June 7th, 2155 - Eden Prime.
Nihlus Kyrik stepped off the merchant ship he had taken, coming out into the warm light of Eden Prime. The spaceport was built at the edge of Eden Primes largest city, and he could see many cruisers and frigates, both Alliance and Council. As a planet that was in a sense shared with the Council, many Council race corporations and groups had set up shops on Eden Prime, taking advantage of its differing laws regarding technology, and the close proximity to Alliance technology. There had yet to be any serious problems surprisingly, but there had been some close calls.
Technology was the exact reason for his current mission as well, and despite the simplicity of the mission itself, he was fully kitted out in his armour and with his weapons. There would be no chances taken, and the problems that could arise from failure would be many.
As he came off the ship and entered the spaceport itself a pair of Alliance security officers stepped up to him, hands raised. One had pointed fluffy ears, marking them as a Youkai if Nihlus had read his information correctly, while the other did not seem to have any special features. It was his first time in Alliance territory, and he had only met a few Alliance citizens in Council space in the years before he became a Spectre, but that did not mean he would not be cordial. "Yes, can I help you, officers?"
The animal person looked at Nihlus and then began tapping on his wrist comp before nodding to the human beside them who spoke up for the both of them. "No, I apologize, sir. We merely had to scan your armour to make sure it was sealed. Per protocol your armours Eezo is sealed in the unit and will not leak. We know of your objective here today, so please allow us to welcome you to Eden Prime. Are you biotic?"
"No, I am not," Nihlus answered swiftly, knowing of the Alliance disdain of biotic. He had seen its effects on magi, and vice versa, so it was understandable why they had asked.
"Very good. Please understand that while here on Eden Prime, your rank as a Spectre is considered equal to that of Operatives, not above them, and that you are not above the law here. Please enjoy your time," The officer said as he and his partner walked off, going to question other people coming into the terminal.
Nihlus stood there for a moment as he glanced around and let out a sigh. As he was in his full armour, he did stand out, but there was nothing for it. He was not about to complete his mission without being prepared, and honestly he was surprised nothing had been said about his weapons. Ignoring the fact he went to the main desk, had his information looked over by a Quarian clerk, and then left the terminal, entering the main city of Eden Prime.
The city was unlike any on Council worlds he had ever seen. Instead of towering buildings that tried to claw the skies, no building seemed larger than five stories tall. Some buildings took up numerus blocks, while others were small simple things. Storefronts sat beside research facilities, schools and even housing areas, and it was as if the city itself had no organization to it whatsoever.
"Today marks the fifth week that the Alliance and Council have been in talks related to the Krogan situation. The Alliance has stated they wish to allow those Krogan who wish to, to join the Alliance, with the stipulation that those that join will be cured of the Genophage and must follow Alliance laws. However, many Council ambassadors, dignitaries and executives have spoken up against it, stating the Council cannot let this happen as it would bring about another Krogan rebellion , and that the Alliance is overstepping their bounds of-.."
Nihlus sighed and shook his head as he passed by the screen that was taking about the Krogan situation. It was unrelated to his mission, and he could understand both sides' augments, but honestly the Alliances made more sense. Most Krogan now alive were paying for actions of their ancestors, just like the Quarians had. And if they could have the success they were, why should the Krogan not have a chance as well?
Nihuls shook his head again. He was getting ahead of himself. He needed to focus on his mission, for as simple as it was, it was still important.
Bringing up his omnitool Nihlus downloaded an area map and looked it over, finding that the place he needed to go was on the opposite side of the city.
He let out a sigh as he glanced around. The only vehicles he could see were large transport trucks and a raised monorail service. It was strange how little the Alliance used vehicles, but he could understand the intent. Closing his omnitool he continued to walk, heading for a monorail station.
It only took a few minutes for him to arrive at and ascend the steps into the station proper, and as he did he could hear a heated argument from nearby. A Salarian, who was dressed like a scientist, was apparently arguing with a Quarian while a group of onlookers watched as the Salarian got more agitated, the Quarian looking just tired and bored.
"Look, I don't care who you work for or whatever it is, all I did was bump you with my bag, and I apologized already, just drop it," the Quarian said.
The Salarians seemed to fume in anger. " You could have damaged my equipment! What if it is broken? Your bump could have-"
"You haven't even checked if it's damaged in the first place. Before you start trying to grill me for money, maybe you should see if you have a leg to stand on first!" The Quarian interrupted, clearly done with dealing with the Salarian.
Nihlus sighed and walked over. The tram had not arrived and he had time, so he could do the right thing. Unlike some Spectres, Nihlus liked to help people if he had the time, his missions always came first, but making places and people better was always a plus of his work, it made him feel like even the little things made the galaxy a better place. "So, what's this all about?" He asked as he came over, surprising the Salarian plenty. The Quarian looked at him and scowled, clearly knowledgeable about the history of bad blood between their species. Turians forces had always been the ones to get in the Quarians migrant fleets way of gathering resources or settling after all.
The Quarian was the first to speak, letting out a sigh. "When walking by I accidentally bumped his case, now he's all upset and keeps bring up all kinds of money and other crap. It's clear he's trying to swindle me."
"What? How dare you insinuate-," The Salarian began to say before he was interrupted by an odd siren that began blaring from speakers all across the city, creating a cacophony of ringing madness.
"What is that?" Nihlus asked nervously as his hand automatically reached for his handgun and gripped it.
"Get to safety!" The Quarian yelled at the Salarian, sending him running as she pulled a sleek Alliance handgun of some sort off her belt and began tapping a modified Omnitool as she glanced at Nihlus. "Air raid. It means that hostile forces have approached the planet, and are likely engaging the defence fleet!"
"So, pirates in all likely hood. I would have thought they'd have known better," Nihlus muttered as he noticed everyone vacating the station. "How long till the train gets here?"
"Probably won't, as soon as an air raid siren goes off they shut down for safety purposes and let everyone off so they can get to shelter. So get to shelter!"
Nihlus watched the Quarian head for the stairs and sighed as he followed. "I cannot do that, how can I get to the dig site outside of the city from here?"
The Quarian stopped halfway down the stairs and looked back up at Nihlus. "Why do you . . . . . . you're a Spectre."
"Yes, how can I get to the dig site?"
The Quarian's mood seemed to worsen in an instant as she turned and began walking away. " Find it yourself!"
"Answer my question or-" Nihlus began until the telling sound of fire echoed rom above the, pulling both of their gazes upwards. High in the sky, coming out of the clouds, was a massive ship that looked nothing like a ship at all, and more like some form of organism. It was dark purple in color, and had numerous limb like protrusion that moved about, and a massive spire that came away from its main body. Coming down alongside it were dozens of small corvettes and frigates decked out in pirate colors, many of them old Batarian ship models. Some were smoking from evident damage but many were not as they began to spread out, firing their weapon down at the colony as beams of red energy seared up and began burning holes in anything they could hit.
Then the massive multi-legged ship turned toward the space port, red beams firing down as it seemed to land, an impossible act for something with such bulk, and all hell broke loose. A blastwave sent walls of dust and smoke through the city streets, and the veritable army of ships around it began branching out, many seeming to get low to the ground, for reason that Nihlus knew could not be good.
"Spirits, just tell me where the dig site is, now!"
The Quarian turned back to Nihlus, her eyes clearly glaring at him even through her helmet, "If you haven't realized, the planet is under attack! Make yourself useful and maybe save some lives!" she declared as explosion began ripping though the city and shuttles began flying overheard.
Then before Nihlus could respond in any way, one of the shuttles flew over and came down to a grinding halt on the ground, it's engine smoking as a pair of Batarian pirates came out in full gear, aiming their weapons at Nihlus and the Quarian. Both of them fired at once, Nihlus's handgun putting a grain sized hole in one Batarians helmet, while the Quarian's pistol belched out a thumb sized ball of sparking green hate that collided with the other Batarians helmet, covering it in electricity and liquid energy that made him cry out in pain for a second before he fell to the ground.
"Look," Nihlus began as he looked back to the Quarian, who had an Omniblade coming out from their Omnitool, right beside her gun. "There's a Prothean beacon at the planets dig site, and I'm willing to bet it could be what these pirates are after. Where is the dig site!?"
The Quarian looked at Nihlus and let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, this way, follow me," She said as she immediate began running down the street.
"Just tell me how to get there," Nihlus stated as he followed behind her, surprised at her speed.
"No, you'll get lost. The back roads here are complicated due to the insistence that some of the districts be designed like Council cities. . . . Besides, I need to meet someone there anyway, so don't fall behind!"
"As if I would!" Nihlus replied with a smile, finding it comical that he was being told not to fall behind. He was a Spectre, one of the best of the best in Council space. A Quarian with a little bit of Alliance technology was not about to outshine him!
Almost an hour later as they neared the dig site just outside of the city, Nihlus was not feeling so good. The pair had rushed through the city, but as time went on more and more chaos filled the streets as pirates came down weapons blazing. Nihlus was used to short sprints of speed in his line of work, and considering a Turians build it was very acceptable. However due to the need, he had been running with the Quarian the entire time, while she barely looked winded as she ran around a corner and fired her pulse pistols, blowing a hole in a Turian pirates face.
"We're here!" The Quarian finally said a few minutes later as she stopped at the edge of a road that angled down into a valley. The valley was filled with buildings and roads that seemed to circle and dart around various pits and excavations, and while it was a valley, it was easily many kilometers across, and Nihlus could not tell how long it was.
Looking down he could also see numerous firefights happening all over, with more pirates than could be counted, and a number of corvettes hovering above, blotting the sky above the excavations as pirates came down from them in shuttles. " Well, that makes it clear what they're here for. Where is the beacon?"
"No idea, I just know it's here. Come on, my bosses should know more about it, I think," the Quarian said as she ran over to a stairway that went down and jumped on the railing, sliding down it with a strange amount of finesse.
"You killed pirates without a care, and your physique and agility are both impressive for a Quarian. Are you military despite your youth?" Nihlus asked, knowing that as Spectres went he was pretty young as well. He wasn't the youngest ever inducted, but that did not change his age, or the Quarians very young age. She seemed barely an adult, yet was keeping up with him without any noticeable effort.
"You just noticed?" She giggled as she hopped off the railing and rolled at the bottom of the stairs before raising her pulse pistol and firing at a lone Batarian pirate, annihilating his kinetic barrier and burning him before Nihlus put a round through his head, ending the torment.
It made Nihlus shiver. Alliance weaponry was powerful, lasers ignored barriers, beams cut right through armour and they were good weapons, in fact he had wanted to acquire a laser rifle while on Eden Prime. Pulse weapons though, they terrified him. The idea of melting, electrocuting and spirits knew whatever else they did to their targets was disgusting. "No, I noticed earlier, I am simply curious. Quarians never stuck me as a race that focused on combat."
"That changed when we joined the Alliance and they saved us from your Councils unneeded punishments!" The Quarian snapped back at Nihlus as they ran through the excavation area, trying to keep away from any of the major fights going on around them. "I joined the Alliance military at sixteen, and just a month ago I was requested to join the crew of an Operatives corvette. They're who I'm looking for, and should know where your beacon is.
"I see," Nihlus replied simply as he glanced around. Something was off. This whole attack on the city, the pirates and, did she say they, as in plural?
Before Nihlus could speak up though they arrived at an open area above an excavation. There were dead pirates and a couple dead Alliance forces all over, and standing in the middle of the area was a Turian in black armour that Nihlus recognized.
"Girl, don't let him see you. I'm going to talk to him," Nihlus commanded as he causally walked over to the other Turian. "Saren, what are you doing here?"
Saren turned to Nihlus, his mandibles tight with displeasure. Nihlus knew he hated the Alliance. It was why he never expected Saren to willingly go to an Alliance planet after all. But something about his expression was strange. Perhaps it was just the attack had made him tense. "My mission brought me to this spirits forsaken place," Saren answered with a sigh. " You?"
"Same. I'm on a simple mission, but I never expected such a huge attack by Terminus forces. And most of them seem far too well organized. The situation is bad," Nihlus said as he knelt down beside a pair of pirate and Alliance bodies and looked them over, only to notice something was strange about them. The pirate was full of cauterized holes, clearly a laser weapon, but the Alliance soldier, a human, had only a single wound. A hole coming out the front of his head, and a small hole in the back. He had been shot from behind by an accelerator weapon, not from the front.
"Don't worry, I've got the situation under control!" Saren said as Nihlus heard the priming of a weapon and spun around, to see Saren aiming his hand cannon at Nihlus's face.
Nihlus felt his blood run cold in an instant. The distance was too small and he was still crouched down. He would not get out of the way in time, and that hand cannon would kill him instantly, completely disregarding his shields at such a close range!
Time slowed to a crawl as he saw Saren's claw twitch to pull the trigger, and in that moment a fist came into view, slamming into Saren's torso and jerking his body to the side as the trigger was pulled. The grain sized metal bullet flew out of the hand cannon toward Nihlus, but as Saren's body jerked from the blow it caused the round to fly wide, simply grazing one Nihlus's mandible instead of burrowing into his skull.
Time returned to normal. Nihlus jerking to the side and grabbing at his mandible in pain as a crashing sound echoed out from nearby. He looked up, sure he had seen someone punch Saren, and was surprised by what he saw.
Saren was nearly twenty meters away on the ground coughing painfully as he held his head and chest, and standing in front of Nihlus was an Alliance woman. She was taller than he was, with light brown skin, like it was tanned. She was wearing what looked to be ankle length pants with sections of armour on them, along with a black shirt that left her arms uncovered. Her forearms had bandages wrapped around them with what looked like braces of some kind overtop, and she was wearing simple shoes that had sections of metal seemingly strapped across them. Her hair was a dark brown with black tips, and she had massive feathery wings of a similar coloration with red tints within sprouting out of her back around her shoulder blades. She stood there grinning and flexing her hand for a second before she looked at Nihlus and continued smiling.
"Looks like I got here just in time eh?" She said with a grin as she suddenly turned and swung her arm out, a wave of air dancing across the area and slicing a pirate in half just as he came into view. She then turned back to Nihlus with a grin. "Adaaya Nicotris Shepard, Alliance Operative! Looks like you've got some sedition in the ranks, eh Spectre?"
"That would be betrayal, actually," Nihlus growled as he stood up and looked to see that Saren was already getting up, making Adaaya whistle.
"Wow, he's sturdier than I thought, or his armour is good. That blow should have pulped his insides!" Adaaya declared as the Quarian ran up to them.
Nihlus however was more annoyed by the fact that Saren had tried to shoot him in the head! "Saren, what are you doing!?" Nihlus demanded as he began walking toward him, only for Saren to raise his gun and begin firing at him, just as a pirate shuttle dropped from the sky and hovered nearby.
"I'm just doing what needed to be done years ago, showing the Alliance their place!" Saren declared as he ran over to the shuttle, firing his pistol as he went. The shuttle door opened for him, and a pair of pirates appeared in the doorway, firing assault rifles as soon as they saw Nihlus and Adaaya.
Adaaya simply waved a hand up, creating a massive cyclone that both blocked the shots, and sent the shuttle flipping off into the air. After a few seconds the cyclone died down and dissipated, and the shuttle was nowhere to be seen.
"Well, I think that settles that for now," Adaaya said with a sigh as she turned and looked at the Quarian. "Zorah, weren't you going to head for the ship?
"I was, but a Salarian tried to con me, and then the air raid siren went off when the Spectre tried to complicate matters." Nihlus opened his mouth to speak, wanting to set the matter straight, but the Quarian continued. "So where's your other half?"
Adaaya scowled. "And what is that supposed to mean? No, never mind, there's too much to do. Head back to the ship while I go secure our cargo with our . . . associate."
The Quarian nodded and ran off, leaving Nihlus alone with Adaaya. "You're the one I was told I would meet at the dig site then?" Nihlus asked, slightly nervously. All of his missions since becoming a Spectre had been deep in council space; he had never met an Alliance operative, though he had heard many outlandish stories about them from other spectres.
And considering that one had just saved his life by punching someone over a dozen meters away, some stories began to see likely, and other didn't seem accurate enough.
"Yes, me and my partner are," Adaaya said as she cracked her neck and looked in the direction the shuttle was thrown.
"Your partner? I though operatives were like Spectres and worked alone?"
"Some do, some don't," Adaaya said as she motioned for Nihlus to follow and then began running down the length of the area back towards the main road.
"Fair. Where's your partner then?"
"We split up to find your sorry ass, so let's get moving, we have some people protecting the beacon, but if that is your Spectre buddy's target, they'll probably be badly outnumbered."
"He was the one that taught and coached me, he's one of the best Spectres the council has. I'm having trouble that he's actually betraying the Council," Nihlus admitted as they ran, the sound of something different barely audible over the omnipresent noise of combat, explosions and fire.
"He aimed a gun at your head execution style. I'd say that is pretty telling ,no?" Adaaya asked as an explosion ripped from behind a building ahead of them. "There. We go in there, and then down to the pit. If the beacons is still there, of course."
Nihlus nodded, and a few seconds later they went through the doors to find the building itself in pieces, the entire back wall destroyed as was most of that ceiling. Against the walls were a few Alliance citizens, mostly wounded as a youkai woman with long horns looked to be tending to their wounds.
Through the back wall they could see pirate shuttles flying up and down, and the sound of gunfire was omnipresent, and as they went toward it, it became clear why. The deep pit was like a screwdriver, with a long spiraling ramp that went down to the centre. To one side was a massive crane that was slowly lifting the beacon out of the pit, Saren himself at the controls, and to the other side, a veritable army of pirates at odds with the local alliance forces.
"There, we break the crane, the beacon falls and we've screwed him over!" Adaaya said as she clenched her fists and walked out into the pit area, her wings spreading wide.
"What?! That could break it! Do you have any idea how serious that would be!?" Nihlus exclaimed in horror as some nearby pirates noticed and turned toward them, firing madly with little to no accuracy, but no lack of rounds.
Adaaya's wings seemed to reflect the accelerator rounds, bouncing them backwards onto the ground as her wings shifted to guard her face as she looked at Nihlus. "Probably a lot less serious than whatever reason your old friend has for betraying your government and attacking Eden Prime! So either help stop him, or you're being put on the chopping block!"
Nihlus glared at Adaaya for a bare second before he aimed his rifle to the side and fired, putting a new eye hole in the centre of a pirates visor and dropping the flanking pirate in an instant. "You're faster, I'll be behind you." Nihlus stated as he ran past Adaaya, rifle firing in quick accurate bursts as he entered the massive warlike fray.
Adaaya simply grinned as she pushed herself into the air, focused on the crane that now almost had the beacon out of the pit, and flew straight at it with all of her power.
In the last second a wall of biotic force appeared around the cranes cockpit, so Adaaya shifted her wings and avoided her main target, Saren, and instead struck the back of the crane with her knuckle, with far more force than most people could muster. The effect was instantaneous as the entire crane shuddered, bent, and spun on its side as it ripped out of its platform and fell to the ground. It also whipped the beacon, still on the cranes tether, up out of the pit and sent it bouncing across the ground, crushing a half dozen pirates underneath it as it rolled to a stop, chips of it flying off in every direction.
Adaaya grinned as she landed on the cranes wreckage and beat her wings a few times, dispersing the cloud of dust it had kicked up. The crane may as well have been made of paper mache with what she had done to it, but to her surprise, there was no Turian stuck in the cockpit, no spectre pinned under its mass, and no Saren anywhere to be seen!
"Saren!" came Nihlus's sudden roar, drawing Adaaya's attention down to the far end of the upper pit area where the beacon had been flung. It was lying on the ground sparking ferociously, and in front of it were Saren and Nihlus, in the middle of an angry melee with nothing but their claws, feet, and bodies. Everyone else, pirate or Alliance, who had been around had been knocked down or had willingly dropped to the ground when she had hit the crane, so the fact that Saren was now all the way over there was a surprise.
Jumping into the air and beating her wings Adaaya flew over to them, intent on tearing Sarens head off herself, but was a moment too late. Just before she would have been within range, the beacon let out a pulse of energy, forcibly lifting Saren and Nihlus into the air and sending Adaaya reeling backwards as Element Zero energy rippled around her. She crashed to the ground, feeling her skin crawl with contamination sickness and looked up to see that both Saren and Nihlus looked to be in severe pain.
Then the beacon let out a final sigh of light, and ruptured, blowing itself to pieces, and blowing everyone in the pit area backwards, and taking the pit area itself with it.
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A pounding pain pulled Nihlus out from the darkness of unconsciousness, bringing a bright light and dark ceiling to his sight. With a groan he tried to sit up and get the light out of his eyes, only for pain to spike through his head and cause him to lose what little balance he had. He rolled to the side and promptly fell off the medical table, his claw catching a tray and sending medical instruments all over the floor beside him.
"And this is why I told you to move those away from the patient!" came an annoyed sounding women's voice from a direction that Nihlus's mind couldn't quiet comprehend.
"B-but I needed to-," came a yong girls voice, sounding like she was scared and worried all at once.
"If all you give is excuses instead of realizing your mistakes then you are useless to me, get out, I'll clean this up myself after I deal with the patient!"
"But-"
"GET OUT!" The older woman's voice roared, seeming to reverberate through Nihlus's body as he struggled to find the floor. It was strange, nausea and disorientation he had dealt with before, but this was nothing like anything else. "Stop trying to claw the wall, Turian. I'm going to get you up and sit you on the bed. Do not resist. I am not your enemy, I am your doctor," The woman said after a few seconds, just before Nihlus felt hands grab him by the underarm and side, then lift him in one quick motion up into the air and down onto the bed.
"Who-," Nihlus began as he tried to turn to look at the doctor in question, only for his distorted sight to make him almost slip forward off the bed, only to be caught and then laid down.
"Do not move and do not panic. I am administering a counteragent for your contamination sickness. Your disorientation should pass in a moment."
"Contamination? That sickness Alliance magicians get when contacting Biotic fields?"
"Yes, the reverse is true as well, Biotics are effected by magic as well." The doctor stated as Nihlus felt a pinch between his plates on his left arm.
Very slowly he turned his head and caught a glimpse of the women. His vision was still distorted, but she appeared as old as she sounded with wrinkled features, short white hair and a tired look in her eyes that, as his vision cleared, appeared not just tired but also powerful and wise. It was a look he had truly seen in only a sparse few Asari Matriachs. "I'm not a Biotic though."
"That blast didn't seem to care," The doctor said as she pulled a syringe out of Nihlus's arm and placed in on a table that she slid away. "You can sit up now. The worst or the distortion should have passed."
Nihlus lifted up his arms, finding them stable, then carefully sat up and turned on the bed to face the woman, who was either a human or Lunarian. "Thank you, yes, I feel much better now. What blast though?"
"You don't remember?" Adaaya said as she walked into the room while rolling her shoulders as if they were stiff. She was now wearing what appeared to be casual clothing consisting of nothing more than pants and a top that showed some of her belly but the bandages around her ankles and wrists made the whole look oddly dangerous looking, and Nihlus mentally noted to not anger her after he had seen what she had been capable of doing.
"You are supposed to be still resting!" The doctor snapped as she turned to Adaaya, causing her to stop and raise both hands.
"I'm fine, I've been cleansed and I've had a nap. Besides I still have work to do, both of us do," Adaaya said as she looked to Nihlus.
"What?" was all that Nihlus could say. He was not used to being out of the loop, yet the doctor and Adaaya seemed to know something they were not sharing. "Someone explain to me what exactly happened and what is going on!"
"Geez, say please and maybe you'll get what you want," Adaaya teased with a grin as she walked in and sat down on a nearby chair. "Do you remember your little fistfight with Saren at least?"
Nihlus nodded. "Yes, I remember that, then feeling like I was being lifted by Biotics. Then it's a jumble of noise and images, nothing else."
"Well, that adds up to your brain activity at least. I'll add that to the file," The doctor said mostly to herself as she took out a tablet and began tapping on it.
"Yeah, well, the beacon you and Saren were fighting by activated or something, you both were lifted up, then the beacon sent out a pulse of power before exploding. Sent both of you flying, and utterly devastated the whole dig site."
"What about Saren, was he caught?" Nihlus asked immediately, knowing that while the destruction of a Prothean relic was horrible, if he could at least get answers out of Saren he'd have some backup when he reported to the Council.
"Nope!" Adaaya said with a strange smile. "Almost everyone was knocked down and wounded when the beacon blew, but a few seconds later a bunch of his pals showed up in shuttles and dropped off some giant armoured suits that began shooting at everything while they pulled him into the shuttle. You and me both were in no shape to fight them, and we would have died if my partner hadn't come when he did. Slagged every one of them that didn't run away immediately like Saren did."
"Yes, but your dear partner used so much magic it infected those that already were being infected by the remaining Biotic energy from the beacon, hence why our Turian friend here had contamination sickness!" The doctor complained with a sigh, never looking away from her tablet as she did.
"He used his magic to burn away the excess Element zero particles in the air around the pit, basically saved our lives as I was kind of stuck under a beam of metal. Could have gotten out normally, but the contamination was sapping my strength pretty bad," Adaaya admitted with a shrug. "He then got us all out, and while he was doing that the pirates and that dammed Leviathan that came with them buggered off and left the system!"
"Leviathan?"
"The giant squid ship thing," Adaaya explained before chuckling. "And I just remembered that I owe him a hundred bucks now."
"What?" Nihlus asked as he looked to the doctor, who simply shrugged.
"Right, we've got a meeting now, so c'mon, Nihlus. Oh, Chakwas, have you made your decision yet? We're probably leaving within the day." Adaaya said, jumping from looking at Nihlus to the doctor as she stood up..
Chakwas let out a sigh. "Very well, Williams has been asking me as well, and I suppose I should travel a bit more. Seeing as how this has begun, I fear you'll need my steady hands as it is. I will have my personal effects on board within the hour."
"Brining that apprentice of yours?" Adaaya asked with a sly grin.
"No, she is worthless. Let her stay here and help tend to the injured, maybe then she'll understand what she is missing."
"Alright, I'll see you aboard then," Adaaya stated as she looked to Nilhus, "you coming or am I leaving you here to ferment?"
"What?"
"Oh for the love of, just follow me already!" Adaaya nearly raged as she stormed out of the room, her wings almost catching on the doorframe.
"What in the Spirits is going on?" Nihlus asked Chakwas in confusion. It was like three different conversations were happening all at once without his participation, and he had never been more confused.
"It is complicated, but from what I know and can say, the two of them have been looking forward to this in some form or another. I doubt anything bad will happen, so if you wish to know exactly what is going on then I suggest you follow her. If your body begins to feel strange later come find me."
"Um, right," Nihlus said as he got off the medical table, feeling like he was being used and toyed with. He had heard stories from some other Spectres of how Alliance forces were, but nothing he had heard had prepared him for any of this, not seeing them fight, and definitely not how they talked amongst each other. With a sigh he walked out of the room, only then realizing he was in casual Turian clothing, and found Adaaya standing there by a window.
Through the window he could see the city as well as Eden Prime's spaceport, both smoking and in ruins with scars covering buildings, the ground, and even a few hills and mountains in the distance. Spires of smoke lazily drifted upwards, and even at the great distance Nihlus could see flashing lights that were likely repair or rescue crews. The distance meant that the building they were in had to be across the spaceport from the city, but he had not seen any such thing when he had landed.
"This facilities built into the mountain side, in case you were wondering," Adaaya commented as she began walking down the hallway at a brisk pace that Nihlus had to push himself keep up with. "It's been about seventeen hours since the attack. I was out for about six hours after I blacked out, and you've been out since the beacon knocked you out."
"Has anyone contacted the Council, told them what happened so they could begin hunting for Saren?" Nihlus asked quickly as he kept pace with Adaaya, walking just a half step behind her to her left.
"They've been told the attack happened but not specifics. Those will be for when we go to the Citadel itself."
"We?"
"People have died today, a lot of them. If you thought we'd just lie down and let you deal with it yourself, you are seriously mistaken," Adaaya said as she came up to a large circular door and began tapping keys on a pad beside it. "A lot of us are wanting blood, and one person in particular has even more of a reason to go after Saren!"
At Adaaya's words the door opened and she and Nihlus stepped in, finding a large half circle room. Four people stood in front of a large open slot in the wall, where dozens if not over a hundred holograms stood, all taking part in the conversation that the four in front were a part of. The room had few lights in it, but even in the dark Nihlus could tell the shapes and accents. Three of the people with their backs to him were women, one with buns on her hair and a bandaged arm, another with long pointed ears, and yet another with wings and a large cape. The fourth person to his surprise appeared to be a Turian, but due to the darkness of the room he could tell little else about any of them.
"So the main ship itself was the one you and Adaaya saw before?" one hologram asked, though Nihlus was unable to tell any detail at the distance from it.
"That is correct. The Leviathan of Dis, the same ship Adaaya and I found under the Batarian capitol." The Turian stated surely.
"And the reason I had to glass the whole city then," The winged woman said with a sigh.
"And that adds more credence to the fact that either Kaguya or Yukari are manipulating this to some extent," a different person hologram said.
"They always are, but we don't know how much. And this time they both are being strangely quiet about it. All I got from Yukari was her saying, decide what to do yourself,"
"Yeah, but only one ship here is space worthy still because it was parked here in this places hanger and not on the tarmac," the pointed eared girl said with a growl. "I think it's pretty clear what they are trying to do."
"I agree, but as much as I want to bring him down myself, it's also true that there are others better suited to it," the Turian said with an exasperated sigh.
"True, but you're also the best due to your knowledge of what Saren could do,"
"That definitely does not mean the rest of us will sit around doing nothing though," another hologram piped in, her voice sounding strangely happy and gleeful. "If Yukari is going to try to keep us from getting involved, the best thing we can do is to get involved!"
"While I am not sure if that is a good idea, I know everyone's going to do their own thing anyway," the woman with the bandaged arm said simply, causing many of the holograms to begin laughing.
"That is true. But let's make this official," said one hologram as it became larger than the others. "I, Reimu Hakurei, as the highest ranking and leader of the Alliances operatives give everyone the go ahead to look into this attack. Additionally, I request Operatives Adaaya Shepard and Desolas Arterius to directly go to the Citadel and enlist their aid in this matter. Anyone that finds any information of particular interest should route it to them, but can still do what they wish with it! Are there any objections?" No one spoke up "Good. Then I believe that ends this summit. Good luck everyone."
A second later holograms began disappearing until there were none, then the lights in the room went on on, allowing Nihlus a better look at the four people as they turned around.
The winged woman had long black hair and was wearing what looked like a lab coat with a large red jewel hanging on her chest, or out of it. The girl with long ears had purple hair and red eyes and was wearing a military uniform, while the women with the buns on her head was wearing causal clothing. Not only was her one arm covered in bandages though, but her other wrist had a large shackle upon it. All of them had relaxed expressions, the bandaged women even seeming friendly, but all of their muscles were tense.
They were not who Nihlus was interested in however, as he was far more interested in the Turian who turned to him. He was wearing casual clothing, a sleeveless white top and grey pants that went down to his first knee's, only to then become loose drape strips. Though the draping on his pants was strange the clothing itself seemed normal, but he was not. The talons on his feet seemed larger than they should be, as did the talons on his hands as well, though it was less noticeable. His head flanges instead of pointing up, seemed to be far longer than was normal and roped down almost as if mocking Human hair, while the plates that covered his body, normally rough and textured for all Turians, looked impossibly smooth and texture-less except for odd crackling lines of bright blue that seemed to pulse across his plates. He also seemed a bit larger than most Turians, not in height, but in the size of his limbs and body, like his body had more muscle than Turians were supposed to have. He looked unlike any Turian ever before had, and somehow, from the way he stood and the strange inconsistencies from his body, Nihlus knew who he was without even a shred of doubt.
Desolas Arterius, the disowned brother of Saren, the one who helped stop the Alliance hierarchy war from escalating, and the first and only Turian magician!
"Allow me to do the introductions then!" Adaaya spoke up before anyone else could. "These are Operative Utsuho Reiuji, Reisen Udongien, Kasen Ibara and Desolas, my partner. Everyone, this is Spectre Nihlus Kyrik, the one who was supposed to accompany the beacon to Council space, and instead got blasted by it!"
Nihlus felt indignation rise as he opened his mandibles to speak up against the insulting way that Adaaya had described the events that had just recently transpired, but stopped as he saw Desolas very slightly shake his head in his direction as Utsuho spoke up.
"It is what it is. It's unfortunate that the beacon was destroyed, but better that then it fall into the wrong hands. Would you like me to send you my mission notes from when I had to assist Saren on a mission? I doubt you'd need it to know about him but . . ." Utsuho asked as she looked to Desolas.
"Please do, it could be interesting to see what your notes say," Desolas replied as he looked to Kasen and Reisen. "The three of you will be heading out then?"
"I will, yes," Resien replied quickly. "I need to help reassemble and asses our fleet damage around Eden Prime."
"And I will be going back out to assist in the reclamation efforts. A lot of people are unaccounted for yet, and I'm hoping we can find as many as possible before we have to begin worrying about lack of nutrition taking them."
"And I think I'll go and look over some of the damage areas. Especially where the Leviathan shot," Utsuho said as Reisen and Kasen left the room, quickly following them but stopping at the door and looking back in at Nihlus with a smile. "Mums the word."
"What?" Nihlus asked in confusion as Utsuho walked out with a big grin on her face.
"She means be quiet and don't tell anyone . . . you know, about what you heard, about her being the one that glassed the Hegemony capitol." Adaaya explained with a smile as the three of them became the only ones in the room.
"By all rights I should make sure I do exactly that." Nihlus added coolly, causing Desolas to let out a chuckle.
"Yes, but no one will believe you without a lot of evidence, and if that kind of information got out it would fracture the Batarians rehabilitation into a council species. Oh, and could cause another war between the Alliance and Council. Is that really what you want to do right now?"
Nihlus looked at Desolas and felt himself close to growling in annoyance. What they said was true, and it made it clear that he had been allowed to hear that piece of information for some purpose or another. He had fallen into a trap and had not even immediately realized it, and it was his own damn fault! "I'm a Spectre, as long as my information can be confirmed, it will be believed."
"Perhaps, but that would need you to be able to give people that information," Desolas said darkly as an arc of electricity leapt between his fringes.
"Are you threatening me? I could take you in or kill you for that."
"Good luck trying," Desolas again chuckled. "I am an Alliance operative, and I am the one who saved your life if you recall."
"You think that matters when you are threatening and blackmailing me?"
"If I was doing either I'd be doing it a lot more carefully. No, all I'm doing is making things clear to you," Desolas stated as electricity began quietly sparking down from his fringes across his arms. "I am not a Council citizen, I have no intention of letting a Spectre get in my way or order me around, and I will be catching my brother and making him pay for this, and perhaps much more! If you can deal with that you are welcome to come with Adaaya and I on our mission, otherwise I believe this will be the last we see of each other for a very long time."
Nihlus was silent for a moment before letting out a sigh, doing his best to look unintimidated as he spoke. "While I can respect your drive, and will thank you for saving me, Personal feelings do not belong on the battlefield, or in hunting down a rogue spectre."
"Well you'll need to get used to it," Desolas stated coldly. "We are going after him, with or without your help. And just so you know, most ships that can break atmosphere were damaged, so unless you want to wait at least a couple more days to get off New Eden, our ship is the only ticket off this planet." A second after he finished speaking, Desolas smirked at Nihlus in a way that should have been impossible for any Turian, his lower jaw shifted and even his mandibles themselves bent as well. It was unearthly and horrifying, and added weight to his words in a way that Nihlus hadn't expected.
". . . . . if you think your actions mean anything right now-,"
"They don't? Please, I know more than you do about the situation right now, both on Eden Prime, and the space around it," Desolas said with a wave of his hand. "Our ship is an Operative class scout and infiltration corvette designed to get ground teams exactly where they want. Adaaya and I like to be in the thick of it, instead of wailing on targets across deep space, so our ship is more suited to hunting down a Spectre than anyone else's is. Oh, and we have a current gen slipdrive, so I'm pretty sure we could get anywhere faster than any ship you could order around anyway,"
" . . . . You don't like me, do you?"
"I don't care about you!" Desolas pressed. "All I care about is making my brother pay for this, and other things he has done. You have your ultimatum, come with us and keep up, or get lost!"
Nihlus looked at Desolas and began chuckling. "Are you forgetting I am a Spectre?"
"Are you forgetting I'm an operative, and Adaaya's partner who can keep up with her?"
Nihlus shuddered a bit as he remembered how tiring it was just to keep up with Adaaya for the short time he had too. "Alright, very well, I shall join you, at least to the Citadel to see what my new orders are. Understood?"
"Sure, but stop thinking you're in charge, then we'll get somewhere!" Desolas said casually as he walked out of the room, waving for Nihlus to follow.
As the two of them walked down the halls, finding no one else at all, nothing was said for many minutes, until Nihlus could no longer keep quiet. "What happened to your plates?"
"Excuse me?" Desolas replied, sounding insulted as he came to a door and taped a keypad beside it a few times, opening it to reveal a small room full of weapon racks and munitions.
"Your plates. What happened to them?" Nihlus asked as Desolas led him into the room and pointed to a case that clearly had Nihlus's armour hanging on it, beaten, scratched, but whole.
"Ha, that's what you're curious about? Well you don't need to worry. It's not contagious, so it's just me who looks like I've been covered in slag."
"But what exactly caused it?" Nihlus pressed as he began putting his armour on and notice his weapons on a rack beside him, smiling when he also noticed that they were cleaned and polished.
Desolas let out an exasperated sigh as he leaned against the doorframe. "Magic."
"You think I will believe that?"
"Adaaya punched a crane off its platform with her bare fists and can create winds that rival gale forces, while I generate enough electricity to fry a ships mass effect core and form railguns out of scrap metal. Magic wins."
"And you expect me to just believe those statements of your abilities?"
"Believe what you want. The truth is the truth. You done yet or do you want to have a bath and polish your talons too?"
"Oh please, my armour is worth more than everything else in this room. It's why I'm still alive!"
"I think I'm why you're alive, and I must have missed the memo about Eezo powered armour being worth more credits than an entire room of beam and pulse weapons. I wonder when that happened?" Desolas said off handedly as he walked out of the room, leaving Nihlus alone to connect the last pieces of his hard suit armour and began checking over his weapons, leaving him with his thoughts.
He had heard many rumors over the years about Desolas Arterius. Some called him a hero that stopped untold death, others called him the worst betrayer in the history of the Hierarchy. Bounties had been put on his head and removed repeatedly over the years, and there had been at least three reports of Spectres having him gotten in the way of their operations into Alliance space. It was not stated, but believed they had been operations to steal Alliance technology, and one of the spectres on one of those missions had never returned, while the other two came back with major wounds, including cauterized gashes and burn scars. To the spectres, the STG, The Turian cabals, and even the Asari commando squads, his name was one that gave mixed feeling of hate, respect, fear, admiration, disgust and confusion. But from having now met him, Nihlus was not sure what to think. To him, Desolas seemed like he didn't care, like he was in it for the laughs. He had insulted and joked at him in equal measure seemingly at random, yet all the while feeling like he was tense and simultaneously uncaring. Add in the fact that Desolas looked so strange with his texture-less plates and unnaturally extended fringe, his entire presence unnerved Nihlus on a basic level.
But that feeling had to be left behind. He was a Council spectre, and he had to return and report Saren's betrayal and accept his new mission, as the other had failed spectacularly.
He could still remember it vividly, Adaaya striking the crane, and heavily damaging the beacon as it whipped out. Hordes of mechanical monstrosities killing indiscriminately. Massive multi legged machined landing in cities and devastating whole planets and-
"Wait, that never happened!" Nihlus suddenly muttered to himself, finding that his heart was beating faster than it should have been. His memories were jumbled and made no sense. Memories not his own flashed when he tried to focus, but they were blurred, broken like they were not fully formed, yet forcing their way into his thoughts regardless. Metal beings like desiccated corpses, mechanical monsters that dropped from the sky and spat fire. His plates itched, his throat felt dry, and he could feel his blood seemingly boiling as his heart rate skyrocketed.
Nihlus gripped the stock of his rifle and quickly began controlling his breath while he began reciting names. Tevron, Sirund, Cassis, names of his ancestors, one at a time going backwards, his whole family line, one after another until he got to the oldest name in his family's history, Nihlus. His oldest known family member was known as a perfect tactician and combatant. He fought in the unification war, gaining rank only through his deeds and prowess. He was named after the greatest Turian in his family's history, and whenever he had trouble, all he needed to do was to recite his family's history, and his heartrate had calmed, as had his mind.
His mind was calm, he had his equipment. He would worry about the images and memories not his own later. For now, he had to return to the citadel, to report all that had occurred.
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Authors note: So, the first chapter of the actual game timeline, and we find out what happened to Desolas when he became a Youkai! Yes there are some things different and that have not been mentioned, but they will be, so look forward to it!