader of popular culture, technology, and economics was finally ready to begin.
-June 2157. Day 7 of Operation Eclipse. Thessia -
Benezia left the council chambers followed as always by her commandos. The meeting went about as well as planned. Diplomacy is usually said to be a compromise where both sides come out unhappy. The people who said that had never spoken to her. Hours of being grilled by matriarchs who possibly hadn't left asari space in centuries had shown her just where the cracks were. Age, it seemed, was going to be the key factor in how the council was split. Though the loudest voice against the humans had actually been a relatively junior matriarch named Tevos who was a popular pick for being the next councilor for the Asari on the citadel.
Benezia had managed to get herself put in place as the chief diplomat to the Galactic Alliance and had gotten permission to form a group to go to the human homeworld and show off everything that made the Asari the predominant race in the galaxy. Benezia would happily do that of course, building a close relationship with the humans meant sharing their culture with them. But she also planned it so that human culture would also be shown off to the Asari and the Galaxy at large. If the trip went as well as her crew's introduction to the humans had gone there would be a fast bond between the two cultures. And where the Asari went the galaxy soon followed.
-June 2157. Day 12 of Operation Eclipse. Palavan Orbit, Nemi Naval Academy -
"Thank you for meeting with me so quickly Admiral Suldonis" Captain Sitta said saluting with the crisp military protocol of a trained cadet just out of bootcamp. The General returned the salute with no less respect but with the speed of someone for whom formality had long since ceased to matter.
"I was no problem Captain" Suldonis said sitting behind the large marble wood desk and motioning for Sitta to do the same. "My aide didn't tell me why you are here but an old man can't help but hope that you are finally going to accept a position here at the academy."
Sitta's cheek flanges clacked together in laughter at the request. "No sir, I thank you for your offer and know what it would mean to be accepted at my age to teach at the naval academy but I'm not ready to leave the bridge just yet"
Suldonis nodded his head in understanding "Your eagerness is understandable captain and who knows a few years with a ship of your own may make you an even better instructor. But remember that part of duty means sometimes honouring commitments that may not be what we want to do."
"With due respect Admiral being out there with the fleet might be the best way to honour my commitment to the Hierarchy." Sitta said.
"Give me *your* report capitan" Suldonis leaned forward in his chair and looked at her with the hawkish glare his species was known for.
"The ships of the Galactic Alliance are like nothing we've ever seen. Actually I apologize we have seen them, in science fiction movies" Only a slight octave change exposed the excitement in Sittas voice.
"Today's science fiction is tomorrow's science fact" Admiral Suldonis replied. "I have read the reports on how they fight but tell me what you saw."
"They are fast and mobile. Their cruisers and frigates move like fighters and even their big destroyers maneuver like ships a quarter of their size. Their weapons allow them to fire from nearly every direction at once. They have guns meant just to take down shields and once they are down their main batteries melt through our armor like it's nothing. That is if there's anything for them to fire at by the time their swarms of fighters get done with them."
"And what of their defenses?"
"Their shields can withstand anything we can fire at them. The only reason they lost any ships was because they were so far outnumbered. And even then it took three or four batarian ships all firing at once on the smaller ships to bring down their shields. In an even fight I doubt they would lose even a single ship. And that doesn't include the tactical advantages of their FTL system. Sure we could get to a nebula first but once inside their FTL would allow them to dance around us like skitter flies. "
"You sound more excited about this than the admiralty does Sitta." Caitus said dropping the rank and settling back into his chair. "I take it this has to do with what you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Yes sir." Sitta said still maintaining decorum despite the offer of continuing more informally. "What I saw changes the very way we fight wars and engage with an enemy. The tactics you taught me, the tactics you want me to teach others are simply not viable anymore. We need to advance if we don't want to be left behind and I'm worried that the admiralty will put their pride before their duty to the hierarchy.".
Admiral Suldonis slowly blew air out of his nasal passages, the hard bone causing it to whistle. "Officers, junior ones at that, do not normally come into a admiral's officer and call the leaders of the Turian Hierarchy stubborn idiots."
"Apologies sir. My patron is a bad influence on me." Captain Sitta said without an ounce of humor or remorse in her voice. Suldonis chuckled again and waved for her to continue. "The Galactic Alliance is inviting the Asari to their capital planet to set up diplomatic relations. Matriarch Benezia will be leading the mission and has herself requested a combined fleet of Turian, Salarian, and Asari ships to accompany them. The Alliance has even agreed to equip them with what they called class 8 hyperdrives since their jumpgates are all disabled."
"Yes I'm aware of that mission. The Hierarchy is even thinking of sending some of our best ships to impress these humans" Irony dripped from his tongue when he said impress. If anyone was going to be impressed by ships it would be the Turian navy. "And I've heard we are even going to be getting to keep the hyperdrives once the trip is over."
"The Alliance is also offering to help us deal with the increased raids from the Batarian Hegemony." Sitta didn't bother pretending that the pirates were not aligned with the Batarians. It was a political fiction that only ended up with more of her men and women dead because the powers that be wouldn't deal with the main threat. She took out a memory card from her breast pocket and slid it over to the Admiral. "Admiral Williams wished me to give this to you. Its a formal request for GA and Turian ships to work together to patrol the borders of turian space and hunt down any pirates or slavers we come across. It's his hope that not only will this help with the strain of the new attacks but will give both sides a chance to know each other and form a bond of comradery"
"A new crop of officers is about to graduate. Due to the rise in attacks they were going to be assigned to experienced officers and sent to fill in the gaps from these pirate raids. This would be a chance for an entire generation of new officers to experience the tactics that may well define naval strategy for the next century." Suldonis paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "That idiot Duccellus has already gone to his patrons and started pushing for them to treat these humans as a threat like the Krogans, saying they are a threat to our honored position as the galaxies's police. Well we've been wanting the Asari and Salarians to take up more of the responsibility any citizen has to their nation for centuries. And now that we have encountered another race that has offered to do just that I see no reason why we should turn them away."
Captain Sitta finally let herself relax into the chair. The admiral had been the one to teach her the very meaning of what it meant to be a citizen of the hierarchy and tried to pass that on to all of his students.
"Very well Captain I will make sure that the admiralty sees this message and use all my resources to get them to agree with it." The Admiral stopped with a dramatic pause "As long as you agree to lead a squadron and then spend one semester teaching what you have learned back here at the academy."
"Yes sir I understand. For the good of the Hierarchy" Sitta said upset at having let her guard down so soon, her excitement at having her own ship weighed down by the anchor that would be ninety days of stuffy classrooms. But when a matriarch asks one to do them a favor one rarely says no. Though she had been more than willing to honour Admiral William's request even before Benezia had asked her to do it as a favor for her. The humans had shown themselves to be as honorable and well disciplined as the turians she served alongside. It had left her with a desire to work with them again when her forces could add more to the fight.
Admiral Suldonis slipped the memory card into his pants pocket as he rose and circled around the table. Sitta rose as well and after a quick salute embraced him in a warm hug. "There with that out of the way it is time we head home. I'm sure Veldia already knows you're here. And if you don't drop by for supper she will have us both thrown into the brig."