11:00 hours, August 23rd, 2542 (UNSC military calendar)
Turian Military Hospital #2, Zakera Ward, the Citadel.
Nialla looked up from her medical bed. Her body still ached from all the surgeries to install her cybernetics. She activated the Omni-tool build into her new left arm and turned up the volume. She was in a private medical suite in the Turian Military Hospital on Telvanis. Her bed pulled double duty as an extensive surgical suite. Her skin was now a synthetic composite. Her bloodstream filled with drugs. And her organs replaced one by one. She looked at her right hand. It was a military-grade cybernetic. The best thing about turian military healthcare, free cybernetics if you stuck around. She flexed the hand, lighting the Omni-tool built into her forearm, with mental command. With a mental command and a twist of her wrist, the Omni-tool went through the full-color spectrum. She stopped at green.
She leaned forward, the bed changing into a lounging chair as it did so. As she did so, the cables plugged into her spine protested. Reaching behind her head, she removed the charging cable in the base of her skull. She stepped off the bed and walked around, getting a feeling for her balance. She'd been thinking a lot.
She still dreamt of Gedrus, of her last glimpse of him operated on by the medics. When she closed her eyes, she could see the face of the elite who'd killed every survivor of her original squad. It had moved so fast. The only thing that spared her was the Elite being in a hurry and only taking off her omni-tool arm… and her lower body. She looked down at her legs. It was hard to believe they'd ever been gone.
At least, it was still flesh and blood, or at least a substitute, as she reminded herself. The bones were now reinforced by Ceramics and Titanium. Her skin interwoven with fire-resistant synthetic weave and nanotech. Her body no longer had an ounce of fat remaining. Instead of fat, now her body contained two compressed nutrient tanks.
The scientists had called it "bio-synthetic fusion." The combination of biotech and cybernetics, interwoven until the lines between each blurred. Each organ was now lab-grown meat with cybernetics inside. Even her blood was no longer the same. It was now a synthetic replacement that had triple the normal oxygen capacity. Those augmentations were invisible. Her eyes were not.
Whenever she looked at a mirror, she was confronted by unblinking, lidless balls of metal. Not even her blinking was reak. It was all emulated.
All her cybernetics were completely shielded against EMP. Which was a small blessing. Her fusion power cells could run for over a month before needing to recharge. She pulled aside her hospital gown and put a hand to her left side, feeling the heat of the embedded fusion cell. She'd undergone a heavy training regimen until she could replace them blindfolded. But she hoped she'd never have to do that.
She touched her face, wriggling the synthetic skin. It didn't feel right. Too tough. Too stretchy.
The door slid open, and a doctor walked in. "Ah, Sergeant Nialla. I have a firmware update for your cybernetics. Lie down if you would." He said, pointing at her bed. It was just one of many military doctors in the hospital. Nialla was so overburdened by the constant surgery, she had trouble remembering the doctors.
Nialla plugged herself back into the charging station, then laid down on the bed. It transformed back into a chair. There were no cushions, no pillows. She didn't need those luxuries anymore. She turned on the television as she prepared for what was to come.
The doctor moved the headrest out of the way, plugged a cable into the back of her head. Her HUD shut down, and a download bar appeared at the bottom of her vision. She couldn't move a muscle, her gaze locked looking forward. She'd have nothing better to do while maintenance happened.
She decided to check out Palavan News Network for reports on the war. It was a daily ritual for her. She was eager to head to the fighting. The television changed to show two turians sitting behind a desk, holding data slates. The headline at the bottom of the screen said. "War in Orion Arm intensifies."
"-The battle of Alluvio in the Bhaakto system continues unabated. The Asari Sixth Fleet is currently attempting to break the planetary blockade. Their arrival was a great surprise for the besieged UNSC forces in the system. Who had dug in for their final stand. After two hours, Asari and UNSC ships managed to breach the blockade and land ground forces.
With the blockade broken, the Coalition assaulted the planet. The 13th Palavan, escorted by the Asari, managed to land 13,000 men on Alluvio. There they grouped up with the 101st ODST, the last bastion of organized resistance. Together, they managed to retake the planetary capital after two days of ceaseless fighting. Having lost the capital, the Covenant pulled back to their shielded landing zones.
The human Admiral Cole, when asked for a comment, said. "Excellent. Five hundred worlds to go."
1100 hours, August 23rd, 2542 (UNSC military calendar)
Telvanis, Hidden ONI cell inside a refugee camp.
"Can you believe that?" Lieutenant Commander Rickard asked Michael Church as they watched the news broadcasts. "There's no editing in these broadcasts! Section Two must be chomping at the bit that they don't get to censor everything going to the Citadel. Poor bastards are gonna lose their budget." Rickard grinned under his breath. He never liked Section Two. It was for petty bureaucrats that didn't have the stomach for proper ONI work. "Throw me one of those Asari beers," Rickard told Michael, who complied and grabbed one from the cooler and threw it over.
Operation: INFESTATION was an outstanding success so far. Rickard had turned a handful of ONI survivors into the first spy network in Citadel Space.
They were listening in on every public broadcasting service, while dumb AI sifted through the data. The average day for an ONI agent on Telvanis was quite boring, all things considered. They'd wake up, replace the other shift, and resume data collection. They'd watch the news, check local message boards, mingle with the crowds, and generally act like model citizens. To any observer, they'd look like bored human refugees waiting for something to happen.
The cover was an excellent one. According to which, they were war-weary refugees living things up. And going by the information they were able to gather, it was effective. Citadel life was downright hedonistic compared to war-weary UNSC worlds. Many human refugees were quick to discover the niceties of Citadel life, partaking in the abundant sex, food, and drugs. As a frontier-worlder, Michael had never experienced such luxury. He shared this with most ONI agents not from Earth or Reach. The agents from Earth and Reach had no issue mingling with the crowds, whereas Michael couldn't keep strong liquor down.
"Jackson. Anything on your end?" Rickard asked, putting up his feet and taking a long sip from some asari beer-equivalent. He was referring to an ONI pencil pusher in charge of the data collection dumb they'd smuggled with them.
"Nothing worth noting. is still trying to calculate how hard you have to ram a Covenant ship to break. is still circle-jerking about taking the fight to the Covenant. There's stories of soldiers talking about re-enlisting, gun-donation drives, fundraising."
"Can you elaborate?" Rickard asked.
"These Turians must consider gun control to be a very dirty word. Most of them are packing heavy firepower from the looks of things. It's become the biggest subject on the Turian Extranet "How to support the Humans." It's actually quite touc- Oh wow, civilian-owned rocket launchers. That's awesome." Jackson said.
The others in the room stood up from what they were doing and walked up to Jackson's screen.
It showed a group picture of what looked like Turian blue-collar workers, holding a large banner. They stood in front of a crate containing everything from pistols to shotguns. The banner read. "From the workers of Taetrus. Give them hell!"
Rickard walked off, shaking his head, then sat down on a couch. "Why can't things be simple anymore," he asked out loud.
"This assignment has to be the most boring I have ever been on." Rickard spat out, sounding annoyed. "I thought we'd find something incriminating on the Citadel. Something worth worrying about, at least! Not play games on the extranet, post on military forums, gain weight, and in Johannes's case, impregnate the locals!" He said, glaring at the ONI agent, who blushed. "Congratulation. You're the first human to ever knock up an alien. If you become a bad father and cause an interspecies incident, I am going to shoot you."
Rickard leaned forward, putting his hands together. He waxed. "I'm sure Section Two will appreciate the information about Citadel life we've gathered. But I doubt Asari pornography, and pictures of varren are going to please their requests for more information." Rickard sighed. "I'll send our next progress report and either ask for more powerful equipment or a transfer back to UNSC space. I'm not made for… -working- with aliens! I'm better at dissecting them."
Rickard was silent. "I thought we'd at least get something out of it! Black market contacts. Hints of the true political dealings of the galaxies. Contraband. The kind of things I can work with. What am I going to tell our bosses? "They have this amazing powder that feels better than any morphine, and the asari love sex! Why Johannes impregnated the daughter of a local crime boss!" No. We need to move. Go somewhere we can get more information to send back."
Rickard thought it over.
There was a knocking at the door. Two knocks, a pause, then three taps. A messenger has arrived.
Michael stood up and walked up to the door, opening it. A plain-looking woman with ginger hair and a freckled face stepped through the door. She nodded at Michael and walked inside, sitting down without a word and sitting down. The woman rolled up her right sleeve revealing her arm to be mechanical. She opened the control panel of her cybernetic arm and removed what looked like a processor. She handed it over to Richard, who inserted it into his neural interface. Rickard froze up and his eyes went wide as the data played across his retina.
Rickard muttered. "Well. I'll be."
Michael swiveled in his chair, turning to face Rickard. "What is it, Sir?"
"Orders from Parangosky herself. We're to move to Omega." Rickard paused. "ONI wants a foothold in the black market."
Nialla decided that a walk outdoors would do her some good. After finishing her new calibrations, she'd had the rest of the day to herself. Nialla felt that it was time she had a look at life on the Citadel.
The war was thousands of light-years away, but its effects were already becoming plain to see. For one thing, everyone was talking about it. Wherever she walked, she heard conversations about the growing scale of the conflict. People talked about everything from the Turian mobilization increasing, to what the humans were like. Nialla noted with approval that there was an air of optimism to the whole ordeal. Everyone had made peace with this being a long war, but also a justified one.
That and a lot of people were becoming very rich, very fast. Companies were ravenous for skilled labor needed to feed the war machine. Each was trying to offer better employment opportunities than the last.
"Needed! Skilled Miners. Inquire about our free gene health program!"
"Hard-working hands needed on Trigina Petra. Education provided. Get your own farm after your term is over!"
"Cargo pilots needed. Free neural cybernetics after five years of employment!"
Seeing this made her quite happy. As the daughter of two engineers, it always pleased her to see skilled laborers earning a solid wage. The UNSC's ravenous desire for raw materials was almost outstripping supply. Her augmented senses fed the flood of information to her internal VI, which filtered it for relevant subjects.
The Titanium and Fissile materials markets were booming due to the enormous demand of the UNSC. The sheer demand for labor even led to a massive increase in the average wage, as companies attempted to poach each other's workforce. In the Terminus Systems, several megacorporations had even declared war over rich deposits. Meanwhile, on Illium, indentured servant contracts were soaring in price.
But things weren't one-sided. The news reports talked of multi-trillion credit licensing deals for human medical and industrial technologies. If not for the sheer amount that the UNSC was importing, they would be one of the richest races outside the "Council three"
Nialla sat down on a bench, trying to think about what she should do next. She truly felt aimless without being at the front. She'd just have to hope that the next week passed quickly.
Meanwhile at Citadel Tower.
Private Council meeting chamber.
Tevos took a sip from her wine. A cheap brand of wine she'd always liked, ever since she'd been a Maiden. The last few months had been a hectic time for the Citadel Council, and they were all using their own methods to cope. She'd noticed Valern had injection marks on his wrists for Stimulant injectors. Sparatus meanwhile, had booked a weekly session with the Consort. Neither of the two were bothering to hide their vices. There was too much work to do.
Tevos yawned and began drinking straight from the bottle. She was too tired to use a glass. Valern chuckled at this, while Sparatus had a thousand-yard stare.
After a moment of silence, Tevos spoke up.
"Tax revenues in the Asari Republic have doubled after we succeeded in bringing the bureaucracies into line." Tevos activated the holographic emitter at the center of the table with a wave of her hand. "Commando recruitment is up five hundred percent, with many more signing up for the expeditionary forces. Naval production will double before the end of the year." Tevos waved to the next image. "Several asari megacorporations have negotiated with the humans for Slipspace drives. There is currently a thriving trade of Slipspace drives for Eezo, that I am fostering as much as possible. We will be performing our first Slipspace test flights next month." Tevos fought back the desire to yawn. "The UNSC has so far not ceased its increasing demands for raw materials, no matter how much income they make. The galactic central bank has so far confirmed that they can manage the current rate of imports for twenty years." Tevos nodded to Sparatus, who took over.
"The UEG and the Hierarchy are negotiating for increased cooperation in military production. The UNSC has many amazing war machines they can no longer produce due to lost manufacturing centers. After the successful AC-220 Vulture deal, the UNSC is looking to get similar deals for other vehicles they can no longer produce. There are talks about a "Coalition Grizzly" to give the Hierarchy a new superheavy MBT. The Joint Research Initiative is currently working with UEG corporations to ease joint technological development. Cheaper hydrogen power cells, ammo fabricators, ME-compressed alloys, and barriers are the priority at the moment. But successful experiments are using an eezo core to lighten the vehicle and increasing the speed. Currently, the focus is on rapid deployment and upgrading existing stock. The hope is that when the front has stabilized, we can design new vehicles involving both our technologies, from the ground up."
Sparatus poured himself a drink from a flask and worked it down, he coughed and wiped the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief. A gross breach of etiquette, but they were all doing so. Tevos took the break as an excuse to down her bottle of wine, while Valern injected another stimulant. So long their performance did not degrade, the three could care less about peacetime niceties.
Sparatus changed the holographic display to two ships. A Turian cruiser and a human ship designated a "Halberd Class.". "Our recent battles with the Covenant have shown clear deficiencies in Turian firepower. With the threat of the Covenant, the admiralty decided to ask the UNSC for help in designing a new cruiser. The Joint Research Initiative is designing a version for use by the Hierarchy. In exchange, we will be providing the UNSC the production patterns for our Telkis dropships, our Tyruss IFV, and our Jiris IFV's. We will also be helping them create a hovertank variant of the UNSC Scorpion."
"The Joint Research Institute, Sino-Soviet Engineering, as well as the Turian Hierarchy Naval Research & Developmental bureau are currently designing a new "E-MAC". The intent is to create a basic template for use by us, and our allies. So far, we intend to combine the incredible yield of a UNSC MAC, Mass Effect technology to create a superior gun. Simulations have shown that it could be possible to double the firepower of UNSC MAC's. This is thanks to using a Mass Effect core to lighten the shell before it leaves the barrel. The increased speed means either a much more powerful shot. But it can also enable MAC's with smaller shells, so ships can carry more ammunition or rapid-fire MAC guns. The Turian Admiralty wishes to mount an improved main gun, on our next line of cruisers. Elkoss Combine has drawn up plans for a version that has half the firepower of a UNSC MAC, but double the fire rate. This suits our doctrine of rapid firepower."
Tevos did some quick mental calculations. "From our reports. It takes two to three MAC rounds for a UNSC ship to destroy a Covenant ship of similar mass. Correct?" She continued when Sparatus nodded. "That means the humans will be more evenly matched with the Covenant. At least in firepower if the E-MAC meets its projected output. How about defenses?"
Sparatus smiled and continued. "Barrier designs compatible with UNSC power systems are being designed. These theoretical E-MAC ships would come with the strongest barriers possible. The UNSC has also approached us for help in setting up their own Mass-Compression alloys. This will allow them to compress Titanium-A battle plate to half its original size, while losing no strength. Using their Slipspace Drives, doubling the amount of armor on each UNSC ship is a workable proposition. The Hierarchy is also interested in this "Titanium-A" and we are licensing our own variant. This is the raw design so far."
Sparatus pointed at the two images, and with a wave of his omni tool, both ships disassembled, then moved together, merging into a single whole.
"The new cruiser's main weapon will be an E-MAC geared for rapid firepower. The primary fusion drives will remain the same. But we will add four anti-proton thrusters. It will be equipped with both a Slipspace and an eezo core. The framework of the ship will be a partial Silaris design, for the core of the superstructure. Point defense consists of six overlapping batteries of ultraviolet GARDIAN turrets. Using UNSC cooling technology, these turrets will have a much longer lifespan. There will be thirty missile pods, each containing nuclear, warp, or antimatter payloads. Orbital bombardment rods are a possibility as well. There will be four torpedo tubes, each with a Shiva-Class nuclear torpedo. Or any other torpedo of an equal size. We are negotiating with the UNSC for the specifications of the Shiva. They have expressed interest in trading them for Disruptor Torpedo technology. Finally. There will be enough space to launch up to twenty drone-fighters."
"Now. Onto what we have learned about war with the Covenant, so far." The image changed to that of a Turian Dreadnought. "The main issue we have faced so far when facing the Covenant is that our dreadnoughts no longer fit in this current paradigm. Instead of shipkillers, they will become dedicated command ships. There are also plans to create a line of dedicated drone carriers from Dreadnought hulls. The main inspiration came from the battle of New Milan. Using massed heavy fighters to hunt down and destroy weakened Covenant ships. The Admiralty believes that the best path forward is to use massed drone fighters as a finishing blow. Each will be either equipped with a spread of disruptor torpedoes or ram the Covenant ship and detonate a nuclear warhead."
"Another lesson we learned at the battle of New Milan was the heavy losses our frigates would take. The Hierarchy is considering making all frigates remote-controlled. The progress the Salarians made in this field showed excellent promise." Sparatus smiled at Valern, who returned a nod.
"As always, we will be sharing our doctrinal changes with the Asari and the Salarians so they can optimize their cooperation. We are working as fast as we can to make this design a reality. And will begin production as soon as possible. But this could take several years. Until then, we will have to hold the line."
Valern nodded. "Technological cooperation will prove vital in winning this war. Pushing on the Covenant so we can garner strategic depth, to then trade away for time, seems to be the best course of action. I will be suggesting to the Salarian Union to consider transitioning to the same cruiser-dominant doctrine."
"I'll do the same for the Asari."
"The Hierarchy and the humans are getting along quite well it seems." Valern remarked.
Sparatus gave a weary, but a proud smile. "They are a strong and resourceful people, who have so far endured incredible hardships. The galaxy can always use a second meritocratic military state to maintain peace and order."
Tevos raised an eyebrow at that remark. "The Hierarchy would not wish for the restoration of a civilian government of the humans?"
"Primarch Fedorian has expressed great admiration of the UNSC. We would be willing to assist the UNSC in creating a meritocratic autocracy. He would be delighted to share the turian system of governance."
Tevos couldn't help but feel conflicted upon hearing that claim. Matriarch Benezia had informed Tevos that the human government was once a representative democracy. Tevos had assumed that humanity could transition back into this when the threat of extinction had lessened. But the idea of the Turian Hierarchy using its millennia of experience with military autocracy to aid the UNSC in establishing a similar system could set a dangerous precedent. ?
She spoke up. "Sparatus. I must ask you to plead with the Primarch to not adopt such a foreign policy. Galactic peace depends on a single autocratic meritocracy. The galaxy would profit a thousand times more from a wealthy industrial humanity. A second Hierarchy could throw the balance of power into disarray."
Sparatus eyed Tevos with an unscrupulous gaze, examining her for any sign of double intent. Realizing he was dealing with Tevos and how pointless such an attempt was, he nodded. "I see where you're coming from. I will ask the Primarch to not support the UNSC over the UEG. So long as the Asari will not try to empower the UEG over the UNSC."
Tevos nodded. "The humans should decide their own fate."
She quickly changed the subject. "Valern. Any news on your AI research?"
The Salarian nodded eagerly. "Yes! A week ago we created our first AI with UNSC aid. And much to our delight, the product really was a Salarian in digital form. The AI had morals, ethics, and even a sense of humor. The discovery is causing waves in the scientific community on Sur'Kesh."
Sparatus looked bemused. " I will recommend to the Hierarchy that we follow the Salarian's in this field. The concept of "serving beyond death" as an AI is gaining traction in the Hierarchy. Primarch Fedorian has even asked to have his brain used to create an AI upon his death. There are talks of creating a new citizenship-tier for these "uploads"."
Tevos still remembered the Morning War and couldn't help but be disturbed at the prospect of so many AI being created. But it was not her decision to decide what the Turians and Salarians did. She smiled diplomatically. "I can not make promises for the Asari Republics, as each republic will decide its own laws on this new technology. But so long the right safeguards are in place, I can not object."
Valern nodded. "They'd be used aboard warships for the time being. With no ability to connect to outside networks."
"What about their "Dumb" AI. Any discoveries?" She asked.
Valern shook his head. "From what we can see, a Dumb AI is just a high grade VI with more personality than most. Impressive, but nothing worth worrying about."
Tevos nodded. "Some final smaller matters then. Firstly. The Quarians."
Sparatus rolled his eyes. "Are they making another badly-disguised attempt at provoking the Geth?" He asked.
She shook her head. "No. They are requesting the right to negotiate with the UNSC. working in zero-g construction and salvaging and such."
Sparatus shrugged. "So long they agree to go through the same customs all other ships do. Any ship that goes into UNSC Space only leaves when the UNSC agrees. What do you think, Valern?" He asked the Salarian.
"Agreed. Might as well."
Valern put his hands together and began to speak. "We have made some progress in analyzing the Covenant ship we partially captured. But the engineering is… nonsensical. Its like they don't work by anything that we would call sensible engineering. We're working with the humans on reverse engineering Covenant computer systems, and we are making some progress, but progress is slow. Same on their shielding and their FTL drive. It will take some time to make any serious progress. "
Not seeing any questions, Valern continued. "The underground ruins are slowly being mapped as we clear them. But it's still a chemical warzone down there. We did make one small discovery of note. We believe we found a computer terminal, and we are analyzing what we can. But the process is slow. So far, it appears like the ruin was stripped clean long ago, so it might be our only discovery of note. We did manage to recover a name. We believe it was the destination."
"What was it?"
Valern checked the name again. "Charum Hakkor"