Meanwhile, in Citadel Space.

-

What the hell is happening beyond the Orion Relay?

"What happened beyond the Orion relay?"

That Is the great question being asked across Citadel space by trillions of people in light of a series of alarming developments throughout Citadel Space.

It was less than a year ago when Asari explorers, after almost a decade of travel, returned to Citadel space through the pairing of the Orion Relay. Their return was celebrated throughout Asari space as a great accomplishment of their species, and for the galactic community as a whole. The turian fleet in accordance with established protocols set a small guard at the Orion Relay and began letting small exploration ships and teams through the relay to begin mapping this new area of space.

Two weeks later, all civilian traffic through the relay was halted, and none of the research teams were allowed to return home, and the system the relay was in, was declared off-limits. Since then, the people of the galaxy have been in the dark as to what happened. But keen-eyed observers across the Extranet have been reporting that turian patrols that used to fill the skies over their worlds have been disappearing. As a thread on military watcher website , where this news was first compiled, shows, nearly three-quarters of turian patrol-fleets in Citadel Space are nowhere to be seen, with only Terminus patrol fleets remaining at normal strength.

So we have a mysterious blockaded relay, almost ten-thousand turian ships nowhere to be found, and no word from the Citadel Council. The options are frightening. What could scare the turians so much they sent ten-thousand ships to guard a single Relay? Have the Rachni returned? A rogue Synthetic state? Or something else?

I thank you for reading my piece. - Tellana Vasir
Tellana Vasir is a known anti-war Asari Extranet blogger, known for her centuries of experience keeping the people of the galaxy aware of corporate or government warmongering. Varren-lover.

-

Tevos closed the extranet page. It was just one of dozens of quasi-"professional" extranet blogs sent to her for review. She groaned as she saw just how many times the page had been shared across the Extranet.

Too many times.

She opened her omni-tool and sent a message.

"Valern. I need the STG to step up their disruption efforts. Stop search engines from referring to the articles I am linking. -Tevos."

The message was short and informal, but so were almost all her messages these days.

As she sent the message, she read her message inbox. Fourty extra messages let through by her VI-filtering programmes, most of them requests for information from the looks of them. Her VI marked one of them as more important. Another message from Matriarch Benezia.

"I've not heard anything of my daughter for a month. You promised I'd get regular updates."

Tevos groaned and rolled her eyes. She wrote a response.

"Liara is fine. She's been deployed on an expedition on a partially glassed world for a while now. If she hasnt responded, its because of the limited bandwith of the comm buoys in the Orion Arm. More will be placed before the end of the month."

Another of her VI's popped up to inform her of another relevent news article on the extranet that she should read. She brought it up. It was a short message.

"Council resolution 359-117 explained.

The Citadel Council has refused to answer why the Turian Primarch's request to enforce this controversial ruling was granted. This ruling allowed the Turian Hierarchy to co-opt Citadel research expeditions as rear-echelon support service in the event of "grave necessity", but the reasoning for this action has not been explained.

Rumors are rampant throughout citadel space, as to what prompted the Turians to need to expand their capacities as a navy. Military Watchers are speculating that Primarch Fedorian might be planning to increase Turian power a-" Tevos closed the site.

"VI. Filter websites like the last one from my inbox."

She opened the next relevant message. A message from the STG.

"Matriarch Benezia has not attempted illicit contact with her daughter, or inform the media. She has however contacted Matriarch Aethyta as expected. See the following transcript.

Audio Intercept. Packet #471844379-003004003-02"

Tevos looked over the message. Nothing had been shared that could threaten public reveal. But it had been a breach of security.

She didnt know Liara was their daughter. This made things more complicated. She began sending a message to Aethyta.

"To Matriarch Aethyta.

I want to thank you for your input into war preparations for the Asari people, and would like to inform you that your request to deploy Asari commando troops beyond the Orion Relay has been approved of. When asked, Primarch Fedorian approved wholeheartedly of the initiative and asked for you personally to become his liaison to the asari military.

How does Colonel Aethyta of the Asari Expeditionary Forces sound?

Come meet me in the Citadel tower and we can finalize our agreement. I have been searching for suitable commando troupes for our first deployment, and would like to hear your opinions on them. In person.

From Tevos."

She then compiled a message to Matriarch Benezia. She had to get her close, somewhere to keep an eye on her. She knew too much, so Tevos would need to keep her close, and include her to a sense.

"To Matriarch Benezia.

Benezia. I want to invite you to the Citadel to join the team planning for the future of the Asari race, and Citadel Space as a whole, in light of our recent finds beyond the Orion Relay. I hope to include you in future diplomatic missions, so as to make the most of your wisdom and experience in the matters of diplomacy. Please bring your commandos as well.

From Tevos."

She smiled to herself. Aethyta was an asset. A militant Matriarch Tevos could build the Asari Expeditionary force around, while Benezia could be safely sidelined by sending her beyond the Orion relay. She was quite content with herself and poured herself a glass of win. Then decided as there was nobody else in the room, she could just drink from the bottle directly. This was her wine after all, she wasn't going to share it with anybody.

She turned back to the economical reports she'd received from Valern and Sparatus.

Sparatus reported that the turians had laid down the hulls of forty new dreadnoughts, although only ten would be worked on at a time. It presented a humongous investment of resources, but say what you wanted, the turian Hierarchy always had a solid warchest at its disposal.

Turian recruitment and militarization was on track, and so far the true extent hadn't fully revealed itself. Good.

Valern reported that the salarian fleet had been refurbished and rebuilt with the best technology possible. While her personal agents reported that two new expeditionary fleets to assist the Turians in scouting the Orion Arm were being assembled, with just as many new hulls being laid down to keep the salarian fleet up to strength.

The reports of these new fleets were promising. They were laying down less new ships than the turians, but they looked to be able to match the turian ships qualitatively. Not an easy feat, as the turians were not known for holding back on their military spending.

So far, preparing the Asari for a potential conflict was proving to be a nightmare. Many individual republics, Matriarchs, and corporate interests all interesting to create an almost impossible to navigate web of alliances. She'd had to ask Valern for his best VI's just to help her in keeping track of the myriad negotiations going on.

She looked through the final important messages:

To her dismay, there was no news from the temple of Athame. She hoped that political goodwill she'd spent would bring her some rewards soon. Convincing the Matriarchs to increase their staff size had cost her several expensive favors.

Her omni-tool activated again. A single phrase was displayed on the screen.

"The Shadow Broker accepts your deal."

She breathed a sigh of relief.

-

Citadel Space
Unknown Location.

Valern walked through the pristine halls of the STG science lab on Sur'Kesh he'd been invited to. He'd asked to be kept informed about any great discovered made by the STG, and had been delighted when asked to visit a deep space science lab to see their new discoveries.

He had been anesthetized and woken up inside the STG base. Not even he could freely travel to and from this site.

Secondary Orion Research Hub Six was a mobile space station used by the STG to research technologies retrieved from beyond the Orion Relay, and one of the STG's most closely guarded secrets. Even the name was meant to make people think there were multiple hubs. He didn't know if it worked, but it was worth the effort at the least.

Two Loki mechs led him through the hallway to the laboratory. Inside were dozens of Salarians working at a variety of large research posts and stations, working tirelessly on pieces of recovered technology.

"Prepare for test firing" Came a voice across the intercom. There was the distinct sound of a laser powering up, and discharging. Valern turned to look at the source of the noise. A firing range had been set up where a large device was firing bolts of orange plasma upon conveyor holding multiple thin slabs of armor, with each one receiving a hit to the center of the pannel. Each was hit with a sustained bolt from the industrial laser, followed by a pair of mechanical arms gathering the residue of ablated material in the air with precise mass effect fields, and storing them inside of the machine. Then another plate was hit, and the process repeated.

Valern deduced that they were testing better for hardsuits against high-energy weapons.

A young Salarian approached him, offering Valern a welcoming handshake. "Ah councillor. We were happy to hear you arranged for additional funding for our research, and came to visit yourself to see the progress we have made."

Valern nodded.

"I see you've begun materials testing." Valern said, indicating the firing range. "What is that device?."

Valern recognized the weapon as looking like some kind of oversized plasma welder, which the gas canisters attached to the device seemed to corroborate. He looked for what safety precautions had been taken, and noticed the large Mass Effect field projectors on the ceiling. In the event of an explosion, the arm could surround the device with a field that would contain the blast. Simple, but effective.

"Ah. Yes! We've been forced to improvise with armor against high-energy plasma or laser weapons. This device is a modified form of the Incineration Blast feature of high-grade STG omni-tools, but with the temperatures increased as high as we can get it." He patted the device's shiny metal housing. "Its unreliable, and prone to breakdowns, we believe we'll be able to start reliably testing new materials within a few months."

The scientists brought out a tray containing several plates. He placed them on a table and eagerly waved Valern over, spreading the plates out across the table. Six plates were placed down, each of them containing large holes burnt into them, of varying sizes. Valern nodded and smiled at the sight.

The Councillor put on a pair of offered gloves by another of the scientists, and put them on, then picked up the plate. "Experiments on ablative materials?" He asked. He noted the differing materials. They were making good progress.

"Yes! We're currently trying to improve the odds of soldiers in the field against plasma weaponry. Laser-testing starts tomorrow. We had issues with the Modified GARDIAN beam's power cells and settings." The scientists patiently waited for Valern to examine all the plates, then put them back on the plate and move on to the next station.

The scientist followed, taking Valern to a large side room, which hummed with the sound of civilian fabrication units. Inside, Valern could see some kind of armor on a stand, as well as two Salarians injecting unknown liquids through holes in the armor.

"Fuel?" Valern asked.

"No. Cryonic solution. Hardsuits consist of three layers. The interior suit, and the exterior armor. We're experimenting on a suit that involves a third layer. This layer consists of a layer of supercooled liquid, held in place by insulation layers. When plasma burns through the armor, the liquid is released and cools the plasma."

"Any success?" Valern asked. The idea sounded fascinating.

The Scientist's smile faded. "Limited. The Insulation layer is sub-optimal, and only works once before liquid is disabled. A possible alternative is an inner layer of separate liquid "cells" but this would make maintenance incredibly expensive."

"How long will this project take before it bears fruit?"

"At least a few years." The scientist said somberly.

Valern nodded. "Continue researching feasibility of cryo-tech used for defensive utilities. Examine potential offensive option as well." Valern thought the idea of a supercooled layer to limit heat damage from plasma weaponry was inspired, but he was not sure if it could be implemented. It was worth extra research at the very least. Perhaps for special forces.

The scientist smiled. "Anything else you'd like to see Councillor?"

"Anything new discovered about humans?" Valern said, and the scientist quickly nodded and led Valern into another room where Salarians were working with recovered human computers, storage devices, and small electronics. The scientist approached a small safe and punched in a code on the mechanical lock. He opened the safe and revealed two small credit-chit sized devices, each with a hole in the center of them.

"This is what we've been focusing our research on. These devices are made of a ceramic composite, with substrate filaments, conduit tracers, carbon sealant, silicon mesh, and crystal synthesis. We've not been able to find out what they've stored on these devices. But going by the totality of the data-wipes, they were thoroughly deleted to avoid capture."

"Going by their almost universal presence on larger warships, but absence on unarmed ships, some of us have started to speculate that these devices contained some type of military-grade VI. Or perhaps just navigational data? Whatever the case, they didn't want anyone else to figure them out. We recovered a few of these devices that had apparently been crushed under a heavy rubber boot, implying sabotage."

The scientist took Valern to a research station where one of the damaged storage devices was being carefully dismantled with nanoscopic precision by a Salarian controlling a VI, which in turn commanded a series of microscopic filaments. "There was concern it could have contained an AI, but as far as we can determine, this device cannot function as a Quantum Blue-Box. We asked for confirmation from an agent in Synthetic Insights, and he can confirm these devices cannot store AI as we comprehend them.."

Valern nodded at the scientist. "Excellent work."

-

Sparatus looked out across the mustering fields of Palavan. It was an incredibly sight to see, and he was honored to have been invited to set eyes upon it. These men and women had come of age, and would soon begin bootcamp. He'd stood there alongside them when he'd been young. The sight was quite inspiring, and he wondered if the next Councillor could be standing amongst them.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Primarch Fedorian asked as he appeared behind Sparatus. Sparatus hadn't even noticed the Primarch entering the balcony, a hint as to the Primarch's history as a part of Blackwatch. The Primarch had a deep tree-bark brown skin, with the facial tattoos of Palavan. The Primarch was less imposing than one would expect of a turian Primarch, but this merely hid a keen tactical and strategic mind.

"We stood on the same field when we were yound. Where were you?" The primarch asked.

Sparatus pointed at the middle of the group. "Right there. In the middle."

"Hah. I stood all the way at the edge." The Primarch confessed, pointing at a location.

"You don't like crowds?" Sparatus asked. He'd always thought the Primarch was a quite sociable person, and did well in crowds. But perhaps he'd learned that later in life.

"No. My wife-to-be didn't, and I took the excuse to stay close to her." The Primarch laughed. They were amongst friends here. It was good to talk to the Primarch again.

Sparatus cut to the chase. "So. What's the reason you asked me to come here, Primarch? I trust my service has been to your satisfaction."

"It's not your service that's at fault, Sparatus. It's the rest of the Council. I've been hamstrung by my inability to fully announce the intentions of the Hierarchy, or to officially declare total war. When will the council make their announcement of what's beyond the Orion Relay?"

Sparatus had expected this question, and gave the only answer he could. "When we have a full report on what we're facing, we'll make a public broadcast throughout Citadel space. I would prefer we share the news now, but Tevos has told me she intends to make sure the Asari are ready to fully commit before the news is officially revealed. I trust her in this. We may not need Asari troops, but we will need their funding."

The Primarch nodded slowly. His face contorted with a scowl. "I understand your reasoning. But what about the Salarians. How prepared are they for the war?"

"They're the Salarians, Primarch. They're always ready for war. Their fleets are just about ready to begin deploying beyond the Relay, and they've been preparing STG cells to attach to Hierarchy forces for the fighting to come. We will bear the brunt of the fighting, but we'll have Salarian and Asari forces to support us."

Fedorian nodded and looked at the mustering fields. "Do you think our ancestors felt this way before they intervened in the Krogan Rebellions?" He asked. "I hope they'll look kindly at our efforts this day."

Sparatus slowly nodded. He wasn't a spiritual man, but he silently prayed that the spirits would be with him.