Councillor Sparatus stared at the message on the terminal in his office and could not believe what he was reading. He had a meeting to get to with the other councillors, but had happened to take one last glance at his terminal as he was getting ready, and now his eyes would not budge from the screen.
He knew things, all of the councillors did, that could shake galactic foundations and reshape the political climate between races easily. It was part of the job being a councillor, to know things that couldn't be told, and to try to direct events in a way that was best for all the races. He also knew of things that the Primarch of his people were deciding, and as of late, knew of plans they had been preparing and considering in case their need was required.
Only now he was being told to admit of these plans to the council as a way to force changes. If the changes were accepted then the Turian hierarchy would take no further action, but if they were not, then they would go forward with their plans.
Plans that would not just shake Council space, but utterly fracture it.
"Spirits, I knew I should have retired as soon as I heard about Project Faith. It is nothing to this but . . . .Spirits, this is going too far," Sparatus muttered as he sat down and began typing a return message stating his understanding, but also that he knew the Council would not take the news well.
He doubted he would get an answer at any speed for it to matter though. Especially with the way his omnitool was blinking, telling him he was either late to the councillors meeting, or soon to be.
With a final sigh he closed his terminal, checked his clothing, then left his office and headed for the councillors private meeting room, dreading what would be talked about and what it could lead to.
Most meetings were long and drawn out things, with the three of them drawing up plans or talking of events and heir repercussions, as well as the council's response to them. Most of these things took a long time as, while the council was technically a ruling body, it also did not technically try to control the races that were a part of the Council.
Technically.
They did not influence laws in the Turian Hierarchy, Asari Republic of Salarian Union, but did in regards to other nations who did not have a seat on the council. For them the story was very different and in regards to races not part of the council it was, complicated.
Shaking his head to dislodge such stray thoughts, Sparatus entered into the meeting room to see Tevos and Valern already seated and comfortable with drinks in front of them, partly emptied.
"Sparatus, I was beginning to wonder of you were going to join us or not," Tevos said with a soft smile. "I assume something kept you?"
"Yes, a message from the Hierarchy that required my full attention in memorizing its details," Sparatus admitted as he walked in and sat down at his own seat, noting Tevos had already had a glass placed at his seat and filled with some Turian brandy. She did know how to be ready for people if nothing else.
"I assume something such as that will be mentioned during this meeting then, yes?" Valern asked, seeming oddly curious.
"Yes, but I'm sure you already know about it," Sparatus said offhandedly, surprising both Valern and Tevos with the insinuation of the comment.
"Sparatus, councillors would not-"
"Save the 'we are all equals' speech," Sparaus interrupted Tevos as he tapped his omnitool and brought up a number of documents onto the meeting tables projector. "I've already been harassed by the Hierarchies security board three times in the last two days over three dozen STG attempts to break into classified data stores and other such databanks."
"What? No, that couldn't be, Valern, that would not happen, right?" Tevos asked, her friendly mask shattering and showing anxiousness and worry on her face. An expression that was quickly becoming her norm in the past months.
Valern looked deep in thought for a moment before he simply nodded. "No, I could see some groups in the Tasks group doing such a thing if they believed there was something dangerous or of interest. I will look into it when this meeting is down with."
"Thank you, though by this meetings end you may be able to just tell them what they have been searching for," Sparatus said with a sigh before taking a drink and placing the cup back down. "What is first on the agenda today, Tevos?"
"Ah, first, ah yes, of course," Tevos said as she tried to calm down and compose herself, using her own omnitool to move the rather frightening documents off the table and bringing up a point form list. "First on the Agenda is the continuing effort to rehabilitate the Batarian people into Citadel society, a situation in regards to the Volus's economy and then reports of strange movements in the terminus. Then we have-,"
"Terminus movements should be the most important, no? Anything in regards to the Batarians can be left till later," Sparatus said simply as he downed the rest of his glass in one go.
Tevos turned to Valern, perhaps seeking hope, but deflated as Valern nodded." Do agree anything involving the movement of the terminus systems or Alliance should be top priority. Have acquired some additional details therein as well."
"I , very well, first is the movement in the Terminus, Valern, if you would please?"
"Of course. STG recently reported odd movements in Terminus space. Large number of ships all gathering in one place as well as vastly large quantities of credits and titanium being moved and transported, likely as pay."
"So the Terminus system is at war with itself then," Sparatus figured with a chuckle. "Did someone finally get them together to usurp Aria?"
"STG forces do not believe so. Terminus pirate forces have been gathering at Relays that leads toward Both alliance and council space."
"What?! Valern, if there is the chance the Terminus systems are preparing to attack council space we need to prepare!?" Tevos declared in an obvious panic. "Who is leading them? Is it the Alliance?"
"He said they are gathered at the edge of alliance space as well, Tevos," Sparatus said seriously before he leaned forward in his chair. "Valern, show us the locations and numbers, please."
"Of course," Valern said as he tapped his own omnitool and brought up a map of the galaxy with overlays of territories and a number of glowing orange lights. "These are the locations that the pirates have been gathering. Strangely all of them if they entered Council space would be arriving in front of major patrol zones. They would not be undetected."
"That is, strange. How many ships?" Sparatus asked next as he studied the map, noting that the largest orange blob was closest to the largest Turian patrol fleet. A fleet that had no less than three battleships in it and would be capable of tearing apart nearly any fleet it encountered.
"The number of pirate ships is estimated to be well over one thousand, but the majority are of simple frigates and destroyers. STG intelligence reported only a small number of cruisers, and one unconfirmed sighting of some form of battleship."
"Unconfirmed?" Tevos asked in worry.
"A single sighting of a large unknown craft at extreme range," Valern explained as he brought up a very grainy and dark image. "It was located at the far edge of the system with the greatest pirate presence, but was not near them. When additional scans or images were attempted, the craft seemed to disappear and the pirates in the system noticed the STG ship, forcing them to evade."
"So the pirates have a battleship," Sparatus reasoned simply. "Feels odd that they would try to simply push past our patrols. If one is attacked they will alert all the rest after all. Pirates should not be this foolish."
"Perhaps, they are simply trying to cause us to be afraid of them in preparation for something?" Tevos suggested.
"It is possible that-", Valern stopped as his Omnitool blinked and he opened a message, his eyes going wide. "I have been informed that roughly seventy standard minutes ago all pirates converged on one system and departed it via relay heading for Council space, alongside the previously unconfirmed battleship."
"What?! We need to alert the Citadel fleet then!" Tevos exclaimed as she stood up and opened her omnitool.
"The Citadel fleets job is to protect the Citadel," Sparatus said simply, stopping her from continuing. "Besides, a couple hundred frigates are dangerous, but the closest Turian fleet vastly overpowers them, and if they do not, our soldiers are not dumb. They will call for support and defend the location to the last to make sure the pirates go no further. We will likely begin receiving reports within the hour."
"I agree. STG forces had passed the information to Turian captains in preparations," Valern said as he tapped his omnitool and brought up a number of attached money transfer logs whiles still reading. "I am more curious as to where all the money came from that was wired to the various pirate groups however. The quantity is rather staggering, and was sent out alongside a large scale hiring model."
"That, is a lot of money," Sparatus muttered as he looked at the figures. That amount of money would pay for the building of almost a full dozen Turian battleships, or could buy a large island on a garden world with ease. "Could it be Aria?"
"No, she wouldn't do mass payouts like this, it must be a third party," Tevos said a little too quickly, though neither Valern nor Sparatus spoke of it.
"It is a third party, but the ones who passed this information to STG to look into did not give many details, and could not confirm it themselves either. The information was only received within these past couple days."
"Days? Valern, if the STG got this information from another party, who gave it?" Sparatus asked, though he figured the answer ha to be somewhat obvious.
"Alliance operatives Sanae Kotchiya and Nitori Kawashiro passed the information along after looking it over after, according to them, the Geth passed it to them."
"The Geth and the Alliance!? Valern, that information cannot be trusted!" Tevos nearly screamed in outrage.
"The information was triple checked by numerous cells before being looked into, and was properly compartmentalized when it was as well. There is nothing to fear, and the information led to the discovery of the pirate forces gatherings and for Turian captains to be informed among the Hierarchy," Valern quickly defended himself and the STG's actions.
"But if it is coming from the Alliance it cannot be trusted! They-"
"Passed on information pertaining to the potential endangerment of Council territories allowing our forces to be more prepared for a potential attack," Sparatus interrupted loudly, before letting out a sigh and scowling in Valerns direction. "It is more than what we had done for them in the past when in a similar situation and armed with such knowledge."
"Yes, quite. Point is that the terminus is moving and we should decide upon an official response to such a thing," Valern said, completely ignoring Sparatus's words.
Then all of the lights in the room suddenly began flickering incessantly for a few seconds.
"What? What was that?" Tevos asked in confusion as if she had never seen the lights flicker before.
"Flickering lights suggest something amiss in the Citadels power supply, but such a thing should not occur. Power supply has never has issues," Valrn said quickly.
"Flickering lights are normal in some places but with the power supply here on the Citadel," Sparatus stopped as his eyes went wide in realisation, remembering a time when he was in the armed forces. "Sometimes large explosions or similar events can cause power conduits to get jarred!"
"Sparatus, we're on the Citadel Presidium, we are perfectly safe here," Tevos said.
Right before a muffled bang could be heard, the building shook slightly, and all of the lights went out. It took only a second for emergency lights to kick in, filling the room with a pale orange half-light.
"You were saying," Sparatus said with a chuckle as he tapped his omnitool. "This is Councillor Sparatus, give me a status report."
"Sir, C-sec has no power and we are investigating the power outage. First response has reports of a trio of explosions, that occurred one after another," A C-sec officer replied, telling Sparatus that Executor Pallin was likely busy dealing with the situation.
"Where did the explosions occur, in order?"
"Sir. The first explosion ripped through the main public dockyards traffic control centre. The second destroyed the nearby Spectre resource centre, and the last one that was reported was on the Presidium."
"Where on the Presidium?" Sparatus pressed, suddenly feeling a pit forming in his stomach.
"The Alliance embassy, sir."
"Spirits, get me a line to the Executor, now!"
"Sir, it will be a moment."
"That is fine. Just do it!" Sparatus said in anger as he lowered his arm for a moment and sighed before looking to Valern and Tevos. "The docks traffic control centre being blown limits any ability to maintain contact with the Citadel fleet."
"Agreed. Spectre resource centre will also limit their ability to respond quickly to any information that could be discovered," Valern said intelligently. "Likely an attack, potential for pirate gathering to be used as a distraction. Citadel fleet may have their hands full shortly."
"Yes, as will C-sec," Sparatus agreed instantly. As he got up from his chair, pushed it away from the table and reached underneath, pulling out a full sized Turian phaeston rifle. "We should head for the bunker so that no one needs to worry about our location."
"Wait, I, what is going on?" Tevos spoke up as she watched Valern pull a Salarian pistol of some kind out from underneath the table. She had never heard of weapons being in the meeting room!
"Tevos, if it wasn't clear, the Citadel is under attack. We need to head for the security bunker immediately," Sparatus said as he checked the weapon and switched it on. "Grab a pistol from under the table. One should have been put there in case of emergency."
"No, hold on Sparatus, this must be some sort of mistake. The Citadel has the fleet defending it, and, and how did weapons get in here when this room is supposed to be weapon free?" Tevos asked, clearly looking very startled and confused.
"We put them there after the Alliance came to the Citadel as one of many emergency measure that, until now have not been needed," Valern answered as he activated his own pistol, sighted it, and then nodded. "Good, still in working order, though I will be somewhat untested."
"Wait, are you saying the Alliance is attacking the citadel!?" Tevos asked in terror.
Sparatus let out a groan of annoyance as he walked right up to Tevos. "No, the Alliance is not attacking us, Tevos. Their embassy was bombed as well. If we think about the locations that were bombed it should be clear who orchestrated this. Though I admit I have no idea how it has been done."
"What?"
"Saren. Saren is orchestrating this attack," Sparatus declared seriously.
"High possibility that he may be responsible for the pirate gathering as a way to divert attention away from the Citadel as well," Valern added.
"Right, so we need to move. Understand?"
Tevos looked at him in shock and fear before slowly nodding without a word.
"Good," sparatus declared as he knelt down, reached under the table and handed Tevos a small pistol. "The safety is on the side, aim and fire if you need to, but only if you are in direct danger. Otherwise you follow my lead now, understood?"
"Y-yes, of course."
"Good, then let's go. The emergency bunker is at the bottom of the tower," Sparatus said as he went for the door and straight through, heading down the halls and leading the way to a small hallway that ran into a single door to a small door that, when he opened it, revealed a very tall spiral staircase that went straight down.
"Wouldn't it be more prudent to use the elevator, Sparatus?" Tevos asked as she looked over the edge of the railing and felt queasy.
"The elevators will not be operational under emergency power. It's a safety feature," Sparatus said with a wry chuckle before turning to Tevos. "How good is your Biotic control? Could you float all three of us to the bottom safely?"
"What? I, I have moved multiple people, but that is, it is too far, no, there is no way," Tevos said as she took a step back away from the railing.
"Then we take the stairs," Sparatus stated simply as he began descending them, being followed quickly by Valern.
"Wait, Sparatus, this can't, there has to be another way down!" Tevos spoke up as she followed with one hand never leaving the railing on the wall. "I refuse to believe there is not an emergency elevator."
"Tevos," Sparatus started with a sigh. "We cannot trust the elevators due to the power having gone out. Until we know for sure they are safe, they are not to be used."
"But there has never been a power outage on the Citadel so-"
"Enough," Sparatus declared, cutting Tevos off as he raised his omnitool and tapped it as he continued to descend. "This is Councillor Sparatus."
"Sparatus, this is Pallin, where are you right now?" Came the executors voice over the comms, sounding already tired and exasperated.
"Presidum tower, heading down the emergency stairway to the ground floor," Sparatus answered instantly. "What is going on, Executor? What is the situation?"
"A problem that is what!" Executor Pallin responded in annoyance. "As near as I can tell, Citadel control let a number of Batarian frigates dock, claiming they were carrying supplies. They had the proper codes apparently so no one thought to look deeper, but when they landed armed Batarians came out and started shooting. When my men arrived there was an explosion in the control center, then a couple other explosions went off elsewhere, likely connected to the same signal."
"So it's a Batarian attack?" Sparatus asked in surprise. Yes, he knew many Batarians were still angry over what had happened to Kar'shan, but the Alliance had done that, so why attack the Citadel of all places?
"No, I am afraid it is much worse than just a terrorist attack," Pallin said before the sound of accelerator fire and an explosion echoed through the comms. "This is an inside job, because not only are the Batarians pillaging and killing everyone in sight, I've managed to regain communications with the Citadel fleet. A massive fleet of Terminua pirate ships has come through the relay and is fighting the defence fleet. They outnumber them three to one, if not more."
"What?! We had the report of Terminus build-up, but they should only have gone through a relay less than an hour ago! There is no way they could move through all of Council space and arrive here so quickly without being seen!"
"Well, they have, Councillor. I'm not going to argue possibilities when they are here with a ship that doesn't match any on records and are apparently pounding the defence fleet!"
"Wait, what did you say?"
"There's a ship, bigger than the Destiny Ascension, that has joined the Terminus attacking fleet. The reports are sparse, but I'm told it has weapons we have not seen and is carving though the fleet, and heading straight for the Citadel."
"The Citadel arms need to be closed, protect the people," Valern spoke up loud enough to be heard on Sparatus's omnitool.
"We can't. The Citadel control centre was crippled by the explosion it took. The Citadel is stuck open," Pallin stated grimly as another explosion echoed through the comms. " How close are you to the shelter?"
"Once we get down to the ground floor it should be only a block away," Sparatus replied, his gun suddenly feeling heavier in his hands at the fact the Citadel was under attack. Yes, he had been a soldier, but he hadn't expected this sort of feeling when so many were in danger. "The other embassies should already have gotten to them. How farspread is the attack on the Citadel?"
"We are containing it to the merchant quarter around the docks, but the Batarians have some sort of large exosuits that are nearly immune to normal accelerator fire and are cutting though our people. It's a battle of attrition that, I admit, it does not look like we will be winning until our reinforcements from other wards arrive."
"How long?"
"They were supposed to be here already," Pallin said grimly.
"Understood. Keep me posted."
"will do sir, we-", Pallin was stopped by the sound of flames and screams, and then cheering. "I think we will be fine now."
"Understood," Sparatus said as he closed his omnitool, prompting Tevos.
"Was that a flamethrower I had heard? Why did C-sec have such a barbaric weapon in their arsenal?!"
"They don't. I believe that was the Alliance ambassador's bodyguard. She can control and manipulate flames, after all," Sparatus said simply.
"That is, impossible!" Tevos said, sounding very tired and winded, making Sparatus look back to see that while Tevos was not enjoying the stairway, Valern seemed to be doing better and only showed an inkling of tiredness.
"Should be, yes, but is not. Still unsure how manipulation or creation is done, very fascinating with how hot the flames can burn," Valern muttered as they went.
"Alliance magic is not so complicated, it is different yes, but not as hard as some think," Sparatus mentioned offhandedly.
"What? Sparatus, what are you talking about?"" 'Tevos asked before coughing slightly. " S-slow down."
"I mean that I've had the basic concept for magic explained to me. It took some time, but it is simply a different kind of concept. It still has rules and limitations," he stated as he slightly slowed his pace down the stairs.
"What? Why would you have that madness explained to you?" Tevos asked aghast.
"Because, the Hierarchy has an interest in the Alliances magic as a potential replacement for Biotics in our military," Sparatus admitted. "That was going to be one thing I spoke of in our meeting, as the Hierarchy wanted it known to the council."
"What?! Why would the Hierarchy ever want magic over Biotics?!"
"Biotics in Turians rare, often must be done surgically, and those it is done to tend to be considered pariahs," Valern spoke up quickly. "Magic is said to be capable to be taught, and does not require surgery in most cases as I am to understand it. Potentially more versatile."
"Yes. The Hierarchy believes it will be more versatile and useful for the military forces. They did not decide this suddenly either," Sparatus stated as taking a glance over the railing he could see the ground floor. They were almost there.
"Sparatus, what are you saying?" Tevos asked, her tone sounding afraid.
"The Hierarchy has been working with the alliance on a number of military projects for a few years now. One of them was a project to see how easily Turians could learn magic and it has shown promise. Not as much as Desolas has, but promise nonetheless."
"Sparatus, you can't! You have to explain to the Hierarchy that they cannot go through with such a thing!" Tevos suddenly pleaded. "The Alliance, we cannot let them try to subvert Citadel culture and ethics and that would be the first step to doing so!"
Sparatus let out a huff as he shook his head. "Tevos, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but the Hierarchy made this decision a long time ago, and does not care about the Asari Republics opinion on the matter of the Alliance."
"What!?" Tevos nearly shriek in horror. "Sparatus, no they cannot just ignore the other members of the Council! Such a decision should need the opinions of-."
"Tevos, the Hierarchy does not care!" Sparatus yelled as he stopped and spun around to stare at Tevos, who looked utterly shocked at him yelling. "The Hierarchy does not care about the Republics opinion in this matter, and there is no law stating they must tell the Council of it. The Council works to unify Council space and keep things in motion, not to tie down other races. Something we have failed at for a long time. The Hierarchy has recently realized this due to the Asari Republics actions in regards to the Alliance, and they do not care about the Republics options. There is nothing going to change that at this time, and nothing I say will change it even if I wanted to!"
Both Tevos and Sparatus simply stared at each other for a moment before Valern stepped between them and spoke. "Can see the escape door below. We need to leave here for now. Arguments and opinions can be shared at a later time when safe, yes?"
"Yes, that would be best," Sparatus said as he turned and headed back down the stairs. No one said anything until they reached the bottom where a single door was awaiting them. It opened with no difficulty and led them out into the area at the base of the Presidium tower, and looking behind them they found the door was disguised as a part of the outer wall itself.
The area they were in was normally busy with people, emissaries, diplomats, merchants and other people going to the various stores, shops and offices on the Presidium, instead it was nearly empty, with some few people in the distance heading hurriedly toward the nearest buildings as holographic messages to seek shelter covered ever billboard and sign in sight. The only things that seemed unaffected by events were the monuments and statuary that sat in the various ponds and at the edge of the walk able areas.
"What is that?" Valern suddenly spoke up, causing Sparatus and Tevos to turn and look where he was painting. A monument of a mass relay, many times the size of a person, sat at the edge of the walkway as it always did. Everyone had assumed it was just stone and metal as it never did anything, but now its rings were spinning and glowing as if it was an actual mass relay. And it sounded horrendous as its groan shifted to a whirring screech of energy.
"Oh Spirits, you cannot be, get moving now!" Sparatus yelled as he realized what the miniature relay sculpture was. It seemed impossible, but it was acting like a real relay did. And if that was true, something was coming through it.
"what, but Sparatus-" Tevos began to say in confusion. Just as the mini relay flashed and someone came through and landed on the ground, rolling forward to catch themselves.
Sparatus's eyes went wide in horror and anger as he recognized the person as none other than Saren himself. "Valern, get Tevos out of here and go, now!" Sparatus ordered as the relay began flashing again and again, groups of Batarians, some in large powered suits, began coming though onto the Presidium.
Valern looked at the arriving force and nodded. "Understood. Do not get yourself killed," he said as he grabbed Tevos and began dragging her away as quick as he could.
"I don't promise anything," Sparatus muttered to himself as checked his gun and advanced, spotting a section of railing that was reinforced with kinetic barriers due to a few instances of merchant stalls going haywire. It was no professionally built barricade, but it would have to do. "Saren! I order you to stand down!" Sparatus yelled out at the top of his lungs as he carefully aimed his rifle at the easiest Batarian target in preparation.
The Batarians all trained their weapons on him but did not fire as Saren put a hand and scowled. "Councillor, you should be in a bunker by now, I suggest you go there to have the best seats for what I am planning."
"Not a chance Saren. Stand down now in the name of the Hierarchy!" Sparatus called back as his talon half pressed the trigger down.
"I have no time for your foolishness, kill him and hold this position!" Saren ordered with a wave of a hand as he turned and began walking toward the Presidium towers main entranceway.
Sparatus wanted to demand answers from SAren, as there seemed like little reason why Saren would need to go to the presidium tower, but was unable to as he was aimed and fired upon by the Batarians. He fired in return and leapt down for cover, though a few rounds clipped his one arm, making his hiss in pain. It had been a long time since he had been shot, and it hurt just as it always did.
"Spirits, this was not how I expected this day to go," Sparatus muttered as he pushed himself against the solid railing and using his good arm flipped his gun overhead and pulled the trigger, firing blindly over his cover to keep the Batarians occupied and to force some of them into more static positions.
"Kill him quickly before they arrive!" one of the Batarians yelled.
Sparatus smirked to himself from the information he now knew and opened a small case on his leg under his tunic, taking out one of two small grenades. Tevos and Valern would be very upset if they knew he was always carrying around grenades as councillors were supposed to use violence only in self-defence, but he was a Turian and being totally unarmed was never something he had been comfortable with. Flinging the first grenade over his piece of cover he heard an explosion a second later and twisted, allowing his head to see over the railing and better aim his weapon.
Just in time to see that his grenade had staggered one of the armoured Batarians while killing an unarmoured one, and that the miniature relay was aglow with more light and energy. "Spirits take you!" Sparatus yelled as he aimed and gunned down one Batarian whose barrier appeared to be malfunctioning, before pelting another and forcing him to hide behind one of the armoured ones.
All the Batarians screamed and yelled at him as many fired in unison, forcing Sparatus to drop behind his cover again, only to notice it was not going to last long. With a grunt he tapped his omnitool and it created a kinetic barrier off of it, not full sized, but large enough to protect his body, and then leapt up and dashed out from behind the railing, his rifle firing as he went.
The Batarians were so focused on him, they didn't notice the mini relay flash, and Desolas come out.
He glanced around for a second, saw the situation, and let loose a cone of electricity that fried the Batarians closest to him.
This made the rest of them note his presence, and as they turned to him Nihlus came out of the relay, being carried and then quickly dropped by Adaaya, and then opened fire on their legs with his laser rifle, dropping them helplessly to the floor in seconds.
"Good, now we,-" Adaaya began to say before a torrent of unknown fluid began fountaining out of the mini relay, splashing them with the liquid. "I was trying to stay dry, dammit!" Adaaya screamed as she dashed at the relay and punched it, blowing apart its foundation and causing it to fall into the nearby water feature. Unfortunately, it did not stop the water from continued to pour out.
"Where is Saren, he only had a minute ahead of us," Nihlus asked as he walked over and executed a Batarian with a shot to the head.
"He went up the tower!" Sparatus called out, revealing his presence to the three of them as he got up off the ground where he had rolled to avoid accelerator rounds.
"What? Councillor, you need to be-," Nihlus began, before Desolas spoke up and cut him off.
"He went up the tower? Why is he going up there while you are down here?"
"Look up," Sparatus said making all three of them do just that, allowing them to see a number of flashes and lights blooming in space above them. "The Citadel is under attack."
"Well shit," Adaaya remarked as she walked up and planted her foot on the back of a Batarian trying to aim his gun without the use of his legs. The crack that echoed out from his body was telling. He wasn't going to move ever again.
"I tried to slow him down but he went up on his own," Sparatus continued. "I assume he has a way to circumvent the emergency elevator shutoff.
"Understood, we finally know what he is after. I'll explain later once we stop him. Get to safety, Councillor," Nihlus said as Desolas stormed toward the tower, electrocuting every Batarian on the way and finishing them off.
"I will. Good luck Spectre, and operatives," Sparatus said as he turned and ran, heading to the bunker so that he was both out of the way and back in safety. Fighting Batarian thugs was one thing, picking a fight with a spectre was entirely another after all.
"Councillor!"
Sparatus turned to the voice to see a human, specifically the Human Terrafirma Representative, Charles Saracino. He was also holding a very small accelerator pistol and aiming it right at him.
The gun flashed a few times, the small noise of an accelerator weapon accompanying each shot, and Sparatus felt pain expand out from his upper leg. He tumbled to the ground dropping his weapon, pain spreading out from his upper leg and torso. It wasn't deadly pain, telling him that it was mostly in the muscle, but it still hurt, and he would still need medical attention.
"I'm happy I saw you split off from the other councillors, Turian," Charles said as he began walking toward him. "It would have been much harder to deal away with you if you were with them. And not accompanying the operative's helped as well. It truly is my lucky day!"
"What, what is the meaning of this? Tevos gave you immunity and protection, why would-,"
"I shoot you?" Charles finished Sparatus's sentence for him. "It is simple really. You are an obstacle. Terrafirma would very much like to be on the Councils good side and be able to fully pull away from those magical fucks of the Alliance. The Asari are utterly terrified of magic, so they are easy to get empathy from. The Salarians only care about if we could be of use to them technologically. But you, you Turians seem to have no issues with the Alliance and even seem to respect them and believe their lies about how the Alliance was formed! I wouldn't be surprised if you are trying to gain access to magic as well!" Charles said as he spat to the side. "It is disgusting. Not only that, it is dangerous to continued human interests. We humans can be very skilful in war and advancing technology when magic is not ruining our culture and way of life, but you keep getting in the way of the Council giving us true amnesty and letting us settle here in Council space. So doing away with you is the best thing to do."
Sparatus glanced at Charles, seeing that he was only a couple meters away, and then glanced at his gun. It was too far away. "You, have no idea," Sparatus said quietly, so quietly he knew that Charles would not be able to hear him as he acted more wounded than he was.
"Pardon? It seems your voice is failing you. Did you have some last final words for me to carve on your gravestone?" Charles asked as he stepped closer, then stopped and scratched his chin. "Hmm, do Turians use gravestones? I suppose it doesn't matter. Once you are dead you will be no longer an issue to get in-," Charles was interrupted by a horrendous blaring noise that rattled his very bones and shook his soul. He looked up on reflex and gaped. "What in the world is that?"
Not looking up from seeing his chance Sparatus planted both of his hands on the ground, partly lifted himself up and then kicked out his legs while pushing himself with his arms. His feet slammed against Charles ankles and he fell to the ground almost on top of Sparatus. Rolling himself over Sparatus swung his claws at Charles arm and tore into his flesh, crippling the hand holding the gun before grabbing it and throwing it to the side, well out of reach, as he got up to a kneeling position and grabbed at Charles arms, attempting to pin him.
"Ah, fucking alien scum, get off me!" Charles yelled as he struggled against Sparatus, blood from Sparatus's own wounds, and his arm spattering across his chest.
"Enough!" Sparatus said grimly as he swatted one of Charles hands away and then punched him in the throat, stunning him long enough for Sparatus to slash the muscle on both of his upper arms with his talons. "I did not trust you when Tevos admitted to your presence, and this just proves everything the Alliance said of your group. You have doomed any chance of what you hoped for!" Sparatus stated as he allowed himself to stumble back off of Charles and rest on his knee's for a moment, noting how the human blood was all over his talons. It could be hard to explain, but he would come to that issue when he needed to.
"You, think you have won?! No, I win! Video of a Turian leader brutalizing an unarmed man, and you can just die now!" Charles yelled with a grin. Only for nothing to happen. "kill him! I said kill him! Make him die!" Charles then yelled, as if expecting some kind of support.
"Your allies have already been dealt with," came the voice of Flandre Scarlet, making both Charles and Sparatus turn their heads to see her walking toward them with Mokou right beside her. Mokou's wings of fire were at full burn, and Flandre's clean cut and stylish suit was covered in fresh blood as she held a horribly bent and mangle piece of dark metal in one hand, a human skill impaled on its end and dripping blood across the ground.
"What, impossible! There's no way!" Charles yelled in horror, seemingly recognizing the head on the end of Flandre's weapon.
"Really? please, there are hundreds of ways I could know you had assassins outside our place. Not like they could kill any of us though," Flandre said with a chuckle as she flicked her weapon to the side, sending the human head Sailing off of it and into a nearby wall with a wet crack. "Why did you think Mokou and I were sent here, huh? Neither of us can be killed by anything really. Like, sure I might be able to die, but I haven't yet and that is saying a lot!"
"What, why are you here?" 'Sparatus asked in surprise and confusion. There was no one around, everyone was supposed to be in the emergency bunkers after all.
"Do you not want us to come and save your scaly butt?" Flandre asked with a grin, right before chucking. "No, I'm kidding. Saving you is a bonus, as is killing this guy," She said as she walked right up to Charles and slammed the end of her bloody weapon into his head, splattering it into pulp across the floor. She then pointed the gore covered weapon into the air. "I'm here for that!"
Sparatus looked up and felt his blood go cold as his eyes went wide. Floating just above the Presidium tower was a ship, more massive than even the Destiny Ascension. A massive spire of dark bluish metal with numerous almost leg like appendages hanging down from it and slowly curling around the tower, as if the ship was trying to dock with it. He wasn't sure how, but knew that that ship was what had made that unearthly droning noise moments before. "What is that thing?"
"That is what Yukari has been having us all prepare for," Mokou spoke up seriously. "The thing we have been trying to prepare everyone for."
"Yeah, and now I can kill one too!" Flandre declared as she raised an open hand to the thing, and then closed her hand with a grin. A grin that quickly faltered as she began opening and closing her hand repeatedly. "Well shit."
"Your ability is not working?" Mokou asked.
"No, it is. I'm destroying its eye but . . . . . that thing's eye, heart, core, whatever you want to call it, I think it must be made up of multiple of the same things. Without seeing the whole object that contains them I'm only chipping away at it." Flandre said before she sighed and shook her weapon a couple times. "Think we should just shoot it from here?"
"We can try, but I somehow doubt our personal weapons will have much effect on it," Mokou said before her wings blazed brightly and a number of lances of flame shot out and up toward the massive ship. Only to be stopped right before hitting it by a familiar blue barrier. "Kinetic barriers, should have known."
"Here, let me try. Gungnir," Flandre said as she held her free hand to side, red energy crackling and then forming a large absurdly shaped spear in her hand. She then, much to Sparatus's surprise, threw it toward the ship above them, the red energy thinning out as it flew until it too struck the kinetic barriers, blew through them, and slammed into its hull with a jolt. From their distance it was not able to be seen if it did any substantial damage.
Though the fact that one of the ships appendages slowly turned in their direction, its end starting to glow a bright red, said it likely had and also alerted it to their presence.
"Oh, that could be,-" Flandre began saying before her eyes went wide and she lunged at Sparatus and grabbed hold of him. "Hold on!"
"Wha-?" was all that managed to escaped Sparatus's mouth as Flandre suddenly took off down the pathways of the Presidium, barely a meter above the ground. Then barely a second later the weapon on ship's appendage, which looked to Sparatus like a strange cross between an Alliance laser and some kind of high pressure liquid, began gouging out the Pesidium behind them, and as it trailed them.
"It seems you have had an effect!" Mokou called form the side where she was flying, Sparatus having trouble with his perception due to the speed they were moving at.
"I was hoping to blow a hole in it, not grab its attention," Flandre said in annoyance as she moved to dodge what might have been a statue of some kind.
Sparatus turned his head, hoping to stop his head from aching any further, and found himself looking straight at the odd ship, and seeing its other appendages unfurling from the tower and glowing vibrantly red. "It's aiming, more of them," he managed to gasp out, finding that his vision was going strange.
"I'll hold its attention, get the Councillor to safety and then come back," Mokou said as she looked at her wristcomp and then smiled. "The fleet is here with five ships."
"Good, I'll be back as soon I've dropped off Mister Frill here," Flandre said as she and Mokou spilt off just in time to dodge red fire that tore up the Presidium shops and walkways like a beam of molten metal had been drove into them, fired following the destruction.
"B-bunker, is by the hinge of the ring," Sparatus said carefully as to not lose his last meal as Flandre spiralled and suddenly shifted directions on a whim to dodge fire.
"Alright, just try not to bleed out on the way there," Flandre muttered as she turned and scowled at the ship, and the tower beneath it that had flashes of lightning arcing out of it. "Alright Adaaya, Desolas, let's see what you two can pull off!"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"I hate these elevators," Desolas grumbled as he stood right be the elevator door, sparks coming off of his talons in anticipation. Saren was just above them, not even a full minute ahead of them. He wasn't going to get away, not again.
Of course if the elevator went any slower than the crawl it was currently going there might be any say in the matter!
"These elevators only go so fast," Nihlus spoke up from where he was standing beside the elevators control console. A console that was broken open and sparking. "It's a miracle its working in the first place with the emergency systems engaged."
"Makes me wish I could fly," Adaaya mumbled as she stood at the back of the elevator with her wings covering most of the walls, looking very annoyed. "Damn mass effect fields keeping the atmosphere around the tower. I feel like I'm going to get contamination sicknesses just from being in this thing."
"Even if you did fly out there and managed to stay in the atmosphere of the tower I doubt you would get to the top," Nihlus spoke up with a sigh. "All of the outer windows have kinetic barriers over them, and the skylight in the towers main chamber is made with multiple layers of glass and barriers. Even you would have trouble getting in I would think."
"Great, now I want to try it anyway," Adaaya said with a smirk that made Nihlus groan in exasperation. "We're almost to the top now. Saren can't have gotten far."
"He won't get any farther," Desolas declared right before the elevator stopped and then opened.
The main area outside the elevators was a landing with stairs heading up and doors to the sides that led to a variety of offices. Normally distant noises would be omnipresent alongside a handful of people going between offices for various works. Now the only noise was of some odd engine or machine that seemed to drone over them.
"What is that noise!?" Nihlus asked no one in particular as the three of them quickly headed up the stairs and could see the main lobby and audience chamber ahead of them. Right as it began to get darker.
"The reaper," Desolas said as he pointed upwards to where a massive ship seemed to be floating toward the tower.
"Are we to late then?" Nihlus asked as he looked around, seeing no sign of Saren.
"No, we are not, we-,"
"No, you are too late!" Sarens voice boomed as it interrupted Adaaya as the man himself stepped up into view on the councillor's platform. "I have already prepared the Tower for Sovereigns landing. As soon as he connects to the tower, the races of the galaxy shall all be judged, and the Turian people will be proven to be the ones worthy of ruling the galaxy, as it should be!"
"Are you mad, Saren? That, thing, destroyed the Prothens and will destroy us!" Nihlus yelled at him as he flipped the safety on his rifle.
"No, I know the truth that no others can! You are the one who is insane!" Saren declared as a platform lifted him into the air as he pulled a Phaeston off his back and held it in his mechanical hand.
"Talking to him is pointless at this point, but this needs to be said," Desolas said as he took a step forward and pointed at Saren. "Saren. I don't know what you had done to convince our family to disown me, and at this point I don't care anymore. For what you have done I am taking you in here and now. Whether that is in one piece, or many!"
"As if you could!" Saren declared as he pulled the trigger on his Phaeston, sending a hail of accelerator rounds toward the trio as the platform he was on lifted further into the air.
Adaaya and Desolas dashed to the left and right while Nihlus charged forward, rolling to the side of a balcony edge and narrowly missing being struck by accelerator rounds when the first handful popped his kinetic barrier.
"Strike!" Desolas called out as he ran for the overhanging balconies, a bolt of lightning flashing from his talons and hitting Sarens platform, some of the energy being absorbed by its barrier, but most getting through and causing it to spark and start descending. "Weak! You think a little floating block will help you!?" Desolas roared as he went under the overhanging balcony that council emissaries often used. It was a very open area really, with little cover.
"You monster!" Saren yelled back as he turned his phaeston on Desolas while he also threw a biotic sphere of energy.
Desolas stopped and leapt backwards, narrowly dodging the biotic energy, though a couple accelerator rounds pinged into his armour, and one scraped across his knuckle painfully. Despite the pain though he grinned, as Saren was looking solidly in his direction. "Spirits damned fool, there are three of us!"
Saren gasped in worry before turning around just in time to see Adaaya rocketing toward him, fist balled and ready to slam into him. He tilted his platform and kicked off of it, sending it flying towards Adaaya only to be punched off to the side. Landing on the ground Saren rolled to his feet and aimed his phaeston at Adaaya who was out in the open and with no cover, only for a number of lasers to fly through the air and slice through his mechanical arm, dropping the lower half of its forearm, and his phaeston, to the ground with a heavy clatter.
Nihlus knelt behind the railing that surrounded the sunken garden in the room with a neutral expression on his face, laser rifle pointed at Saren. "Saren, stand down."
"You, you dare! You dare think to even touch the Alliances technology, to sully your hands and our peoples chances for the future!?" Saren roared as he swung his good arm, creating a blast of vibrating biotic energy that flew toward Nihlus.
Recognizing it as a biotic warp Nihlus threw himself away from the railing a second before the warp hit, tearing the railing, and the glass over the garden in that corner, apart at the molecular level. Biotic warps were terrifying when they hit organic matter, and the pain they seemed to cause was unfathomable to most people. Getting hit was not a good idea.
Nihlus jumped to the side as Saren threw another at him, but before he could throw a third Adaaya came down onto the ground behind him like a meteorite, sundering the floor and unbalancing Saren just long enough for her to swing at him with her other fist. It struck his armour with a crunch that no amour should have ever made, and in the next second Saren was sailing across the open air of the hall and slammed into the opposite wall, leaving a Turian shaped impression in the metal plates that covered the wall itself.
"Heh, gotcha!" Adaaya said as she stood up and snapped a finger proudly.
"That won't kill him," Desolas said grimly as he walked out from under the upper balcony, forming his silver blocks into a pair of long swords. "Get up, Saren. I know you likely still have those kinetic compensators in your armour. It should have blocked a small amount of Adaaya's hit!"
For a few seconds nothing happened, then Saren let out a hacking cough as he struggled to his feet, blood dripping from the edge of his mouth. "You, you will not stop this!"
"No, we will," Desolas said to Saren as he tuned to Nihlus. "Undo what he did on that console."
"I'll need to find it," Nihlus responded."
"I saw a console opened up behind the councillors podium area over the garden where Saren showed up from," Adaaya said, grinning as she watched worry paint Sarens face.
"No, I won't-," Saren began to say, stopping when Desolas threw one of the two swords in his hand, it landing point down and embedding in the floor in front of Saren.
"We used to enjoy training with swords when we were younger," Desolas said grimy as he brandished his own and pointed it at Saren. "Pick it up. If I need to kill you, I'm doing it with you standing and fighting, brother!"
"You are not my brother," Saren said in heaving breaths as he placed a hand on the blades pommel, lifted it up, then tossed it to the side. "And I will not play your games, monster. Sovereign will-,"
Saren suddenly gasped as, the blade that he had tossed to the side had reoriented itself midair and flew back, impaling him through the side of his lower torso.
"Spirits, you never even noticed it, did you?" Desolas asked as he tossed the blade in his hand at Saren, it flitting through the air and impaling him though the chest and pining him to the wall with another gasp. "That thing!" Desolas began as he pointed up at Sovereign. "Is controlling you, and is out to kill everything in the galaxy, and you let it! I hope the Spirits take pity on you, Saren, but I doubt you will reach them."
Sarens mouth gaped open as if to say something, but only a wheezing noise came out before his head hung down and his body went limp.
"There, it's done." Desolas muttered, right before the entire tower shook and the massive ship above them let out a horrendous noise, like metal grating on metal, only amplified a hundredfold. "Nihlus, did you stop whatever Saren did?!"
"Almost to-, Spirits! The system suddenly locked me out as soon as that thing landed!" came Nihlus's voice from somewhere just out of sight.
"Then we need to undock that thing," Adaaya commented as she looked up at the ship above them and grimaced. "I might need a hammer for this."
"I think we have a bigger problem," Desolas muttered in annoyance as he noticed something open up on the massive ship, right before blocks of bluish black metal began falling out of the ship and crashed through the glass ceiling above them. The blocks stuck the floor only to explode, horrible emaciated and bloated mechanical facsimiles of creatures that might have been Batarians climbing up out of the resultant craters in the floor, roaring with mouths that gaped as large as a man's chest.
They raise their arms and accelerator fire tinted red flashed out of them causing both Adaaya and Desolas to leap and dodge before striking back.
"Do these things look like Batarians to you?" Adaaya asked as she beat her wings to blast a bunch of the monsters with air to stumble them, right before she landed upon them with her fists shattering their skulls. "Ugh, they're like halfway between meat and steel. They're all oily!"
A flash of lightning arcing across the hall and into one beast, causing it to explode as the lighting bore through it and into the wall echoed Desolas own annoyance. "I think so but, they are definitely not at the same time. Easy to kill though but-," Desolas stopped as he rolled to the side, narrowly dodging a creature crashing down from above. It barely had time to stand up before he had run it through with a sword before slicing it in half, "that thing has too many of them!"
"Yeah but, oh wait! Nihlus, you doing okay?" Adaaya called out as the sound of more accelerator fire could be heard but not seen.
"No! These things are, a problem!" Nihlus called out amidst more gunfire and swearing. "I can't reach the console now and they just keep coming."
"Okay, so we just need to –," Adaaya began to say, just before Sovereign let out a horrendous groaning noise that nearly burst their eardrums. And barely a second later another noise could be heard, one that was far more violent, like some sort of funnelled blast of fluid, alongside the sound of destruction.
"What in the Spirits is that?!" Nihlus yelled as he came around the garden and into view, firing his rile into any of the strange Batarian things that were directly in his way.
"I, think its firing a weapon of some kind!" Desolas called as he noted a small bit of red glow leaking through some windows and over Sovereigns hull. It was also the moment he heard a telling sound of metal hitting the ground. "Oh Spirits, please no," He muttered as he turned to Saren's body to find it standing as blue energy seemed to arc across it.
The energy seemed to boil his very plates off as metal cords and plates formed in their places. His flesh was sucked into his body as the metal grew over it in irregular patches, and his eyes sunk in until there was nothing but glowing blue sockets in their place. The talons on his hands had become long raking blades, and the ones on his feet shifted into hooks while his jaw simply became desiccated before it fell apart, a small glowing module bursting out from the flesh of his jaw and throat. The thing, that once was Saren, took a step forward and brandished its claws, pointing them at Desolas as Sovereigns tone came out from Sarens body. "PITIFUL ORGANICS, YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU FACE. THE CYCLE CANNOT BE BROKEN!"
"If there is only one thing I have learned from being in the alliance, it is that anything can be broken with the right application of extreme force!" Desolas yelled as he flew forward, his swords flying into his hands, and crashed into Sovereigns puppet. The flashing of blades against claw and the screech of grinding metal filled the air before the puppet suddenly jumped backwards up the wall, its claws holding it there, while the module coming out of its mouth glowed, and then began firing accelerator shots with extreme force and accuracy. "You think being at range will save you!?"
"MISUNDERSTOOD ORGANICS, I NEED ONLY KEEP YOU AT BAY, TO END YOUR VERY EXISTANCES. YOUR LIVES WILL BE SNUFFED OUT, WITH THE COMING OF THE FLEET THAT WILL BRING AN END TO YOUR SOCIETY." Sovereign said smugly as he continued to fire what was akin to accelerator cannon rounds at Desolas, only for him to be parrying each and every one of them with frightening ease.
"I got him!" Nihlus declared as he fired on the puppet. It moved a claw in his direction, creating a biotic barrier in front of him, but the lasers from Nihlus rifle tore through regardless, shredding the things arm and causing it to wail.
"Behind you!" Adaaya called as a gust of wind pushed Nihlus down, causing accelerator fire from behind him to narrowly miss. "You deal with the console; I'll deal with the mobs. Let Desolas deal with the puppet!" Adaaya commanded right as the both of them witnesses him leaping up the wall and impaling the puppet before throwing it down to the floor and flying at it again, screaming all the while.
Nihlus watched as Desolas was fighting the puppet, though fighting was perhaps not the right word. The puppet would try to swing its claws at him only for them to be parried, dodged or outright blocked, and in the time it took it to pull back for another strike Desolas had hit it with easily a dozen of its own. If it was anything but a biomechanical monster that seemed to be repairing its wounds automatically it would have been dead at least a dozen times over. It tried to shoot multiple times, only for him to deftly dodge, or for arc of electricity to zap the creature and seemingly stun it. In fact his body was becoming so covered in arcs of electricity it was getting hard to see him.
"Is he supposed to be covered like that?" Nihlus asked as he ducked below a monster swipe and gunned it down before running around the garden for the console, finding a pair of monsters seemingly guarding it.
Only for them to stagger away as Adaaya blasted them with winds, allowing them to be gunned down as well.
"His magic is mostly based on electricity and metal, but I think he's trying for a specific spell, instead of just manipulating his magic.
"Huh? I don't understand." Nihlus stated as he ran up to the console and rebooted it. It was still very clearly under control, but the control seemed to be erratic as he managed to make some progress in finding what he was looking for.
"Magic is, at its base, a simple manipulation of power and understanding, similar to bionics, kind of," Adaaya began as she suddenly swooped down, narrowly dodging an arc of lighting that could have come from either Desolas or Sovereign's puppet. Both seemed to be emitting electricity and it was becoming hard to see where it was coming from. "He's gathering power for a big spell though. Most people would probably use an aria, a hymn or a chant to get it ready if they can't use a spellcard, but not him."
" I thought-," Nihlus flinched as an arc of electricity, along with a very long shard of horrific looking metal, flew away from the duelling pair and bounced off the ground beside him. "I thought those spell card things were like, supposed to be extremely powerful, and why not just use that?"
"Spell cards themselves are not powerful, they are just a casting medium," Adaaya said as she flew up and punched a falling creature into a wall, its body making a strangely wet squelch as it hit. "Not everyone can use them either, you have to take time to imbue a card of the appropriate rank with the spell, and it takes a lot of concentration and time."
"And you haven't had the time since this mission started," Nihlus said in grim realization as he noticed a monster hiding behind a column peek out and aim its weapon arm at him. He drew his sidearm and fired three times, killing the creature, but not before it fired, its shot hitting his shield and almost knocking it out. Whatever they were firing was akin to an accelerator weapon, but far stronger.
"Not quite. Some people are better at writing spellcards than others. And Desolas is so bad at it he just can't. So if he wants to cast a big spell, he has to prepare in some way," Adaaya said as she swooped down and kicked a monster in the head, blowing its upper body right off, but leaving herself open.
Nihlus saw it but a second too late as he saw three different monster aim at her in the air. "Move, Adaaya!" he called as he raised his rifle and gunned one down, the other two firing as he spoke.
"Shit!" Adaaya yelled a she moved to avoid the fire while sending a gale towards the monsters. They toppled over, but not before Adaaya crashed to the ground behind Nihlus with a thump. "Ugh, ow."
"Are you alright?" Nihlus asked as he shot one of the monsters dead before turning back to the console. It was showing three different windows. One showed the Citadel in its closed position and open position, while the second showed some kind of strange symbol. The third showed what appeared to be some kind of charging sequence overlays the image of the Citadels centre ring. A charging sequence that was starting to fill.
"I'm, I'm fine, "Adaaya grumbled as she got to her feet, one of her wings hanging in a way that could not have been normal or comfortable. "It just got my wing. It'll be healed in a few moments. Those weapons pack a punch for an accelerator."
"They seem to be a much larger size than a normal accelerator," Nihlus muttered as a shot ricocheted off the side of the console, tearing a chunk out of the side of it and causing the hologram to start flickering. "Spirits, we need to stop this thing before it finishes! At this rate we won't be able to if it gets damaged much more!"
"Right. Desolas! Whatever it is you're charging up, do it already! We're running out of time!" Adaaya called as she pulled a sidearm laser pistol off of her belt and began shooting with one hand while throwing glowing blasts of magic with the other in long thin streams.
"Just give me a moment!" Desolas yelled back as he continued to parry, thrust and swing his blades. He had cut off the puppets long bladed claws almost a dozen times already but they just kept re-growing. Luckily, it was showing an effect as Sarens remaining body was becoming more and more emaciated with each growth.
"YOU CANNOT STOP THE INEVITABLE," Sovereign declared as it continued to try to flay Desolas with its puppets claws.
"Nothing, is inevitable," Desolas countered as he sliced one of the puppets arms right off, causing the remaining stump to spark and crackle as new metal seemed to grow over it, much slower than before, "especially not an old ship with delusions of grandeur!"
"THERE IS NO DELUSION, ONLY PERFECTION, AND THE END THAT IS YOUR FUTURE. YOU CANNOT-,"
"Oh, shut up already!" Desolas roared as he dodged a swipe and spun in place, both of his slashing across the puppets chest and slicing the one remaining claw in half down the forearm. Before it could move he then finished the job, slashing the arm off at the should and then swiping across the emaciated waist, cutting it right off the legs. He stood above it and smiled as the electricity surrounding him suddenly burst forth away from him, forming globes of electricity that seemed to float around the whole room. "A question for you. Your shields are kinetic barriers, right?"
"YOUR UNDERSTANDING IS BARE AND FRAIL. WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW IS WHAT WE ALLOW. YOU CANNOT-,"
"So, that is a yes then," Desolas said as he willed his blades to stab the puppet, then left it into the air, "Good."
"WHAT ARE YOU-?" Sovereign tried to say through the puppet before the blade suddenly started spinning, before then throwing it straight up into the air towards its actual body.
"Lightning sign. Metal sign. Spirits of creation," Desolas began to say calmly. In response to his words the balls of electricity around the room began crackling and started to spin around the room, orbiting Desolas. As any metal in the floors and walls began being torn out and liquefied around the balls of lightning, "unbound by the past or future, your audacious roar echoes past the fibres of the Titans and brings about new power to command existence itself!"
"Oh shit," Adaaya muttered as her eyes went wide in realization to what spell Desolas was using. "Nihlus, get down!" she then yelled as she grabbed him from behind and threw him to the floor, ignoring the fact that some of the monsters that were around and not being electrocuted were advancing upon them.
"Phaeston, Gods of creation, show all of existence your breath of destruction!" Desolas finished as he pointed his talons at the puppet now falling down to the ground.
In that instant, it was as if the Turian Spirit of Creation had formed into existence and blasted away at Desolas's foe. The lightning and metal all around the hall arced upwards and converged together in a spiralling torrent of destruction that shot straight upwards. It obliterated the remains of Sarens body and continued forward, sailing upwards to slam into Sovereign itself. Its kinetic barriers stopped the metal at first, but could not stop the pure electricity from cascading across its hull and overloading systems. Its barrier then dropped, allowing the metal to begin boring right into it with so much force that the ship was visibly being pushed away from the Citadel tower.
Sovereign let out a horrendous metallic groan as electricity coursed across its hull and metal bored into its body. From where Nihlus was lying he could see it perfectly. And from watching Sovereigns whole form being pushed back a horrific thought cross he his mind. "The console!"
"Wait, if you get up you could get caught by the vortex!" Adaaya said as she tried to hold Nihlus down.
"We need to open the Citadels arms! If we don't and he pushes that thing far enough it will crash into the arms while their closed. Thousands will die and it could very well compromise the integrity of the entire Citadels life supports system!"
"Ugh, just don't stand up to tall, crawl or crouch," Adaaya grunted as she threw a fist backwards and send a blast of wind into one of the last few monsters, sending it to the wall where the current of Desolas spell caught it and began tearing it apart into its base materials.
"What happens if I get hit?" Nihlus asked just before an arc of electricity flew over their heads and gouged a line in the wall, causing the metal around it to melt and join into the vortex of magic metal and lightning.
"That," Adaaya said with a groan as she glanced over to where Desolas was obscured by his spell. "The idiot is overdoing it."
"What?" Nihlus asked as he clawed over to the console, surprised that it hadn't been torn apart by the storm around them.
"The last time he did this spell the same thing happened, it starts becoming self-powering and keeps going until he's drained. He was out for a week the last time he cast it."
"Is that normal for magic then?" Nihlus asked as he quickly looked over the console and tapped it, engaging the Citadels arms to open, and deactivating whatever kind of charging sequence had been ordered to start. The charge up window disappeared as if it had never been there.
"Well, considering that spell is above his power level, it is, yeah," Adaaya admitted as they both looked up to see that the Citadel arms were indeed starting to open even as the spell pushed Sovereign further back. It looked like one of its legs had blown apart, and as they watched a number of small explosions blew out from its armour.
Of course, that was nothing compared to the barrage of laser and magic fire that then streamed into the Citadel from outside and began tearing into Sovereigns plating from behind.
"Well, reinforcements that's,-" Adaay stopped as the magic around them very suddenly stopped, the last of the projected energy spiralling up to Sovereign and leaving Desolas visible standing there looking very drained.
And if the way he fell onto his front a second later was any indication, very unconscious.
"I, expected him to look worse," Nihlus muttered as he very carefully stood up and looked over the console again before closing it and looking up at Sovereign. He could see its hull stating to explode in various places, and was surprised as all of the fire striking it seemed to not be missing. Was the Alliance using some kind of homing projectiles?
"As I said earlier, he'll be out for a couple days, probably a week," Adaaya said as she jumped over the railing and ran over to Desolas, throwing him over her shoulder as a number of explosions ripped through Sovereign overhead. "Wait . . . it had kinetic barriers, right?"
"Um, yes."
"What happen to an element zero ship core when it gets overcharged by electricity?" Adaaya asked in worry as she stared up at Sovereign, watching explosions rip out of it faster and faster, sending shrapnel in every direction.
Including towards the Citadel tower.
Fear was instantly plastered on Nihlus face as the thought came to his mind. "They explode. Violently."
"Then we should probably get out of here!" Adaaya called out, right as Sovereign let out one last horrendous ear wrenching shriek and then began to seeming explode into pieces over their heads. Alongside a surprisingly large and loud blast of element zero explosion and a concussive wave that seemed to be moving everything at drastic speeds. Adaaya looked at it as one of Sovereigns legs, as well as a huge amount of shrapnel and some of the element zero fireball flew right towards the tower and them. "Well, this is going to suck."
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Authors note: okay, I do heavily apologize for how long this chapter took. It was fighting me the entire way and I ended up rewriting parts of it multiple times. I'm still not entirely happy with it the way it is, but if I keep arguing with it, it would get nowhere so here we are.
My plan is that the next chapter will be the last of the ME1 era story, and this story itself for a time, but I will get into the specifics of that and why at the end of the next chapter. I will also be changing up how I do updates to my stories once this story is done, but again will be getting more into that in the next chapter.
I hope you like the chapter despite the wait and its possible issues. I will try to have the next chapter out as soon as possible.
(ps – I have a poll on my profile for infinite stratos story options for the future.)