Bold indicates Shepard Reaper speech
Bold Italics indicate Reaper internal speech
Please comment and review
This is my first attempt at a story, so I am open to constructive criticism. Also If anyone has suggestions for the story feel free to give them.
Revelations on Eden Prime part 1
Location: The Subjugator
Time: 0800 CST
date: 19th March 2184
Deep in the cargo hold of the Batarian dreadnought, a group of five stowaways rested. None of them knew what their destination was, but they knew they had been travelling for almost an entire day. Liz, Ashley and Garrus were resting against crates, while John was maintaining a constant watch, in case any of the slavers came near their location.
Liz placed a hand against her growling stomach, and gave a groan of discomfort. Thankfully though, a protein bar entered her field of vision. She saw that it was being offered by Kaidan. "Thanks," she said as she tore off the wrapping, and began to bite on it. As she chewed her first mouthful, she turned to look at the young man resting next to her. "Hey Alenko," she asked, "can I ask you something?" Kaidan turned towards her, "sure," he said with a smile. "How long have you known my brother?" Kaiden paused for a second, wondering what to say, he knew that he obviously couldn't tell Liz everything. "We got to know each other at bootcamp, we pretty much enlisted on the same day," that wasn't necessarily untrue. "What was he like? You know, back then?" Liz questioned, curiously. Kaidan looked down slightly, "not a lot of people tried to make friends with him, his family name has a way of intimidating people. It wasn't really helped by John himself, at the start he acted cold and distant, and his hatred towards the Turian instructors was always pretty evident." Liz looked to the ground sadly, "that…. doesn't really surprise me," she said. Kaiden paused for a second before saying, "Blood Brawl, right?" Liz looked at him, stunned. Kaidan immediately raised a hand, "I said he was like that to start with, but eventually, after a lot of perseverance," he said the last part jokingly, "I started to get through to him, he started interacting with some of the others recruits more. That's when we actually met James and Jacob as well." Kaidan then continued, "and we spoke about bad experiences we'd both been through."
Liz looked to him for a moment, as if wondering if she should press further, "and when you guys became soldiers?" she asked slightly uneasily. Kaidan grinned at her, "trust me, there is no one I'd rather have watching my back than him," he couldn't help but feel pleased as he saw a small smile form on Liz's face. "Can I ask you something?" Kaidan said. "I suppose that's only fair," Liz responded. "You're definitely not naive about what the Hierarchy thinks of humans, so why did you join their 're-forged sword' program, when you knew the kind of shit you'd be in for?" Liz looked away, "you're right, I knew what I was getting myself into, me and Ash both. We knew we'd have to fight harder, just to get a fragment of the respect our Turian 'peers' would get. But I figured it would be worth it," she explained. Kaidan look at her with a raised eyebrow, "not worth it as in, gain their respect," she clarified, "the salary of even a junior officer in the Hierarchy is more than we make in several years on our farm, it would still take a few years, but we could cut down the time I'd need to get the credits to bring John home. With the other benefit of possibly visiting him." She then gained a sad expression, "when I was finally able to get authorisation to visit him….it wasn't the joyous reunion I was hoping."
Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck, as much as he believed it had been necessary, a large part of him felt guilty for helping to orchestrate that confrontation, "yeah, he told me about that too. Says it's the lowest point he's ever sunk in his life," he said. Liz didn't respond at first, "I was so happy when I heard the he'd enlisted, and I was so proud of what he did at Elysium. I know he'd probably never get rid of all that anger, but he wasn't lashing out everything like an animal anymore." Another moment of silence passed between them, "you were almost glaring at him in the briefing before Akuze though," he remarked, trying to continue the conversation. Liz immediately cringed at that, "yeah, I was….was still mad at him, for not wanting to help our sisters," she said, regretfully. Kaidan immediately fidgeted, 'I wish I could tell you, that he was the one who rescued them,' "I think he was ashamed, he blamed himself for what happened to them. You know, since then… he's actually started acting more distant again." Liz glanced at the back of her brother, "yeah, I think I understand that now, it's why I was so desperate to find him, if I never saw him again, I didn't want him to die thinking I hated him," she explained. "He doesn't, don't worry," Kaidan clarified. Liz nodded to him with a smile, but it soon fell, "you said you've also had some bad experiences?" she prodded gently. Kaidan immediately looked away, an image of a Turian beating a young girl flashed before his eyes, followed by the sound of a sickening crack, "it's not easy to talk about Shepard," he muttered. Liz nodded in understanding, "call me Liz," she said, Kaidan looked at her before smiling, "then you can call me Kaidan."
Hoping to lighten the now sombre mood, "so…..do you have anyone waiting for you?" she said, slightly awkwardly. Kaidan chuckled, "oh no I'm a lifelong bachelor," he stated, jokingly. They both started laughing.
Shepard glanced over his shoulder at them, he couldn't help but crack a smile as he saw them interacting. He then glanced at Garrus, making sure the Turian wasn't watching, then activated the ghost bandwidth. "Miranda, any ideas on our destination?" he asked. "Yes, but it doesn't make sense, your trajectory shows you're headed for…." John's eyes widened at the planet's name. How was that possible.
000
Location: Eden Prime Spaceport
Time: 1500 CST
date: 19th March 2184
Balak stood on the lowered boarding ramp of his dreadnought, the authorisation had been provided, and they were able to land on the human's planet. He held his prize in his hand, it was barley bigger than a coin, but the Batarian was already fantasising about all that he would accomplish with it. Unfortunately, that would have to wait, He walked over to a nearby supply crate, and used his omni-tool to open the door. The inside was shrouded in darkness, but a single light could be seen. "Be ready for my instructions" he said, the light responded with an intelligible electronic noise.
As Balak re-entered the dreadnought, he pulled out the tracking device and rolled it over between his index finger and thumb, he was slightly unsure about his compatriots plan, but he had to admit, it might be what they needed to draw the galaxies gaze away from them. Suddenly, his omni-tool alerted him to a message, "boss, they're here," his subordinate said. Balak growled in response.
000
The four humans and one Turian cautiously made their way through the halls of the dreadnought, their weapons raised and keeping a constant lookout for any of the crew. John checked his omni-tool again, ensuring they were on the right track to find Balak's location. They soon came to a large door, John double checked his omni-tool, confirming Balak was on the other side. Then, before he opened the door, he activated his helmet cam, and began transmitting.
000
Location: Citadel, Council Chambers
Meanwhile on the Citadel, Saren Arterius and David Anderson walked into the Council chambers, the four councils looking down at them from their podiums. "General Arterius, we have heard about your victory, destroying the slavers main base of operations," Quentius remarked. Saren glared at the other Turian slightly, "yes Councillor, although it would have gone much smoother with reinforcements," he then grinned slightly, "thankfully the Alliance was able to provide that." He couldn't prevent a good feeling rising in his chest as he saw the Turian Councillor form a scowl.
"Indeed," said Irissa, "I'm sure this will to serve as a symbol of what your peoples can achieve when you work together." Anderson almost wanted to vomit at the falsehood of the statement. "Nevertheless, with the main headquarters destroyed and their leaders' dead, I believe we can consider the threat the slavers pose neutralised," added Esheel.
"I fear that is not entirely true Councillors," Saren said. The Councillors looked at him, with narrowed eyes. "During the conflict, the ringleader who brought these various clans together, managed to escape. Thankfully though, several soldiers were able to board his ship." Saren's time as a Spectre had helped him to develop an impressive ability to see the faintest signs, so he did notice how all the Councillors' eyes widened slightly in shock. He looked to his left as Anderson received notification on his omni-tool, "in fact it appears we are receiving a transmission from them now."
Anderson held up his omni-tool, and the screens in front of the Councillors changed to show the transmitted image. Unknown to the Councillors however, the familiar form of Bau hid behind a nearby pillar, pressing a few buttons on his own omni-tool. The reason for this soon became evident, as like multiple times before, every screen across the Galaxy was hijacked to show the transmission from John Shepard's helmet cam.
000
Location: The Subjugator
Shepard and the others were crouched behind both sides of the open door, looking into a large meeting room, where several figures were gathered around a large table. At the head of course was Balak, but it was all the other people that interested him. John knew that there must've been high-ups in the Citadel races governments working with slavers, but even he hadn't expected it was this bad.
Indeed, there were three Asari around the table, John identified them as General Mayina, one of the most prominent Matriarchs in the Asari military. Matriarch T'snaya, who he knew was responsible for the facility on Voeyra. Of course, both of them paled in comparison to Matriarch Falika T'hayra, arguably the most powerful woman in the entire Asari Republic's. A group of Asari commandos stood behind them. The Asari were not alone there however, two Salarians also stood at the table. General Jizal, a high-ranking officer of the STG. The Second Salarian was Dalatrass Vezika, many said she was the most influential woman within the Salarian union. They in turn were accompanied by a unit of Salarian STG agents. However, what was causing Garrus, Liz and Ashley to stare with their jaws almost hitting the floor was the five Turians present. They included General Adanius, General Salvitus, as well as two other Turian Generals. A squad of the elite Black Talon unit stood guard behind them, but it was the fifth Turian, the one currently speaking to Balak, that really surprise Shepard. Primarch Tactus himself.
The Primarch was currently yelling at Balak, who simply looked at the Turian disinterested. "Attacking those colonies wasn't part of the plan Batarian!" he shouted, several of the others voiced their agreement. Balak's expression was unimpressed, "really?" he responded sarcastically, "I was under the impression that it was always the plan. Wasn't that the reason you gave me the defence codes for those colonies." Tactus clenched his fist, "we gave you the codes….so you could attack them, when we deemed the time right. That was our agreement!" he yelled.
Out of the corner of his eye, John could make out the shocked faces of Garrus and Liz at the Primarch's confession. In contrast, he couldn't stop himself from grinning, this was better than anything could have hoped for, he slowly looked at each of the conspirators, making sure they could all be easily identified.
000
Location: Citadel, Council Chambers
Back in the Council chambers, Saren and Anderson could barely keep themselves from smiling as well, at the shocked faces of the Councillors. "We…we have to contain this," stated the Turian councillor, "if this information gets out, it would…" Saren barely hid a snort, of course they wanted to immediately cover it up. That's why his friends are insuring there will be no sweeping this shit storm under the rug.
As if on cue the doors to the Council chamber opened and an attendant ran in, "Councillors, there is something you need to see," he said, panting for breath. "What is it? We are in the middle of a crisis?" the Asari Councillor scolded. "The vid…it is…it is being broadcasted," the attendant responded. Their shocked expressions practically increased tenfold, "where?" the Salarian Councillor asked, dreading the answer. The attendant's eyes were wide in fear, "everywhere," she said in a faint whisper. The Councillors expressions turned to full-blown horror. The Turian Councillor slammed his fist on his pedestal, "how did this happen?!" he shouted. "We…we don't know, but the broadcast shows similar signs to those done by Cerberus," the attendant explained.
And indeed, all over the Galaxy, the Primarch's confession was being displayed for everyone to see. Some people simply stared; their minds unable to comprehend what they were witnessing. Others fell to their knees as they felt the weight of the betrayal. Others clenched their fists and let loose primitive roars of rage.
000
Location: The Subjugator
Balak just rolled his four eyes at the Primarch's outrage, "yes, we got several colonies full of slaves in the raid and you got several threats to your 'authority' removed," Balak replied dryly. Tactus as well as several others tensed up in anger at his disrespect. "The attacks on those colonies were supposed to come after you had removed humanity from the Attican traverse," Matriarch T'hayra snarled at him. "Yes," Tactus joined in, "you promised us that driving their primitive species off those worlds would be no challenge for you," the Turian then gave a smug grin, "I suppose that's what we get for entrusting the task to pirates and criminals," he said with a chuckle, several of his colleagues immediately began to laugh as well. Balak glared at him, "my exact words were, 'it will be no challenge as long as nothing interferes,' I would call multiple attacks on my forces interference Primarch. And no, I'm not just talking about Cerberus and the armoured psycho Reaper. I'm talking about the Alliance and Hierarchy. Our attacks were failing, my colleagues needed easier targets, you should have expected that, dealing with pirates and criminals." Balak said. Before Tactus could respond, Balak continued, cutting him off, "by the way, how successful has your Reforged sword program really been, Tactus." The Turian's face tensed up slightly, Balak chuckled at his reaction, "yes I know about the true purpose of the little project, you enlist kids of some of the humans most skilled officers and soldiers, so that if their parents ever cause a problem for you, you can use them as hostages." Tactus couldn't stop the fury from building in his face, that wasn't something he'd discussed with Balak before, but somehow, he knew about it. Balak continued though, he snapped his fingers in mock realisation, "that's why you wanted the Shepard girl so badly, you wanted something to rein her brother in after his actions at Elysium. Too bad she got snapped up by Arterius." He narrowed his four eyes, "isn't he basically the one who's been launching all these attacks on us?" Tactus looked like he was ready to punch Balak at this point.
"The information Shepard retrieved from Elysium was all Arterius needed, to launch those attacks. I couldn't stop him from bypassing my authority," Tactus tried to explain, feebly. Balak merely rolled his eyes again, "bypassing? So you're not the absolute ruler of the Turian Hierarchy yet?" he mocked, his expression then became serious again, "I'm not interested in your excuses I want you to rein him in and get him off my back or you'll end up paying for it." Tactus had had enough this point, "I don't tolerate veiled threats!" he yelled.
Balak stared at him for a moment, as if unable to comprehend what the Turian was saying, then he burst out laughing. "This is not a veiled threat, this is a direct one," he glanced over at all the assembled leaders, "remember, you came to us. You came to us with your petty little dreams of becoming dictators." His tone then turned hostile, "and you need to remember how much you owe us," he snarled. He pointed a finger at Tactus, "you wouldn't be Primarch if we hadn't eliminated Syldas and implemented Sparatus in his murder." He looked over the others, "do the rest of you need a history lesson?" he asked rhetorically, no one responded. "Well then, better hold up your end of the bargain and rain in those damn nuisances. Or else, we will make sure that all of your people know exactly what you've done. I will see you hated, stripped of power and torn limb from limb by mobs," he growled, it was hard to say but several of them started to break out in a cold sweat.
"No objections, good th-," Balak stopped as his omni-tool activated, he glanced at it and narrowed his eyes. "Whose there?! Show yourself now!" he yelled. John cursed under his breath, realising that Balak must've detected the transmission. He quickly looked at the others and gestured for them to hold their position. Then, with complete calm, he stepped out into full view of the assembled traitors, most of them looked at him in shock, Balak merely glared at him. "Shepard, always you," he mumbled. "Oh don't tell me this meeting is traitors and terrorists only," John joked.
T'hayra snarled at Balak, "you fool, you lead this human right to us!" she yelled. Balak ignored her as he continued to look at his omni-tool. One of the unidentified Turian Generals stepped forward, "what are we worried about?" he said smugly, "he's completely on his own and if he is somehow able to tell anyone, who will believe him? Its our word against the humans." John immediately resisted the urge to remove the guy's head from his shoulders. Instead he tapped his chin with his finger, "my word against yours, see that's not actually correct," John continued in his joking tone, although everyone else noticed the dangerous implications underneath it. "What the hell are you talking about human?" the General demanded.
Instead of John, it was Balak who answered him, "he is talking about how he's been recording our meeting….and it's being broadcasted to the entire Galaxy," Balak activated a button on his omni-tool and all the screens in the room changed to show the feed from John's head cam. Everyone present could only stare at their faces on the screens in shock, some of them began trembling, the realisation setting in, that everything they had worked for, everything they'd sacrificed, had just been undone. "This….this can't be…" Tactus mumbled. John noticed that Balak didn't seem as upset as his co-conspirators.
John activated his comms, using the same frequency he had used to communicate with Anderson, "Captain Anderson, is the Council there? Good. What are their orders?"
000
Location: Citadel, Council Chambers
Anderson couldn't help but smile, he knew John had no intention of actually following the orders the Council gave him, he just wanted to put them in an uncomfortable situation. And indeed, they were sweating up a storm, they knew they had to respond otherwise it would seem suspicious.
The Turian Councillor gulped, before responding, "Lt Shepard, by the authority of the Citadel Council, you are permitted to use any means to eliminate or apprehend these traitors."
000
Location: The Subjugator
A grin formed on John's face, hidden behind his helmet, he had set his comms to loudspeaker, so that everyone had heard what the Council had just said. The Turian General in front of him began shaking, partially in rage and partially out of fear, "I will not have everything we've worked for undone by a damn hu-" he didn't get to finish as John raised his assault rifle and fired a burst through the Turian's head.