Authors note: So took a little longer than I thought to get this down and right, so sorry about that. Luckily I'm mostly sure everyone will like this chapter a lot. So enjoy the siege of kar'shan, or at least the most important event of said siege XD
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Widow Cluster, The Citadel Presidium, October 7, 2142. Two days after the notice of the Alliance was with the Batarian Hegemony. 1432 hours Alliance time.
"And now we return to our primary program. Before our break we spoke with Asari Diplomat Matriarch Benezia, who had given us many interesting views on the Alliance and the reasoning behind their actions past and present, so now I shall introduce our next guest. With us now is Jondam Bau of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. Mr Bau, thank you for coming today!"
"Of course, it is my pleasure."
"First of all, as a Spectre, you've had dealing with the Alliance in the past. From your experience, why would you say they went so far as to declare war with so little evidence?"
"Of course. But to understand their reasoning, you must understand one thing that is very important. The Alliance is similar to the Council."
"Could you please explain? I think many viewers would have trouble believing such a statement, don't you?"
"No. Like the Council, the Alliance is a group of species that have banded together to be stronger as one, and just like the Council, they make decisions as a group. What is different is that their decisions do not effect just their territory but all of their species as well as their socio-economic and military and research values."
"But how does that change the meaning of what they have done?"
"The meaning is different because it shows the difference in how their government is built, and how the history of their three races effects their choices and values. Despite the shortness, their histories are far more violent than say the Sari, Volus, or even the Salarians and Quarians. This is a prime example of why they act as they do. Because of how violent their history is they are quick to use violence as a means to-"
Flandre Scarlet tuned out the annoying noise of the news and conversations being shown on the TV's across the Presidium. Every restaurant, café, lobby and store was showing the same channels. Either analysts or phycologists trying to explain to the masses why the Alliance had chosen to do what they did, or trying to calm people down, mostly a combination of both.
It was a complete waste of time really, no analyst of phycologist could hope to understand their choices unless they had actually met and conversed with someone, and even then it would be nearly impossible for them to discover most people's reasonings. Most people in the Alliance were utterly insane by Council standards, but it was something that came with magic being widespread!
Of course the Citadels choice of news problems was not the real problem. If they wanted to use them as a way to make people think about the reason instead of the fact that the war was on the middle of happening, that was their business.
"Don't move!"
No. The real problem was the fools that thought the war meant she was free game to attack.
Flandre let out a sigh and turned around, seeing a pair of Batarians, a Turian, a Drell and a Krogan all standing, their pointing weapons at her. The Krogan and Drell seemed to be mercenaries by their clothing, but all of them held only accelerator handguns. They all looked angry, but it was abundantly clear they were also nervous and afraid. Around them were dozens of nervous onlookers, some watching with interest, while most seemed horrified or fearful. Flandre had a rather grim reputation for what she did to people who attacked her after all, but what surprised her was that no one was visibly tying to call C-sec.
"Are you really pointing your little peashooters at me?" Flandre asked them coolly. She did enjoy fighting, and the chance to actually feed off people as alien bloods tasted phenomenal, each with their own tanginess and flavors. But the truth of the fact was that it was getting absurdly repetitive with the number of half assed people who were picking fights with her now. All because the Council let the Batarians loose so they would not be pulled into the Alliances war with them.
"W-what does it look like, you stupid Human?" One of the Batarians yelled, shaking his handgun a bit as he spoke.
Flandre snarled with bared fangs as her wing crystals shook and began humming with power. "I'm a Youkai, you Hegemony fuck!"
"Shut up!" The other one yelled, clearly shivering as he did. "You, you think we'll just take this! We should just kill you now!"
"You couldn't kill her even if you had heavy weapons. A bunch of pistols will be worthless here." came a Turians voice as Councillor Sparatus walked over and stared at the five people.
"Huh, you're going to protect this monster!" the Turian yelled at Sparatus, who simply nodded.
"Regardless of what reputation she has, she is the Alliance ambassador to the Citadel. Leave now before I call C-Sec. Understood?"
"What, how could you-"? began one Batarian, before the other put a hand in front of them.
"Don't, he's right, this isn't the way." The one Batarian grumbled something, but after a second they, and those with them walked off and the on looking crowd began to part.
"You know they couldn't have done anything to me, right?" Flandre said after a moment of silence.
"No, but someone has to clean up the mess you seem to always make when you fight back." Sparatus replied with a heavy sigh as he turned to Flandre. "We've had numerous complaints about what you leave behind after you're attacked. In addition to the usual complaints."
"Well, it's good to know I'm well renowned, and that the complaints of your cleaning staff rank so highly," Flandre said with a grin as she walked up to Sparatus's side. "I was heading back to my place though, so please excuse me."
"Actually, there is something we need to discuss." Sparatus said as Flandre began to walk away.
Flandre stopped a bare meter behind Sparatus. "Normally you'd all wait until a Council meeting, or you'd call my abode or office. What's different?"
"I'd rather not speak of it here." Sparatus said simply. His voice was calm and controlled, but something about the way he was standing seemed off, and Flandre could smell the nervousness radiating off of him.
" . . .Alright, then why don't we go to my place? It's not far, and since my office is there as well anything needing to be official can be." Flandre finally said as she continued walking, expecting Sparatus to follow her. He did.
Flandre's abode, also her office and Mokou and Mei's temporary home, was located on an edge of the Presidium, in a location where there was not much else. The MAGTECH Reactor that was installed there was shielded, but because of its presence many people, especially biotics, found being near the building to be unnerving at least, and headache inducing at the worst if they were near it for long periods of time. It was also, of course, the abode of an Alliance vampire, something Citadel folk had learned was a dangerous and dark thing. People simply stayed away from it, or took alternate routes to avoid it completely, giving the area an unlived in, desolate feeling.
Her actual home however, did not have the desolate feeling. As soon as Sparatus stepped in behind Flandre, he noticed the home was well lit and warm. Carpets covered the floor, something rare in many places on the Citadel, and the air smelled clean, oddly so.
"Mei, Mokou, you in?" Flandre called out as soon as the door shut behind Sparatus, her voice seeming far louder than her body should be able to produce.
"Kitchen!" came a reply from who Sparatus was mostly sure was Flandre's bodyguard Mokou. He had found her mostly easy to deal with. If only because she was completely immortal and un-killable and left only piles of ashes to clean up if someone attacked her. While it was dark and horribly unmoral, it was easier to clean up ashes than a person remains scattered across a half kilometer. It also saved having to cremate them.
Spirits, the Alliance was getting to him!
Flandre motioned for him to follow as she left the foyer and entered what looked to be a living room, the kitchen attached to one side and plainly visible. In the kitchen stood Mokou, wearing what appeared to be some sort of tight fitting top and a pair of casual pants. Sparatus still was not sure what he thought of Alliance casual clothing, as it could range to any extreme, but he had to admit that it often showed off a woman's waist excellently!
"Oh, we have a guest then?" Mokou commented as she did something in the kitchen, a crossbar of dark hardwood across the counter making it impossible to tell what she was doing.
"Yes, but it's not official . . . or is it? Flandre asked as she looked back at Sparatus.
"Depending on what I bring up first, it's both official and unofficial. It's just Hierarchy business that's official though, not Council." Sparatus replied calmly, suddenly smelling the obvious scent of tea in the air.
Spirits, did Alliance teas smell good, so much better than Batarian or Asari teas!
"That's perfect then. I just brewed a pot, and you've piqued my interest!" Mokou explained as she came out of the kitchen with the pot of tea on a tray, as well as numerous cups. She walked right in front of Flandre and Sparatus, casually taking a seat on a sofa and placing the tray on the table.
A second later Flandre sat down on a single chair to Mokus' left and she looked up at Sparatus. "Going to sit down or are you intending to stand the whole time we talk?"
Sparatus nodded and took a seat on the couch, at the far end as far away from Mokou as possible. Even after all the time dealing with Flandre, he still was not sure of how to deal with Alliance races on most occasions. Some could be perfectly normal and calm, while others seemed twitchy and could go off at any time. The Alliance itself was far more academically and militarily inclined than they could be though, so at least he mostly understood how their military operation worked to an extent, and knew that they would, most of the time, listen to their superiors.
Probably.
"So, do we start with the official, or unofficial business first then?" Flandre suddenly spoke up with a smile as Mokou passed her a filled teacup, then filled another and slid it in front of Sparatus.
"The official business first." Spartacus said as he took a sip of the tea and placed it down. Silently thankful that the Alliances tea did not require those god awful pills to allow Turians to drink it without problem. "The Hierarchy over this past year has had a new Primarch put into position, as you know. And while we've requested this before, I've been asked to request it in a slightly different matter. The Hierarchy is requesting Alliance assistance, in two things. The first is a request for a handful of people to start a magic course for the Turian hierarchy. Despite some outbursts, the large number of Turian generals believe it could be a useful tool, just as biotic are and-"
"You do remember that if they learn magic, your people will be unable to be around mass effect technology for long periods, yes?" Flandre interrupted with a smirk.
Sparatus nodded calmly. "Yes, I am aware. It is for that reason that the Hierarchy is also requesting the second thing. They are asking to start a cooperative ship building project with your engineers, for the reason of both understanding Alliance technology, discovering a way to fuse technologies, and prepare for a future need for non Eezo powered craft."
Flandre let out a sigh as Mokou simply shook her head. "You know the Salarians keep contacting me for the same thing, only they also keep trying to hack our computers, break past our encryption and steal classified information as well. It's clear all they want is access to our technology, so how is this any different than that, or the Councils attempts to trick us into handing over technology?"
Sparatus silently tapped his omnitool and pulled up a document, holding it up in front of him so that Mokou and Flandre could read it. It took a second, but both of their eyes went wide.
"Is this accurate?" Mokou asked unsurely. "I can see all the correct signage but . . ."
"It is accurate," Sparatus stated in a low tone. "You can pass this information on if you wish as long as it is discreet. The situation is still under development."
"I understand," Flandre said with a nod as she took a copy of the info and stored it. "I'll pass that one along with the requests but I cannot guarantee anything. Is that all the official business then?"
"Yes. Unofficially I would like an answer to a question, and I will not reveal what is answered to anyone else until it is chosen to be made public . . . How well is the Alliances invasion of Kar'shan going?"
Flandre let out an amused chuckle. "Tevos and Valern have been avoiding asking that, you know? it's like they're trying to keep the whole thing under wraps."
"They are," Sparatus admitted with a sigh. "The Batarians have been a Council species for centuries. To find out they have been willingly breaking our rules all this time, and to just let them go to save the rest of the Council is not something they want to be common knowledge. It's why they are trying to divert everyone's attention. And once your war ends, we'll come up with some spirits damned cover story that is more publicly acceptable."
"You don't sound like you support it," Mokou commented with a sly grin.
"I don't. The Batarians disregarded Citadel law and are getting what is coming to them. The public should be aware as well, so they realize with actions come consequences."
"Heh, I'll have to show you an old video of the Alliances we used for PR a while back," Flandre said with a smile. "To take out a terrorist group, I blew up a sun!"
Sparatus stared at Flandre for a second before swallowing. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Yep!"
Spartus hung his head down and let out an exasperated sigh. "I really need to just start assuming what you can do based off your vids. It'll probably be more accurate."
"Probably. To answer your question though, the invasion is going slowly but effectively. The Batarian fleets were annihilated easily, but the ground attacks are taking more time."
"I see. Did the information you got about their caste structure help any?"
"It did yes. We're executing anyone from the Batarian government, or high ranking military or labour caste, basically anyone who was allowed to own slaves. Those who were not allowed to own slaves however are being given a chance to surrender. The last bundle of information I got stated our people have taken roughly thirty percent of the land, and that half of the Batarian forces we've met had willingly surrendered. Most of the lowest castes have surrendered unconditionally. It seems the Batarians government controlled their people with an iron fist, and the lower castes are seeing this as a way to start fresh."
"I see. We knew that the Batarians controlled their own people forcibly, but I never imagined it was to such a significant extent. Are your people having difficulties?"
"Some. Most of our forces, not counting Bladebreakers, are not well versed in conquering areas and holding them, so some of our forces are moving slower while others are pushing too far ahead and becoming cut off from our main lines."
"That sounds normal for an invasion scenario. How are the Batarian defences holding?"
"Most have been blown apart from orbit, but some are too close to heavy population areas, so Earthrazers and Red Eyes are dealing with them. We're trying not to, but Hackett is getting impatient so he may start ordering orbital bombardments on small scale targets and then start escalating. Using them as a fear tactic."
"That is against Council law." Sparatus said simply.
"Yes, and neither the Alliance, nor the Batarians are a Council race anymore!" Flandre said with a grin. "Feeling regretful for them yet?"
"No."
"Wow, fast answer. I'm guessing you also want to know about Arterius?" Flandre asked with a grin.
Sparatus nodded. " He's a good man who did what he felt was best, and because of one person's grudge he's seen as a pariah by many. Is he doing well?"
"Yes, he's joined the attack on Kar'shan apparently," Mokou provided.
"I see. I suppose that means his skill and power in your Alliance magic is even more substantial than before. Perhaps he'll even surpass some of our generals and spectres, yet another reason why our more understanding generals wish to look into magic seriously," Sparatus said with a dry laugh.
"It is possible, he is. . . . ."
Flandre stopped midsentence, and the room became as silent as the grave. Sparatus felt a cold feeling wash over him and looked at Flandre and Mokou, seeing a strange expression on their faces that made him feel even colder.
"Is. . .is something wrong?" Sparatus asked clearly nervous about the sudden change in atmosphere.
Mokou nodded slowly. "You could say that, yes."
"What is it?" Sparatus pushed.
Flandre smiled, her fangs showing as she seemed to tremble with excitement. "Yukari just did something, I'm not sure what. But something big, has changed!"
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Harsa system, Kar'shan, October 7, 2142. 1407 hours Alliance time. The Batarian Capitol of Harshov.
The sky was filled with plumes of smoke, while the acrid smell of burning blood and burnt flesh hung in the air. Buildings sat in piles of rubble, while circuitry smouldered and sparked from underneath the ruins of a civilization.
Kar'shan, the Bataraian home world, a world with over two thousand years of spacefaring history, and many thousands more of its own history, was burning like the fires of hell.
Desolas understood the situation. The Batarian Hegemony had committed atrocities for generation, and this was the final point where the punishment from their actions was being met out. The Alliance was tearing across the planet, killing any who resisted and taking captive those that surrendered. Those that did surrender were treated well after they undertook an evaluation of some sort, but that did not change what was happening.
They were sieging a planet to such an extent that the scars would be visible for generations. The capitol had been the main target from the get go, but now that they were in the capitol itself the fighting was fierce, and the destruction even more widespread.
A chain of explosion rang down a street across the city, splitting a building in two before it crumbled into pieces. Even closer a twister tore up from the street sending tanks and infantry lying in every direction. Just more proof that the Alliance did not mess around.
Suddenly a cry of rage attracted Desolas's attention. Turning around he saw a Batarian tank round a corner, its guns firing at anything and everything that moved as it went, the driver clearly having gone crazy. A line of Alliance soldiers were nearby and hitting it with heavy beam weapons, but the tank was somehow still going despite its damage. Desolas threw his hand out toward it and a bolt of lightning answered his will, streaking across the street and striking the tanks turret, turning it into a smouldering wreck. Seconds later the tank dropped to the ground with a thud, smoke emanating from every inch of it as a fire suddenly flared up out of the crew compartment, along with pained screams.
Just as Desolas took a step toward the soldiers another tank came around a street corner, its turret turning toward him in a smooth controlled motion. It never had a chance to fire as a mass crashed onto its top and drove a wedge shaped indent into its main body. A second later Adaaya stood up from the indent and dropped off the tank, her wings making her easy to notice as she turned to Desolas.
"Yo, Desolas, you okay? I noticed you had disappeared when that building fell and split out squad," Adaaya asked as she walked over while stretching her arms from side to side.
"Yeah, I'm not well versed in having buildings dropped on me, so I was wandering while looking for friendlies," Desolas said with a shrug. "I keep finding tanks and elite infantry though. It's odd."
"Hmm? why?"
"Well, we think that the building over to the east is the Batarian emperor's palace, right?" Desolas said as he pointed to a building in the centre of the city, taller than any other, extremely gaudy in its looks, and under siege from all sides."
"Yeah?"
"Well, we're near an edge of the city, so why so many tanks all the way out here, and where are they coming from when we've got almost the whole city surrounded?"
"Well, yeah, we-," Adaaya stopped as she suddenly nodded in realization and began looking around, her eyes like a hawks hunting for prey.
"Ma'am, we've separated from our captain. Orders?" one of the soldiers asked as they came over and noticed Adaaya's N5 markings.
"Head further into the city and join whichever group you find. There's something me and Desolas need to look into here." Adaaya ordered in a steely tone, never looking at the soldiers as they bowed and ran off. "Desolas, can you see anything odd around here?"
Desolas glanced around and shook his head. "No. We're clearly on the edge of a factory district, but I cannot see anything specific. The buildings are too generic and there's to much smoke and rubble."
"Then we go up!" Adaaya said as her wings spread out and lifted up.
"Do you want to become a target for AA guns?" Desolas said instantly, causing Adaaya to flinch slightly.
"No. They should be busy though, we've a lot of flyers running around. And if we stay low it shouldn't be a problem. You coming with?"
"Haa, fine. But we're keeping low, I can't move as fast as you, and I don't want to be an AA target," Desolas said as he focused his magic. A second later his body lifted off the ground and he lifted higher into the air.
Adaaya smirked and flapped her wings instantly pushing herself above the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. "See anything?"
Desolas lifted up to Adaaya's height and looked around. "The buildings all look the same from a distance. Let's move around and see if anything looks off," Desolas answer as he formed a pair of wide metal blade that hovered beside him. Better to be cautious.
Adaaya nodded as the two of them began flying over top of the buildings. Adaaya would pick up and low down her speed in a rhythm, pulling ahead and slowing down to keep up with Desolas's slower speed. The sounds of combat and war were all around them, making it hard to see anything. They could even hear the sound of missiles being fired.
In that moment Desolas turned around and swung his arm, sending one of his blades out in a wide arc, slashing a missile out of the air that otherwise would have struck him in the back.
"Where did that come from?" Desolas muttered angrily as electricity arced across his shoulders and down his arms. The missile had been large, far larger than any infantry force could carry, there had to be a launcher somewhere!
"I'm not sure; I didn't hear it immediately over the other noise. Would it have come from a fighter craft? I don't see one," Adaaya commented as she looked around while she clenched and unclenched her hands repeatedly.
"No, it had to be from either an instillation or a mobile launcher," Desolas replied as he began scanning the buildings below, noticing a small section of a rooftop slide open as he did. A second later a small launcher with a single missile in it poked out and spun toward them. A quick bolt of lightning blew apart the missile and its holder in one shot. "There."
"Huh, the building looks like all the others," Adaaya commented as they both flew over and landed on the roof by the smoking mess.
"Except for the flaming hole, let's see what's inside." Desolas replied as he willed one of his blades to slice apart the roof around the burning wreck. As soon as there was enough room they both dropped into the warehouse.
It had looked like all the others from the outside, but from the inside it was clearly different. The walls were reinforced stone with metal bands. The windows were easily over a foot thick, and aside from the tower with the broken missile launcher, the majority of the floor was taken up by a large metal square, a large elevator that appeared to go deep below ground if its location and size was any indicator. There was nothing else in the room, no machinery, no rooms or walls, and no soldiers. Just a wrecked missile launcher and a massive supply elevator.
"Okay, this is suspicious," Adaaya finally stated as she walked over to the elevator and looked at the simplistic controls at the one corner. All it had was an up and down button, and the console itself looked old but well used.
"No, really? The single hidden missile turret and the thick walls of a warehouse holding only an elevator doesn't make things suspicious?"
Adaaya turned to Desolas and smiled. "Wow, you've learned sarcasm!"
"Ugh, do we call this in or what?"
"Hell no, I'm seeing where this goes! Could be hidden bunker for their leaders!"
"Or some kind of trap."
"Maybe. You coming or am I going down alone?" Adaaya asked as she pressed the down button, causing a small light to flash orange for a few second before the platform began slowly shifting downwards into the earth.
"Fine, I'll come," Desolas said with a sigh as he walked over and dropped down onto the platform right as it began going down faster. "What do we have for equipment?"
"Um, I got a grenade, one breaching charge that I never use, and a pulse pistol, you?"
"My silver ingots, two incendiary grenades, a small med kit and my beam rifle."
"We'll be fine then," Adaaya said with a wave as she looked up at the spot of light from above them, getting smaller and smaller. This is going an awful long way down."
"It's also slowing down, so I think we're near the bottom. . . How far down do you think we've gone?"
"Hmmm, maybe a third of a kilometer?"
"That's. . . . pretty far down actually," Desolas said as the elevator slowed to a crawl and stopped. The only thing in front of them was a single set of double doors made of polished steel. A red light lit overtop of them. "And, that looks ridiculous."
"It does, huh? Shall we knock?" Adaaya asked with a grin as she raised a clenched fist.
Desolas nodded and in that second Adaaya leapt at the door. One swing put a dent the size of a body in the left side, then another put a similar dent in the right. A third swing opened the centre of the door, and a fourth and fifth blew the doors out of the wall, sending them flying down the hall. A low, buzzing alarm began sounding as the bright lighting was replaced with dim red.
"Well, their security alarms work," Desolas said as one of his swords moved in front of him and expanded just in time for a hail of accelerator fire to ping off it harmlessly.
"Well, at least we'll have no shortage of targets in an enclosed space right?" Adaaya said from beside the door, outside of the hallways sight.
"Yeah. .. . Strike as soon as their heatsinks overheat?" Desolas asked as he formed silver blades off of his amrs just above his hands, the wall of silver still holding.
"Hell, yes. Just gives the word and I'll bowl over their first line!" Adaaya said with a grin, wisps of wind circling her hands in anticipation.
A minute passed, then another, and another, before Desolas let out a sigh. "Okay this is ridiculous. This must an automated turret with some sort of heat jacket or something."
"Agreed, this'll take too long." Adaaya said as she suddenly leapt in front of the hail of accelerator fire, a wispy barrier surrounding her, and then leapt forward into it. A second later there was the sound of shearing metal, the gunfire stopped. "Clear!"
Desolas sighed and returned the silver to its holster, keeping the two blades hovering by his sides as he walked down the hall. Adaaya stood in front of another set of double doors, and beside her sat a pair of large accelerator guns, as well as the wall mount they had been built into, sparking constantly. "So, they had two of them. Firing in alternating bursts probably?"
"Didn't notice," Adaaya said as she kicked the doors in front of her, sending one flying out of its mount.
Both of them stepped through the door, finding a large but empty laboratory awaiting them. Computers sat idle, while strange dark metal objects sat in cases, strange fields surrounding them. As they got to the middle of the room the opposite door slid open and a single Batarian came in. He was wearing the bulkiest armour Desolas had ever seen, complete with actuators and servos at the joints as he hefted a pair of massive arm mounted weapons. Dull lifeless eyes gaze out at them as his mouth formed a smile, right as jets of flame poured out of the weapons. Both Desolas and Adaaya leapt to the sides and ran down opposite walls toward the Batarian, forcing him to move his arms to the side. As soon as his arms were almost parallel with the walls both of them leapt over the gouts of flame. Desolas's blades slicing through the Batarians arms and the suit around them, while Adaaya dropped a heel on and through his head into the torso of the machine before kicking it off her foot into the centre of the room. It sparked a bit then began smoking, but otherwise did nothing.
"So, what was that?" Adaaya asked in confusion as she pointed to the wreck.
"The biggest suit of armour I have ever seen. That was more like a mechanized power suit than body armour, but the Council has tried making power suit and mechanized weapons for centuries without success. How did the Batarians manage it?"
"Well, you'd probably figure it out before I did. But it's probably somewhere in this facility, right? Massive underground facility underneath their capitol seems like a perfectly cliché place to do such research!"
"Cliché?"
" . . . I'll explain later," Adaaya said as she threw the door before them open, revealing a hallway that split to their left and right. "Aw, crap."
"Do we pick one way or split up?" Desolas asked as he looked down both halls. He could not sense anything, but something felt off, like something was scratching at the back of his skull.
"We should be able to split up and meet further in. But let's both be carful about this place. something is . . .strange here."
"You feel it to then?"
"Yes. I'll go right and meet you further in. Call for help on the comms if you need it and I'll be there as quickly as possible."
"Same to you!" Desolas replied as the two of them went down their respective halls. As Desolas went he stowed one of his blades in its holster and pulled out his beam rifle, checking it over before turning off the safety and hearing its slow hum as it charged up and became ready to fire.
Of all the Alliance weapons that existed he liked the beams the most. A strong combination of accuracy and punch that could even break through heavy armour and machinery, it was a perfect midrange weapon. It weighed more than a Council weapon, but the Council weapon could fold up to be more space saving, while Alliance weapons could not. It was a minor trade off, but one he was fine with it considering the boost to his combat power it gave.
Silently walking down a dim hallway Desolas could hear noise ahead of him and carefully looked around a corner. In front of a large door was a pair of Batarian in armour with rifles at the ready. Both looked nervous, but as Desolas prepare to move they spoke up and their conversation caught his attention.
"I don't like this. Kar'shan is under siege and we're sitting guarding a mad scientist and his toys!"
"I agree. Have you seen those people he wires into those suits? it's like their eyes have no life in them. And don't get me started on that other project!"
"You mean the shock troop one with those disgustingly mutilated labor salves?"
"That's the one; they don't even look like people anymore once they go through that. And they just stand around, never doing anything!"
"I think that old wreck is the worst part though. How'd they figure out all these weapons and technologies from such a piece of junk?"
"From the talk I've overheard, that piece of junk might be a derelict Prothean ship and if that's true I can understand how they'd get so much off of it."
"Yeah but . . . Ugh, I'm just dropping that. This whole place gives me the creeps. I hope my families okay. If their smart they'll use our slaves as meat shields to get away!"
"You won't find out though!" Desolas suddenly declared as he came around the corner. In that second he fired his rifle and willed his one blade forward. The one Batarian was lucky as his sword went into his skull killing him instantly. The other was not so lucky as the beam carved a hole in his chest and he fell to the ground, gasping for breaths his body could not find. "So they have an old wrecked ship somewhere that their researching, huh? Interesting," Desolas muttered as he stepped over their bodies and then tore the door they were guarding off its hinges with his blades.
The room before him was best descried as something from vids. Horror vids. Along each wall of the wide room was glass cages with people in them of almost every Council species. Most looked weak and malnourished and ignored him completely, vacant eyes staring at nothing. As he walked further in though, it got worse. Prisoners began to look mutilated, some missing limbs. Other had masses of metal crudely jammed onto their bodies or replacing their limbs, and every single one of them with metal in their tissue had no life in their eyes as they stood there without even a spark of sentience.
"By the spirits, what is this place?" Desolas muttered in disgust as he walked down the long room, finally seeing a door near the back beside some kind of sub room.
"This is progress, the future of the glorious Batarian people!" A Batarian stated as he came out of the side room. He was wearing light armour with a long dark brown robe covered in bloodstains over top of it. A scar passed over one of his four eyes, and he looked old for a Batarian, very old. "And I will not let you stop it!"
"Why, this is disgusting! How can you call this progress?" Desolas yelled as he pointed his beam rifle at the Batarian. "How can you do this to your own people and other races?"
"Bah, you inferior races do not matter!" The Batarian scoffed with a wave of his hand as he looked at a nearby cell with an Asari in it and scowled. "The only ones that matter are a superior race like my own. Even you Turians are worthless for anything but research data. And through my research, I have found how to elevate the Batarian people to a point where your Council will not be an issue! We will destroy the Council and take control of the whole galaxy as its rightful rulers!"
"I think the Alliance is your main problem right now, not the Council." Desolas deadpanned with a sigh as he felt his trigger finger twitch. He really wanted to kill this Batarian, but had to wait to see if he'd let his research slip. Crazies tended to do that.
"The Alliance? What is that?" The Batarian asked as he looked at Desolas, his face filled with confusion.
"You . . . haven't been keeping up with current events then down here," Desolas said with a grin.
"Pah, I need not care of what goes on above the ground. The future of my people is here, in my hands and soon ready to release upon the galaxy! Our people shall go beyond the Krogan in strength, rival the Asari in our beauty, and force the Hierarchy to bow before our power!"
"You sound like a mad scientist from a vid. How exactly are you going to do that with an army of malnourished mutants and crack experiments?" Desolas asked as he gestured to the cells behind him.
"Ha! As if those failures could be of use! They are merely experiments that led me to my successes! Now you shall have the honour of dying by the hands of my creations! Come, my servants!" At his words a section of the wall to the right began opening up and lumbering out of it came five of the massively armored hulking Batarians, their power armour sparking as their variety of guns clicked to life. Each of the Batarians within had no life in their eyes and their mouths vacantly hung open.
"So your plan is to win with braindead Batarians in automated armour?" Desolas asked as he very slowly and carefully turned his rifle to the center of the closest abomination before he began slowly pushing power into each of his silver ingots.
"Bah, these low caste fools are in their rightful place now! Amplified by my armour and the enhancements I have given them, they are unbeatable and serve their betters as the weak should! And now they shall kill you and all other inferior races as well!"
"Yeah, not likely," Desolas said as he pulled the trigger. Immediately its beam shot out and collided with the closest abomination, for a half second nothing seam to happen, then the Batarian began to groan and the beam punched through its back into the wall. Desolas let go of the trigger, and the Batarian groaned for a second before he stopped moving. The armour and his entire torso had a fist sized hole in it with melting metal dripping off the edges, though surprisingly it did not fall over.
"What?! You hold the power of the ancient ones as well? Heresy! Only we, the superior ones, may wield the greatest of power! Kill him, kill him!" The Batarian roared in rage as he began tapping on his omnitool.
The four remaining abominations raise their guns just as every cell in the room opened up and their occupants scrambled out, pushed forward by the Batarians commands as they raced toward Desolas.
Only to be cut to pieces as he swung his body around with his beam rifled firing a constant stream of burning death. As he finished his spin the abominations opened fire, only for his ingots to slide out of their holsters and form spears as long as he was, one for each mechanical abomination. They pierced their chest or heads instantly and threw the sparking and moaning hunks aside. Some of the deranged and broken captives behind him still were alive, but his beam had struck their legs mostly, making most of them unable to do anything but crawl pointlessly.
"No! That is not possible! NOT POSSIBLE! I will not allow you to ruin my work!" The Batarian screamed as he taped his omnitool, shutting all the light in the room off as the sound of footfall clearly stated he was running.
Electricity arced off Desolas's body creating sparse but effective light, allowing him to see one door closing. He knew where the madman was going; and damn it if he wasn't going to stop him! Before that though he turned round and let electricity wash over the room, frying every console and killing the experiments that still were trying to crawl towards him.
Dashing through the halls after the scientist Desolas could hear the distant sound of accelerator fire, as well as explosions. The sound seemed to be coming from everywhere, but as he ran it sounded no closer or further away.
At least until he opened a door and came into a large underground room. The room was easily a hundred meters wide, and had numerous doors on the one wall. Barely one hundred meters from the wall however, the walls, floor and ceiling changed from metal to a solid rock tunnel that went deep into the darkness. A number of large rails were embedded into the stone and went into the darkness, and climbing onto a large flat platform was the Batarian, while between him and Desolas was a veritable army of the mechanical power suits and the mutilated test subjects. In the middle of it all was Adaaya, breaking them into pieces with her fist and feet, while her wings kept her out of each strike they tried to land on her.
"You will never stop the progress of our evolution!" The Batarian yelled as the platform began pulling away into the darkness, leaving Desolas and Adaaya alone with his machines and subjects.
"Spirits," Desolas swore as he began firing his rifle at the machines while he willed his silver into a swarm of small blades that began flitting in and out of the creatures that surrounded Adaaya.
With both of them working, the last one died barely a minute later.
"So . . . . That's . . . four hundred of those, mutilated experiments . . . . I've killed," Adaaya heave between heavy breaths as she calmed her heartbeat down. "The rooms I went through were full of them, everywhere. I only saw those power suits when I got here. They were guarding it."
"Yeah, that Batarian that ran off is the mastermind, the one running this operation. I'm sure he's gone crazy," Desolas said as his metal blades all yanked themselves out of the bodies nearby and shook the blood and oil off them before turning back into his ingots. "What worries me is this whole operation. Those power suits should not work, and those. . . . what were people, are too fast and strong for how badly malnourished they look."
"Agreed. I also found more of those strange metal objects around in some of the labs. Some of them almost looked like idols, and I saw a couple scientists seemingly worshiping them. They didn't even hear me and died easily," Adaaya stated, sounding worried as she rolled her shoulders a bit.
"That sounds. . . . worrisome," Desolas said as he looked down the cavern into the blackness. "I think something's coming."
"Yeah, probably more of those power suits," Adaaya said as she slowly let out a breath and looked to Desolas. "Let's blow through them and finish the bastard that's running this freak show!"
"Yeah we'll-," Desolas stopped as the sound of grinding metal and sparks caught his attention. A second later a whole brigade of tanks, flanked by more power suits and a throng of mutilated and desiccated slaves began appearing out of the cavern, weapons armed and aimed in their direction. "Aw, Spirits."
"That is a lot of them . . . though it's all trash!" Adaaya stated as she slammed her fist together, a surge of power pouring out of her as lines of green energy began forming across her body like angular patterns.
Desolas nodded in understanding as he slipped his rifle onto his back; it would just slow him down in this situation. Cracking his neck he opened his hands and concentrated. His ingots all came out and each formed a long thing slightly curved blade, each of them then splitting into three and reconnecting at their hilts. A dozen spinning blades were at his beck and call, only to be amplified as electricity began pouring out of his body and arcing between them like a network of power.
Both Desolas and Adaaya lunged at once, and the cavern full of armour and experiments became a hallway of fire and death. Gunfire roared, rockets flew, and everything including the walls cracked under the onslaught of power. It did not matter however, as Adaaya and Desolas tore through the horde with no visible difficulty, their speed and power more than matching, but eclipsing the forces they engaged.
"This is getting ridiculous. Just how big is this place!?" Desolas roared in annoyance as he and Adaaya flew down the cavern, the horde blow shattered and broken, the few that remained trying to take them down with to no avail.
"Not much bigger, I can see the other end now!"
Desolas looked up to see the end of the cavern and was immediately confused. It looked like the other end, a loading bay, but instead of numerous doors there was a single massive door, surrounded by automated turreted guns each gun had a large calibre anti-armour cannon, and a pair of machine guns on either side , they were clearly made to defend against any and all intruders. But magic had a nasty habit of making static defences worthless. A bolt of lightning fried their circuitry easier than an overload would, and Desolas and Adaaaya landed in front of the massive door.
"So, what do you think? Manufacturing plant? Some kind of torture chamber?" Adaaya asked with a smirk.
"I'm thinking a cross between the two. There were a few rooms I missed that could've been either, I suppose, but we've encountered too many power suits already. As it is I'm surprised they are not on the surface."
"Yeah so am I. Guess whatever's in here is important enough that, despite us invading their home world, they don't want this place discovered," Adaaya said as she looked all over the door. "Do you see a console?"
"Who needs a console?" Desolas said as his blades all came together and formed a pair of massive pikes that then jammed themselves into the door, pushing to the side and throwing the doors open and revealing a short hallway with a light filled room just past it.
"Subtle."
"Says the one who punches doors open!" Desolas countered as the two walked through the hall and into the room, only to gasp upon its contents.
The room was the size of a football field, if not far larger and was mostly made up of what appeared to be a gigantic dry-dock with a single massive door on one side that looked to be barred and welded shut. Across from the welded door was some kind of room that jutted out of the wall, and just ahead of Adaaya and Desolas was the Batarian scientist, kneeling before the ship that sat in the dry-dock.
If it could be called a ship.
Sitting in dry-dock was a giant mass of dark blue metal. Its main bulk was easily the size of a cruiser with a strange spire like piece coming up from one end, while dozens of limb-like chunks of metal sat scattered around it on the ground. There were no light, no visible engines that they could see, and no weapons or shapes that indicated it had weapons or even a bridge.
But somehow, it felt wrong to be near.
"We've spent years researching this thing, years spent pulling information, and the gifts of the ancients from this beautiful thing," The scientist said as she got up from his knees and turned to Adaaya and Desolas. "weapons that the Council cannot reproduce, technology generations ahead of its time. I will not let you freaks with impossible abilities stop this!"
The Batarian pulled out a pistol, but Desolas was faster and shot a bolt of lightning at the Batarian, striking his chest with it dead centre. The scientist staggered a bit and took a step back as the life drained from his eyes. He fell backwards down into the dry-dock a second later, a dull thump singling his death.
"Well, that was easy," Adaaya said as she took a step toward the mass of metal. "So, what is this thing then? A Prothean ship? A derelict maybe?"
"Maybe a derelict, but I'm not sure it's a ship, it looks nothing like any ship I could even think of."
"Yeah, but look at ours. Unless a ship is going to operate in atmosphere, it doesn't need to be aerodynamic."
"I know, but something bout this thing feels. . . . wrong. Like those odd objects in some of those laboratories."
"Oh yeah, almost like-," Adaaya stopped as the ship itself suddenly let out a low droning sound and light began to flicker across it's body.
SUBMIT! SERVE! KILL!
Desolas let out a cry as he fell to the ground clutching his head. The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt, like his brain was being torn out of his skull and felt through his bones. Like his nerves were all being thrown onto a frypan. Like his entire being was slowly being ground away like a stone on a grind wheel.
He could hear the words repeating in his head like an echo. He could feel them pulsing across his being. He could feel their order; feel their demand slowly beginning to affect his body, like he was turning into a puppet.
It made him remember a short, albeit interesting class on the Philosophe about mind altering and controlling magic. And he instantly realized that while this did not feel like magic, it was similar in concept.
In the back of his mind he focused. He focused on his heart, on his past, on everything that led him to this point in his life. Then he focused on his body, how it had been when he was younger, how it had changed as he had grown. Then he focused on his inner self, his ideals and values, on what made him act how he did. He took all his focus and shifted it, shifted it to doing one thing with all his might.
And with that shift came a change.
Desoals's screams of pain changed to a roar of rage. His body stopped trembling and shifted onto his knees, and before Adaaya could even try to stand him up, he dragged his claws off his head, taking lines of plate and scale with them and threw them to the side with a scream of denial.
A roiling sphere of electricity erupted out of his body, twisting and lashing out against the ground as it tore metal from the floor and added it to the sphere. Lashes of metal and energy struck out at the mass of metal before him, carving glowing marks across its hull and eventually busting through. Then all of it stopped and the energy pulled into Desolas, only to be released out as a blast wave that not only knocked Adaaya to the ground, but even pushed the derelict mass away from him into the other side of the dry-dock with a thunderous crash.
Desolas took a couple pained breaths as he stood where he had fallen. He didn't recall standing up, but didn't really care. After a second he fell back down to his side, his body feeling more exhausted than ever before. "Are, are you okay, Adaaya?" He coughed out as he looked over to her where she lay.
A second passed before Adaaya lifted an arm and gave him a thumb up. A second later her legs kicked up and she leapt up onto her feet from her back in one smooth motion, rubbing her shoulders as she walked over. "Ow, that actually hurt. You okay, though? What was that about?"
"I . . . I'm not sure," Desolas admitted as Adaaya offered a hand and he took it, being pulled up in a quick motion. "When that thing made noise I heard a voice in my head and was assaulted by pain. It felt like manipulation magic of some kind, but it wasn't at the same time. Did you hear it to?"
"No, all I heard was that drone, and then you screaming in pain."
"So why did-?"
"You were effected, because you were not a Youkai!" came a new voice.
Both Adaaya and Desolas turned to see a person standing in the doorway to the dry-dock and instantly paled. Yukari Yakumo. Even if neither of them had met her in person, everyone knew what she looked like, and anyone with even a fraction of power could tell her just by the feeling of her presence.
"Ah, . . . aren't you supposed to be on Earth?" Adaaya said after a second of shock, making Yukari let out a small chuckle.
"Perhaps, but I can go wherever I wish, can I not?" Yukari asked as she walked forward until she passed between Adaaya and Desolas, stepping to the edge of the dry-dock.
"Err, wel,l yeah." Adaaya answered, unsure of what else to say.
"What did you mean by what you said, if I could ask?" Desolas then spoke up.
Yukari turned her gaze to Desolas and smiled. "I cannot tell you in full about what has transpired here, not yet at least. But tell me, do you feel any different?"
Desolas opened his mouth to reply but found his voice would not come out. He did feel different. A bare moment ago he had felt painfully exhausted, but now felt like he had just finished a long pleasant rest. A strange tingly sensation covered his body, and his senses felt oddly sensitive. He finally nodded unsurely, making Yukari smile.
"This, we'll call it a thing for now, attempted to alter your mind. Not only did you resist its admittedly powerful attempt, but you resisted with so much force that the magic within you answered in the only way it could."
"Holy-, is you saying Desolas just willed himself into a Youkai?" Adaaya suddenly asked in shock.
"Yes, part way at least. When you next rest you likely will fall into a short coma as your body fully changes. While not common it is not unheard of for magicians to eventually become youkai, either to continue to pursue their studies or out of a need of some sort. This was obviously out of a need, but congratulations, Desolas Arterius, you are the first alien Youkai in existence!"
"I'm . . . not sure how I feel about that." Desolas said as he looked at his claws and flexed his fingers slightly, a small spark of electricity arcing between them without even willing it. He knew what Youkai were, but he wasn't sure what that meant for him, or for the rest of the galaxy.
"That is good. Such things you should be nervous and curious about. Taking time to understand oneself is important," Yukari stated as she turned back to the derelict machine and pulled out her fan, opening and closing it.
In a second, hundreds of her Sukima began appearing around it, many with eyes staring out of them, and before Desolas or Adaaya could say anything, chains made of eyes, tipped with daggers made of nothing flew out of each Sukima, spearing the massive chunk of metal. The Machine let out another drone louder than the last, shaking the entire underground dock. As it droned though, the Sukima all began to grow, until they began touching each other and merging together.
"Brace yourselves," Yukari said suddenly, her tone like steel, sharp and commanding.
Both Adaaya and Desolas dropped to the ground and readied themselves, and as soon as the last of the Sukima merged into a black orb around the machine, waves of power began pulsing out of it. The ball became smaller and smaller, past where the machine would be, and as it got smaller, the pulses of power became stronger and stronger until finally the ball disappeared and it released one last pulse that sent both of them backwards, despite having prepared for it.
The machine was gone and the room was quiet. Too quiet. It was like something had ceased to be on a basic scale, and Desolas instantly knew that he had just witnessed something horrifying, but did not know why or what.
Yukari let out a long, tired sigh. "There, it is done. Neither of you will speak of anything you have seen today, understood?" They both nodded as they got up. "Good. We are leaving. This entire facility must be cleansed from the planet for everyone's sakes, and I think that will give Hackett a perfect excuse to have Okuu annihilate this entire capitol in a solar flare."
"She's talking figuratively, right?" Desolas asked as Yukari formed a Sukima beside her.
"No, she isn't," Adaaya said, clearly sweating at the notion as the two of them got up off the floor.
"If both of you do not get through this Sukima in the next ten seconds I'm leaving you here!" Yukari stated impatiently, causing both Adaaya and Desolas to nearly lunge through the Sukima in a panic at how serious she sounded. After they did Yukari stepped halfway through and took a last look at the dry-dock with a smirk. "This might become a habit. It's not every day I can commit genocide so easily!"