June 19th, 2155 – Earth – Operatives chamber – Exact location unknown to public.
Reimu Hakurei, First of the Alliances Operatives, the impromptu leader of them and one of the few people who could get away with yelling, swearing, belittling and outright beating on Yukari herself, sighed. She was standing, more like leaning, against a dark wooden wall a few meters from an ornately carved oaken door. The carvings were of two great dragons, one Oriental and the other European, holding open a massive gate while they were surrounded by Onmyouji and other various practitioners of magic arts. Every form of magical protection was worked meticulously into the door making it nearly indestructible to all but the most absurdly powerful entities, and just standing near it gave her a head ache.
No, that was wishful thinking. The headache was from what was on the other side of the door, not the door itself.
For on the other side of the door was her own entrance to the operatives main meeting chamber. A chamber that she had to preside over.
Reimu let out another sigh as she looked over her outfit. Over the years she had changed up her style to match the world around her. A meeting required a certain level of leadership and formality though, so she was in a simple two piece suit in her usual colors of red with white.
"Ugh, I hate dealing with crowds," she muttered to herself as she summoned her Ying-Yang orb in her hand and began tossing it up into the air to calm herself down. She was no leader, not really. She couldn't lead troops; she hated politics, and was nearly as blunt as she used to be in the past. The best way to solve a problem was to beat the one causing it into the dirt until they stopped causing problems. It worked with Youkai, it worked with the armies of China, the United States and of Russia, and it worked even now with the Councils lapdogs, the Spectre's.
Of course among her fellow Operatives, the numbers of which had modestly swelled over the years, she did need to hold back just a small bit. Her strength and rank as the First Operative meant that few ever picked a fight with her, and she did have Marisa, Patchouli and Sanae to help when the meetings became a little too, hectic.
A small buzz made her pull out her wristcomp and fiddle with it for a few seconds, finding a message from Sanae that could be described in two words.
Cautiously impatient.
"Alright, no time like right now, I guess," Reimu muttered as she dismissed the Ying-Yang orb, stood up and stretched, and then went right up to the door. Knowing how to unlock it she traced a finger along the carvings for a few seconds and muttered a few words. The caving seemingly came to life with the dragon and practitioners acting to further open the carved gate, and then the door itself pushed in and split open, sliding into the walls and leaving no trace that it had ever existed.
Instantly noise assaulted her ears, but she ignored it and stepped past the threshold and into a short hallway and up to a large balcony.
The meeting room was a both grand in its size and strange in its design. An oblique oval shaped room covered in balconies of various sizes from ones with room for one person to sit, to ones where an entire bus could be placed. Each balcony was connected to a different place though Yukari's manipulation of boundaries, allowing the meeting room to connect to most places operatives could be. Some operatives had taken to standing on their balconies in groups of those they worked with or knew, while other had went so far as to bring full sized couches and other furniture inside.
Most of the balconies had bodies upon them with only a few being empty, and as she herself had intentionally waited a few minutes extra before entering, they had no excuses if they were late and could not get in. Letting out one last sigh she walked right to the edge of her balcony, took out her Gohei, and smacked it against a small section of railing that, after having breaking it, Yukari had replaced with a chunk of enchanted diamond. The resulting crack echoed through the entire hall and caused all the noise to die down in a second, mostly due to most people having to cover their ears.
"Alright, I have paperwork that still needs to be done after this, so we are starting the meeting. Anyone not here can get the details from the network after the fact," Reimu stated nonchalantly as she dismissed her Gohei and cracked her neck side to side before leaning on the railing. "Sanae, the first order of business is the Operatives Exam. You do it."
Sanae Kotchiya, whose Balcony was only a few metres to the side of Reimu's, nodded with a smile and stepped forward, bringing up her wristcomp as she spoke up to the masses before them. "Alright, as everyone is likely aware, the Operative Examinations have concluded earlier this week. We had five groups of people being tested, and out of those five groups one passed the exam with flying colors, while the other four failed with a total of seven serious wounds and, one death," Sanae stated, speaking the last word a bit solemnly before taking a breath and continuing. "As usual, please do not take out, or belittle the operatives that volunteered to direct the tests as I have already gone over the events with all of them. In regards to those who passed, there are five who tested under our Operative Desida. They are Uno, Isika, Ishi Hirata, Ika, and Jesamine Summers," Sanae stated professionally just before the balcony the five girls and their overseer for their test suddenly it up, making it clear to everyone where and who they were.
A moon rabbit who looked slightly disconnected, a squid Youkai and a kappa with horns, a dangerously pale humanoid that looked like an Asari, and a human who was wearing a strange metal mask over their lower face and neck. The only one who most operatives recognized instantly was their Tester Desida, who was floating off to the side with a very large pillow. The demon was well known to many for many reasons after all.
Once the meeting halls clatter of clapping and congratulations died down Sanae looked back to Reimu, signalling that that point was done with.
"Alright then," Reimu said as she turned to look down at the balcony where the five new operatives were sitting is rather obvious embarrassment at the mass of attention they were receiving. "The next upcoming updates will seem confusing to you, but do your best to keep up. If you need to, go assault the operative network after the meeting is over or bug the sleep demon," Reimu said, earning a stuck out tongue from Desida.
Reimu shook her head and tapped on her wristcomp a few times until a galaxy map appeared in the middle of the room, zooming in on an arm and then further and further in. The room quitted as it zoomed in until finally it showed a planet that was like a blue marble.
"Alright, as many of you are aware, and for those not, on June 12th to 14th operatives and ground forces comprised of Bladebreakers and Earthrazers were gathered to this planet called Virmire at the requests of Operatives Adaaya Nicotris and Desolas Arterius to assist in the progress of their current mission. That mission was to find and catch the Council spectre responsible for the attack on Eden Prime, Saren Arterius. Their mission, all parts of it, have been recorded by their helmet cameras and are on the network now, but to simplify things for everyone it can be stated that the worries of the Lunarian peoples, Diviners, and of Yukari are very much true. The ship that was present on Eden Prime was what it was worried to be."
"So why don't you let them explain the situation to us!?" an operative called out.
Reimu couldn't quite locate them, but from the voice she figured it was the only Wendigo operative and inwardly scowled. He was such a hassle. "Adaaya and Desolas are unfortunately in recovery from extreme Eezo contamination sickness. To continue they continued to chase Saren and ended up on the Citadel where, as many of you know, a few days ago a number of our ships were sent to deal with the ship that Saren was being used by. When it exploded its Eezo core went critical and destroyed the Presidium tower almost taking them with it. They are expected to be in recovery for the next week due to contamination and physical injuries."
"For those that have not been paying attention to the network," Eirin Yagokoro began as a hologram of her stepped up to the edge of her balcony. "This means that this galaxy is going to become the centre of a war to end all life. I expect the Hachiman and Bishamonten protocols will be put into place within the week."
That got many people vocally worried, causing the ambient noise in the room to skyrocket in mere seconds. These protocols were, after all, two of the highest ranked defensive war measures that could be put into place.
"Um, um, is there a plan for what to do in regards to the Council?"
The room calmed down as many tried to find the one who had spoken up. Marisa was the first to point them out, quite literally, and smile with a stupid grin as she spoke. "Yes, my adorable little apprentice!" she declared as she pointed at Isika and then looked at Reimu. "Well, there is a plan, right?"
Reimu let out an annoyed sigh and nodded. "Yukari and Kaguya are heading to council space to speak to them about the situations that have occurred, and will in the future. The first step has already been taken however."
"Are you meaning that video that has been circulating since yesterday?" Sanae asked as she tapped her own wristcomp a few times and brought it up, it automatically beginning to play in the middle of the room.
Reimu simply smiled.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
June 19th, 2155 – Citadel Council relocated chambers.
Councillor Tevos could not believe what she was looking at. It was a video file, rather large and over four hours long taken from a first-person view, that had appeared on the extranet the day before. It showed the camera user moving through locations on Thessia, past secure places and points with security people ignoring them completely as they went about and began finding and pointing out corrupt business practices, companies and peoples.
The fact that many of these business and the individuals the cameraman was referencing were Asari Matriarchs of considerable wealth, renown and power, was bad enough, but the video did not stop there.
In fact it got worse.
Tevos knew that many Matriarchs were very controlling and she knew that some were corrupt, that was just how business was done after all. What she did not expect was for the one taking the video to go to the Temple of Athame of all places. The temple was a relic of ancient times that was kept up as a cultural and religious site, but it soon became clear it was far more than even she realized.
Because the video taker then moved past the guards and priestesses and scholars and into the depths of the temple where it was revealed there was a scientific laboratory, along with a Prothean archive of all things! It then went to each computer, seemed to be copying data and showing it off to the camera, before heading out of the lab and up to the temples main statue of Athame. It stood there for while before it went over to a small console on a wall hidden behind a number of relics and pressed it. The result was a hologram coming out of the statue.
A hologram that then introduced itself as a Prothean VI held within a Prothean Beacon that it claimed was within the statue itself. It then continued to speak as if answering questions that were never asked, about some kind of invasion that destroyed the Protheans and how the races of the galaxy needed to prepare and that the Asari had not been doing so.
It was at that point that Tevos had closed the video, unable to watch anymore.
The link to the video had been sent to her by a number of Asari Matriarchs, demanding explanations, for the video to be taken down by Council ruling for slander and a number of other demands, and she could understand why they were making all of the demands. If the video was even remotely real and not forged or falsified, it could ruin the Asari Republics public opinion in the galaxy, and ruin their position on the citadel council. If it was accurate it would mean that they had been withholding both a Prothean beacon and archive from the rest of council space when they had originally been the ones to legislate the rule that such artefacts were to be researched and shared as groups so that all of galactic society could benefit.
"No this, it has to be a forgery," Tevos muttered to herself as her omnitool beeped again and again, each soft noise alerting her to another message from a matriarch. "The Alliance, or the terminus, they must have made this to mock the Asari Republics, that is the only real option. This video cannot be accurate. It can't be!"
Tevos stopped and realized she was now standing behind her desk, her chair having fallen behind her as she stared at the screen before her. Her heartbeat was going far too fast and she could feel her body uncomfortably tingling as her biotics tried to start responding to her emotions.
She took a step away and righted the chair before sitting down at it and marvelling at the small room she was in, dull gray with nothing interesting in it whatsoever. There was little choice after all but to use these rooms when the Citadel tower had been damaged as badly as it had. But being in such an insufficient room for one of her station, no, for one of her people, did not make her feel good.
The video and the potential problems it could bring up did not help either, especially since the council was going to be having a meeting later in the day.
Tevos looked at her omnitool for the time and scowled when she realized that she had little time before the meeting. Watching that insulting fake video had taken more out of her than she had thought it would, and the prospect of messaging every single matriarch that was complaining to her about later in the day was not something she looked forward to at all.
With a heavy sigh she began preparing herself for the meeting, making herself look presentable, and then and headed for the meeting room.
The meeting room was simply a large unused storage room on the Presidium, cleaned out and reclaimed to serve as a somewhat appropriate space for them and the envoys and diplomats of all species to gather for the meetings until the tower was repaired. It was hardly appropriate in her eyes. It held no beauty or natural light, was boring and simplistic, and was simply drab without space for individual species to stand and no special or separated place for the Council to stand to awe those around them.
Unfortunately, it had to do as it would take weeks for the tower to be properly repaired, and that estimate was supposed to be optimistic.
She reached the door and came in on the one end of the room reserved for the council to find both Valern and a bandaged and tired looking Sparatus already present before a nearly full room of envoy's, diplomats and dignitaries. She knew she was not late, so it was surprising that so many were already in attendance.
"Tevos, how nice of you to join us," Sparatus said, his voice still rough as he turned stiffly to glance at her.
Tevos felt her body want to flinch at his gaze, full of disappointment and anger, but held back. In some ways he was right as the Human Terrafirm representative she had vouched for had proven to be less than friendly, but on the other hand it was hardly her fault. He had not been pleasant to him either, and how was she supposed to know he was out for his blood when he had seemed so pleasant beforehand?
"Thank you, Sparatus, I am surprised you are here already," Tevos responded politely. "I do not believe the meeting is to start for another five minutes after all."
"We arrived early due to a number of things that must be looked into this meeting and discussed. You were last to arrive so shall we begin early?" Valern asked quickly.
"If everyone is present I see no reason why we could not begin early," Tevos said as she stepped up between Valern and Sparatus, not noticing the latter take a half step away from her. "Then if we are to begin this council meeting early, the first point to be looked at is-,."
"How about the Asari Republic's screwing every race in the galaxy over!" A Volus called loudly, his voice tinged with anger that was clear even through his suit and breather. This of course set off many others in the room to start calling out other such complaints without a single one being clear as to what they were demanding.
"Everyone, please calm down. What exactly are you meaning by the Asari Republics causing some sort of issue?" Tevos asked over the din of the crowd.
"Settle down!" Sparatus roared, causing the noise to subside as he tapped his omnitool and brought up a video that he projected to the room by a mobile holoprojector they had moved into the room. To Tevos's horror it then began showing the very video that the Asari Matriachs were hounding her to deal with. "This is what they are meaning, Tevos. Have you seen this video? It was uploaded to the extranet yesterday and has since become so well known that it has went to the front of every net page. It shows someone walking into places on Thessia, and pointing out dozens, nearly hundreds, of corrupt business' and then shows a Prothean archive and beacon in the Temple of Athame!"
"This is obviously some kind of trick, a dirty prank of some kind to devalue the Asari Republics," Tevos said quickly, composing herself as best she could before nodding in a very self-assured way. "this clearly is fake. Wouldn't you say, Valern?"
Valern, then put under the spotlight shook his head. "STG confirms that the video on the extranet is not the original version but a copy, making it difficult to prove or ascertain is credibility. Suggest some Spectre's be sent to investigate the claims of the video while STG and other spectres look for the original itself."
"What?! Valern, there is no way such an outlandish video could be possibly accurate," Tevos exclaimed before she realized how it sounded. She needed to fix her outburst, lest it make things worse. "That would be a gross waste of the Spectre's potential, wouldn't you agree?"
"I would not," Valern said, much to Tevos's surprise. "Video data brings up worrisome things that must be looked into. Even if the entire video is incorrect, it must be properly looked into. Better to look into it and find nothing then not look and miss things of importance.
"Not that you need to. The video is accurate."
The whole room quieted and looked to the one who spoke, Flandre Scarlet, who had somehow remained unnoticed at the back of the room despite her bright wings and clothing. Those near her seemed the most surprised by her presence and took steps away from her.
"You claim the video is accurate why?" Valern asked instantly.
"Because a friend of mine is the one who shot it," Flandre said with a grin. "Oh, and I should tell you that the Alliance leadership is coming to the Citadel to speak to you. Their ship should arrive early tomorrow to speak with you in person about the matters that have recently transpired.
"You are admitting the Alliance has been spying on council races and falsifying data? That is a serious crime!" Tevos declared, happy that she finally had something to use against the alliance.
"She's an operative who specializes in not being seen. No different than what your spectre's have tried in the pas, no?" Flandre asked with a smirk as she stood up from the wall and began walking to the centre of the room while she continued to speak. "By the way, what is being done with the pieces of that ship that was destroyed?"
"They, are being studied, it is of no concern of yours when-,"
"Oh I think it is our concern," Flandre interrupted Tevos. "After all, the Alliance made it very clear that we insisted all pieces be destroyed to avoid any issues with it, considering what it was," Flandre stopped and paused for a second before letting out chuckle. "Ah, I almost forgot, you haven't revealed the information your spectre found yet, have you?"
"The information pertaining to the missions of spectres is highly classified and not revealed to the general public for security reasons," Sparatus said professionally.
"And that is why your spectres end up being crooked all the time," Flandre said with a shake of her head. She then tapped her wrist comp a couple times causing every omnitool in the room to ping.
"I have just sent every individual here, as well as every diplomat and government official in council space, the armour video files of operatives Adaaya Shepard, Desolas Arterius, and of Spectre Nihlus Kyrik, who had graciously given us copies of his armour footage to do as we pleased. These videos are only of the combat missions themselves, but will shed a huge amount of light on what is going on in the galaxy, and on what will occur. I would heavily suggest they be watched before Yukari and the others arrive tomorrow," Flandre said as she turned toward the door with a wave of a hand.
"Now hold on here, Ambassador!" Sparatus spoke up seriously, stopping Flandre in her tracks. "This is a gross breach of protocol, but more importantly where is Spectre Kyrik.
"Like our operatives, he was seriously injured by Sovereigns reactor going critical, and due to the fact that the Citadel at that time was in a state of uproar and chaos, he was taken aboard the AOS Philosophe alongside our operatives for healing."
The room quieted slightly, not wanting to be reminded of the Alliance ship that had come to their rescue alongside a half dozen Geth cruisers. The Geth had left right away, but the massive monster of a ship was still nearby, orbiting the Citadel as extreme range so as to not endanger anyone, but close enough to still be noticed.
"Then I would ask why he has not been returned to the Citadel for continued healing now that the chaos has passed?" Valern asked calmly. "I am sure that our facilities are more than capable of healing his wounds more effectively than your technology."
"Oh, he is already healed. He is just going through some therapy. It's needed when nearly half of your body is torn apart," Flandre said nonchalantly. "And don't worry, no magic was used in the construction of his prosthetics or his healing. He will likely be released in a day or so."
Tevos wanted to scowl as she quickly realized that that would mean he wasn't back until likely after the Alliance delegation had arrived, meaning there was no way to corroborate whatever videos that Flandre had sent to everyone. Hopefully they were not worse than the other video. "Ambassador Scarlet, I insist you explain more about your statement in regard to the odd video on the extranet. The one you claimed that you know who made it."
Flandre very obviously smirked as if she had just won something. "A good friend of mine, Koishi Komeji. She is a Satori, and as an operative excels at going places no others can because she impossible to notice for most people. A bare hundredth of a percent of people in the alliance can naturally notice her, so spying is something that is extremely simple for her. I have been informed she is coming along with Yukari to visit tomorrow, so perhaps you shall meet her then?"
"Good, then she can be taken into custody and questioned for attempting to degrade the Asari Republic's reputation with false information," Tevos declared much to the visible surprised of Valern and Sparatus.
Flandre seemed completely unworried as she simply smiled. "Good luck with that. No one has managed to catch her in centuries. And just so you know, everything that video shows is accurate, none of it was altered. But we can deal with that tomorrow when Yukari is here so the whole picture is understood by everyone here," Flandre said as she turned back to the door and half opened it before stopping and looking back at Tevos directly. "Oh, and don't try to legislate anything stopping people from watching those videos, what they show is very important, and I wouldn't want anyone to not understand just how serious the situation is."
"Wait, Ambassador, you cannot just-," Tevos tried to say, stopping as the door loudly shut and Flandre was gone as abruptly as she had appeared. She then looked to see that everyone in the room was waiting, very impatiently, for what was to happen next.
"Alright, due to the sudden influx of new information, as well as the fact that the leadership of the Alliance will be coming to explain some things as well we shall end this council meeting early and move it to tomorrow so that the information received can be looked over by interested parties." Sparatus stated before turning around and limping for the door that Tevos had entered through.
Those in the room seemed to take his words well and headed to leave or converse with each other. Tevos however was utterly scandalized as she tuned to look at Sparatus, then noticing Valern looking at her.
"Come, much to speak about in private. Should look over the videos that the ambassador gave as a group as well."
Tevos looked at Valern, unable to believe what he was saying. "Wait, Valern. We cannot let this go, we need to-,"
"You are letting emotions control your responses. Nothing to be done right now, not until the new information received is looked over," Valern cut Tevos off as he began heading for the door as well.
After a second of staring at him Tevos followed Valern through the door and down the hallway, past the door to her own office, as well as those of Valern and Sparatus, and to the last room in the corridor, a small meeting room just for the three of them to use.
Sparatus had already sat down, sitting awkwardly to nurse his aching leg and side, but was still opening up the files that Flandre had sent them, moving their holographic screen on the table as if trying to figure out a puzzle of some kind.
"Sparatus, we cannot just let the Alliance-," Tevos started as she walked into the room and up to her seat.
"Stow it, I am not listening to your frantic screaming, Tevos," Sparatus said bluntly as he gave her the barest glance filled with annoyance. "We have information to look over, and then I have information that must be told to both of you that, is very likely, possibly dependant upon what these video files show. So let's get to it."
"What?! Sparatus, you cannot be seriously thinking that anything the Alliance could say would be true? They are just trying to weaken the council's unity!" Tevos pleaded.
"If true, they have done a surprisingly good job of it," Valern commented as he looked at Sparatus, as if expecting something.
Sparatus let out a sigh. "Before the videos it is then," he muttered as he turned to Tevos. "Tevos, the Turian Hierarchy is considering leaving the Citadel Council."
"WHAT?!"
"The Turian Hierarchy is considering leaving the Citadel Council, and Citadel space as a whole, with the intention of possible making a trade alliance or more, with the Alliance. This is due to centuries of lackluster scientific growth, being unable to grow properly, and due to recent events and the feeling that Alliance technology may be better for the Turian peoples to continue to grow."
"They can't! The Turians are a founding species and act as council spaces security!" Tevos declared aghast.
"And that is part of the reason why the Hierarchy is considering it," Sparatus said bluntly. "there are dozens upon dozens of reasons, but the Hierarchy is starting to feel like they are nothing more than a military. Yes, my people are very militaristic, but that is not all we are, and many are becoming dissatisfied with how the council, and the Asari Republics, are doing things. Originally, there was a number of demands and concessions that the Hierarchy wished to propose to the council in order to not cut ourselves away, but with that video on the extranet, I do not doubt that they are now considering breaking away even more seriously," Sparatus took a breath and then sighed. "What these videos show may change that again, but we must see what they show to know one way or another."
Sparatus, you have to make the Hierarchy understand that they are being used! They are being manipulated by the Alliance!" Tevos pressed emphatically, hoping he would understand just what she was stressing.
"The Hierarchy understands that, Tevos," Sparatus said bluntly. "The Alliance has not been hiding the fact. In fact, they had stated that very fact multiple times."
"What?"
"They have made it very clear they are using the Hierarchy, and have said they are manipulating us to both of our benefits. The main issue is the fact that they are offering more than staying as a council race would give the Turian peoples."
"Sparatus, we both know that isn't true, the Council gives-,"
"The council takes from all but its primary three races, our three races," Sparatus growled out, startling Tevos.
"Sparatjus, what is the Alliance offering the Hierarchy?" Valern asked curiously.
"Technology, both magical and not. Magic as a replacement to biotics that could be more widespread. No longer being confined to using the relay network for travel, as well as no longer being confined to Levo amino worlds and foods. The ability to expand as we wish to new planets, as well as even becoming part of their Alliance with full authority over ourselves while also being part of their primary leadership. The list goes on much further, but those are some of the most major parts to it," Sparatus explained.
"Sparaus, that is clearly too good to be true, the Hierarchy should know better," Tevos chided Sparatus, almost as if he was a child.
Sparatus let out a growl and then shook his head. "The Hierarchy thought as much initially. But after being assisted and working on a number of projects with the Alliance, it has become far more positive."
"The Hierarchy has been engaging in projects with the Alliance? Since when?" Valern asked, clearly surprised by the information.
"For a number of years now," Sparatus answered. "The projects range from scientific testing and technology merging to magical projects testing its capability and versatility. One project, called Project Faith, was to test to see if Turians beliefs could influence magic or the ability of those Alliance members who claim to gain power from peoples faith. It was surprisingly effective actually and has, in some private circles that took part in the project, caused a resurgence in the beliefs of the Titans on Palaven."
"Is that not an old spiritual belief system long understood to be simple foolishness?" Tevos asked.
"That, is looking to perhaps not be the case," Sparatus said carefully before shaking his head. "It doesn't matter. The situation is that the Hierarchy is considering the options, and that video on the extranet, if it proves to be true, will do nothing positive for their choices. So for all of our sakes, I hope these new video files do nothing worse."
"Agree that these videos must be looked at. Two of them appear longer while the third is much shorter," Valern spoke up as he fiddled with his omnitool. "Believe that Spectre Nihlusa Kyrik likely did not turn his camera on immediately, should not take long to figure when his begins in compare to the others."
"Valern, according to the reports we have received these videos could have days of video upon them," Tevos stressed. "There is no way we can watch them all one at a time. This is a waste of time."
"Not a waste. Videos may show how Alliance forces conduct themselves, and it is rare that a spectre's action are recorded. Will provide much insight. Suggest starting all videos at once to see them in tandem and suggest we begin with haste."
Tevos wanted to speak up to say how bad of an idea it was. There was so many other things that needed there attention. Such as the information Sparatus had given them, and getting that video scrubbed off the extranet, but a single glance at Sparatus and Valern told her that they looked to not be willing to budge. "Very well, I just hope this is not a waste of your time."
Xxxxxxxxxx
The videos were indeed what Flandre had said they were. Videos of combat from the perspectives of Adaaya, Desolas, and later, Nihlus. Historical records had always told the Council how dangerous the Alliance could be in combat, but it had never truly sank in for the council until they started watching the videos. The directness of Alliance tactics was almost Krogan like, but the speed at which they moved and acted, combined with how final most of their attacks and actions to their enemies were was staggering. Every action led to someone dying, and every motion led them closer to their objective. The section where they met Liara T'soni had made Tevos wish to scream at the rude way they spoke, but Valern calmly quieted her. There was much more video to watch after all.
Feros was a wakeup call, finding out some of their own spectres were making their own organization of some kind. Of course, watching Alliance operatives nearly kill one of their spectres was equally terrifying. And that was ignoring the fact that one operative somehow had the Geth wrapped around her finger.
Destroying an entire Prothean tower did not help their opinion of matters either, but finding out the disturbing implications of tracking Saren with a mummified arm he lost during the first contact war was, gross and disturbing.
Each action and mission paled to the one after it, with Virmire being utterly terrifying to all three of them. Knowing there was an unknown garden world was one thing, and seeing it become the site of an unknown small-scale war was entirely another. Their tactics were all about never getting bogged down, about always keeping the defenders tired and unable to act, and it worked. Watching them proceed to raze thousands of hectares of jungle, and then nuke an entire facility on a pristine world was just the tip of their horror for Virmire, and would need to be something brought up as a major breach of galactic law.
And then came Ilos.
A Prothean graveyard world, once an entire city, now drowning in its own death and the dusts of time. Listening to a Prothean VI converse with the operatives and spectres was an enlightening thing but ultimately brought up more questions than answers. Desolas and Nihlus seemed to have more than just an inkling of what was going on, as if having had access to some font of information beforehand to let them connect the dots, but the conversation itself was still extremely interesting.
Then came the water and an instant transition to them arriving on the Citadel in full chase of Saren as his plans spread chaos and destruction. The fight against him was a scarily quick thing that then devolved into a slog of horror and madness. The idea that someone could be turned into a desiccated mechanical husk of what they once were yet hold so much power was terrifying, and the conversation during the combat with what they claimed was the very ship that had been destroyed again brought up so many questions it was staggering.
By the end of it, the videos total length was nearly twenty hours. Twenty hours of the Alliance obliterating their enemies, and revealing conversations that could shake everything the galaxy thought they knew.
Valern was the first to speak up after many minute of tense silence. "Investigations need to be sent to look into this organization some spectres have started, and we need to acquire the exact location of Ilos, send archaeologists there to study it and find that Prothean VI. The best of the best need to be sent, this can have no mistakes."
"I agree," Sparatus said gruffly. "I also believe we should get the coordinates of Virmire and conduct a survey. Discern what damages have been done to it. A garden world will spark interest in the future when it is safe for habitation."
"Yes, very true. We should-."
"Enough, this, this cannot be, none of this can be accurate!" Tevos suddenly declared her eyes wide and her breathing heavy. "There is no possible way there could be some kind of, ancient evil spaceship race coming to attack us. It is absurd!"
Both Valern and Sparatus looked at Tevos for a moment before Valern spoke up. "We have each been up for a long time. Rest would be an idea. Perhaps we should get what sleep we can, before the meeting later."
Tevos looked like she wanted to say something, but instead just nodded before getting up and leaving the room, walking in a way that clearly showed she was not in good mental health.
"Tevos is right about one thing. Many people will not want to believe what this information is saying. I hardly believe it myself," Sparatus said before he chuckled a bit. "though, some of the comments Flandre has made to me in the past now suddenly make sense."
"Comments?" Valern asked curiously.
"Yes, just small things that seemed odd at the time. Now though, after seeing how easily Desolas took what that VI was saying, I think the Alliance knew about that giant ship called Sovereign before it had attacked Eden Prime."
"They did say they had encountered one like it on Kar'shan. And that information will complicate things as well."
"Yes but, I think it is more than that," Sparatus admitted. "My gut is telling me that the alliance knows far more about it than even these videos have shown."
"Past words and actions do corroborate this," Valern agreed as he brought up some information on his omnitool and let out a sigh. "This new information complicates matters, and I am very curious as to what the Alliance leadership will say about it. The ambassador made it very clear it was connected to this and the other video."
"Ugh, don't remind me," Sparatus groaned in annoyance. "this is too much. I should have retired as soon as I got shot by that human."
"Retiring now would set negative precedent for the Hierarchy and council."
"I know. The Primarch already gave me a scolding and made me swear I would not retire until the Hierarchy decided what to do in the current situation." He then scowled angrily. "I'm beginning to think this situation will drag on for a while if anything in any of these videos is true. It's just too much."
"I agree. These videos and the information within them will take much time to look over and confirm their validity. Even more so if the Asari refuse to allow the temple and the targets in the first video to be looked over."
I don't even want to consider those ramifications," Sparatus stated with a sigh. "I need some rest. I will see you for the meeting later."
"Yes of course, rest well. Will have much to do in the meeting."
"Yes, we will won't we?" Sparatus asked with a dry chuckle as he left the room, leaving Valern alone.
He continued to look over the notes he took form the videos. So many individual points to look over, so many things to still make note of.
It was a good thing that his people did not require much sleep, because he wasn't going to be getting any.
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June 20th, 2155 – Citadel Council relocated chambers.
Unlike the day before the meeting chamber was a solemn and grim scene. Few were speaking, and those that were spoke only in hushed tones to those near them. Many were clearly tired, but too worried, scared, or intent on getting answers to sleep. Some people were even very clearly holding onto weapons at their sides, fingering the triggers nervously and making other stay clear of them. This resulted in the few guards in the room nervously eyeing them while gripping their weapons tightly as well. The tension in the room was so thick is was nearly suffocating, and the fact that the three councillors were present, yet had not started the meeting or yet spoken only added to the rooms hideous feeling.
And then the door opened and the Alliance came in.
Flandre Scarlet, Kaguya Houraisan and Yukari Yakumo were the only three to enter, and while all of them were wearing causal yet professional clothing, each was holding on to an item that, just by their grips, made it clear they were meant to be weapons or something similar.
"W-welcome to the Council's relocated temporary chambers," Tevos said nervously, finding the sight of the Alliance to be unnerving her more than just their names. "I was expecting all three of you to be here, and was informed you would have another with you as well."
"Hackett is away dealing with another matter that is equally as important as this one, so is not here," Kaguya spoke up, clearly understanding what Tevos had been referring to.
"As for Koishi, she's already here," Flandre said with a grin as she then acted as if she was hugging someone, without anything being there.
"Ambassador Flandre, this is a serious place in which serious subjects will shortly be spoke of. Please do not act like an incapable child," Tevos chided in annoyance. She expected for Flandre to just wave it off like she did everything, but instead she stopped and glared at her.
"I was saying hello to a friend I have not seen in many months."
"There is no one there."
"Oh really, is that what you think?" Flandre said with a grin. "Koishi, please go and stand in front of the councillors. Yukari, if you would please."
"Very well. You have been doing a stellar job thus far, so I see no need for any kind of payment," Yukari said as she opened her fan, and then very abruptly closed it.
And in that same instant the entire room suddenly became aware of a person they had never seen before standing in the middle of the room, barely a meter away from the councillors.
She was rather short compared to nearly everyone else in the room with oddly shaded green hair. She was covered in simple yet elegant casual clothing and her green eyes looked around in bewilderment. Surrounding her were a pair of strange floating purplish wires with some kind of orb in the middle and on her ankles and wrists were not one or two, but sixteen of the Alliance Eezo repulsion bracelets, one of which looked like it was one of their first models.
" . . . . Hello!" the green haired girl said as she looked up at the councillors as she began floating up off the floor, legs curling up behind her as she floated.
"Hello there, might I ask for your name" Valern asked, being the first to compose themselves to the girl's sudden appearance.
"I am Koishi Komeji," she said with a grin as she pulled an object out of a shoulder back and smiled. "Did you like my video tour of Thessia?"
"You are the one who took that video then?" Valern asked curiously, Koishi's words having snapped Tevos out of her shock somewhat as she stared at Koishi in horror.
"Yeah, I did. It took a while to find all the places, but people talk a lot when they think they are alone," Koishi said as she began aimlessly floating backwards.
"Koishi is a Youkai known as a Satori. Normally they have the ability to read others minds, but due to some acts in the past her ability to do as such was sealed away, and she instead became able to simple go unnoticed by all but the barest fraction of a percentage of people," Yukari spoke up with a smug smile. "She is an operative that mostly acts as a passive spy for the Alliance, going wherever she pleases and alerting us to what she finds as she finds it, with no real direction."
You, you are saying she is an operative who spies and does nothing else?" Tevos asked, her breathing starting to speed up as her eyes were locked onto Koishi like a predators. "You admit she has been spying in council space, despite our prior agreement that neither of our organizations would order such a thing against the other?"
"Yes, and we have never ordered her to do such a thing, she has chosen to do as such on her own. She just happened to take suggestions well," Yukari said smugly as, to the few people who noticed, Koishi began to turn wispy, as if disintegrating around the edges of her being.
"Then as you have done we can do as well!" Tevos said venomously. "Guards, apprehend the operative, just as the Alliance apprehended our spectre's in the past!"
The guards in the room looked conflicted and only one moved toward Koishi, only for her to disappear from everyone's view before the guard could reach her.
"What, what did you do!?" Tevos demanded as she turned to Yukari, seeing her looking completely at ease.
"I did nothing in this moment," Yukari said with a smile. "I simply had made Koishi visible to you all by temporarily altering her boundaries of perception. It was only meant to last a few moments so you could be shown that that video of hers was real and truthful. The effect simply ran out."
"You have shipped the heads of Spectres to us for being caught in Alliance space, you cannot just hide her away when we have caught one of your operatives spying in council space!" Tevos declared, eyes wide and pained.
"The Spectres we sent back were ones that were physically caught," Yukari said with a smirk. "I do not see any evidence that you have physically caught Koishi."
"How dare you! You admitted that-," Tevos began to scream, only stopping when Sparatus suddenly put his hand right in front of her face.
"The alliance is here for a reason that I presume is not to simply, gloat, correct?" Sparatus asked tensely, his eyes never leaving the three in front of him.
"That is correct, so we will jump straight into what is most important first," Kaguya spoke up. "You have watched the files from our operatives armour cameras, as well as your spectres, yes?"
Many people in the room began to fidget uncomfortably, while Valern spoke up. "We did indeed, yes. Ignoring the fact that making copies of such a thing is highly illegal and dangerous to distribute, it does bring up a number of things that should be looked into."
"Indeed it does, and as such I will be unusually blunt with you all," Kaguya said as she took a step forward and placed her hands behind her back. "The Protheans did not disappear, they were culled. The ones that did the culling is a race of sentient starships that they called Reapers, of which the ship that attacked the citadel was one of them. And they are returning. We have, at best, five years to prepare for an invasion of this whole galaxy, and at worst, under a single year. The Citadel Council needs to renege the Treaty of Firaxen and prepare itself for total war if you are to have a chance to survive. If all life in the galaxy is to survive."
The room was silent for many moments, and unsurprisingly Valern was the first to speak. "You are making quite the claim that, while some details of the videos do seem to admittedly reflect there is little other truth to them. These things must be looked into and even if there is some truth the idea of an invasion of such ships seems extremely unlikely. It was likely simply some lost ancient Prothean weapon, or perhaps some kind of Geth."
"Oh, so you are willing to ignore the danger despite our warnings, and the warnings of the Prothean VI the Asari have been keeping for centuries on their home-world?" Yukari asked smugly. "None of that video of Koishi's was faked, and it clearly shows that the Asari have known of the danger yet refuse to accept it. We know of the danger and have been preparing for longer than you have known of us. I only hope you can decide the right choice to make," Yukari said finally as she turned to leave.
"Wait!" Sparatus called out, stopping Yukari mid-step.
"You have something to say?" Yukari asked.
"I do. If the Alliance has known about this supposed danger. . . then how did they know, and why has the Alliance waited until now to tell of it?"
"To answer the why you need only ask yourself, if we had told you this years ago after the first contact war, would anyone in Council space, Terminus space, the galaxy, would anyone believe what we had to say? Would you believe what would, at that time, amount to a prophecy from a people so radically different from your own that you could not then, or now, truly understand our culture?"
" . . . No, no, we would not have. The galaxy would have thought you mad," Sparatus reasoned out loud after a seconds pause.
"Yes, you would have thought us insane. But now, after seeing what we can do, after finding out the Alliances power and technology. Now you can start to wonder, you can allow reason to prevail and allow curiosity to bring you to find the truth on your own if you believe us still wrong or misguided. Now you have seen the barest hint of what is to come, and can do with the information as you will."
"Then what of Sparatus's first question," Valern asked quickly. "you claim that you know of this supposed threat since before the first contact war. How?"
"There are two ways we knew something was coming," Kaguya spoke up as she took a step forward and tapped on her wristcomp, bringing up hologram of cities and architecture that looked strange, like human, but not. "The Lunarian peoples are old, older than much of Earth. Our lifespans are long, many thousands of years, but my people do not live forever, only myself, Eirin Yagokoro and Mokou Fujiwara can due to committing taboo at my request over a thousand years ago. My people have existed for longer than humans or Youkai have walked on earth, and in the deepest recesses of our culture are archives so old most have lost their meaning. One of the oldest describes an exodus, escaping an ancient foe, and the ones who destroyed them, leading us to Luna where we put down our roots and restarted our culture using everything in our power to survive, even if some of those actions caused our people to, stagnate for many millennia. The archive shows an image that bears a resemblance to the Reaper Sovereign that attached the Citadel."
"The other way we knew a danger was coming was due to one specific kind of magic," Yukari spoke up in turn as she opened her fan, causing a spiralling mirror of energy to form on the floor where were everyone could see it. "One of the most difficult of magic's is of no use for combat or day to day life due to its difficulty, but the truly skilful in it are a use to others regardless. That is the magic of Divination. With the right knowledge and materials, one can locate objects, find people of interest, and even peer into the future and see visions of it. Though they are often blurry, unfocused," Yukari explained as she closed her fan, taking the strange magic with it as she took a breath. "A few years after the formation of the Alliance and the unification of our species, in the time when terrorists and splinter forces ran rampant alongside magic spreading with greater speed than ever before, every person, Lunarian, Youkai, or human who was even marginally capable of using divination magic was afflicted with a unified and shared vision. A vision of Earth and Luna burning as a fleet of unknown ships surrounded the planet. These mass visions occurred for roughly one week and then stopped, and when compared to data in the Lunarian archives it was believed that whatever they had run from millennia ago was coming back."
"So our forces looked into everything they could. The Prothean archive on Mars, as well as many planets we found and colonized. Eventually the pieces of the puzzle made themselves clear."
"The final piece was discovering the Leviathan of DIS on Kar'shan and confirming it as a Reaper," Yukari said as a small block of metal floated away from her and landed In the middle of the floor. "there, in that drive, is all the information we have in regards to the Reapers, the Leviathan of DIS and its destruction, and the divination events that led us to the discovery of what we know, and have doubly confirmed. Do with it what you will," Yukari said as she turned back for the door.
"Wait! I will not allow this, I will not allow you to just walk away!" a Batarian in the crowd yelled as he pushed his way though and held up a pistol, pointing it at Yukari. "You, your people nuked Kar'shan! It said so in those videos. Is it true! Did you!"
Yukari turned her head ever so slightly so just the barest sliver of her eyes could be seen leering at the Batarian. "We did, yes. Operative Utsuho Reiuji released a fusion reaction to destroy every associated detail with the Leviathan of Dis on Kar'shan, at my own request."
"And you think you can just get away with that? A nuke, was detonated on my home-world! I am not so arrogant as to think my people are superior to any others. I know many still think that, but I know it not to be true. My people are not good, we are not all powerful, but we are still suffering from the Alliances actions on Kar'shan, and that nuke! What will you do fix this!?"
The entire room was silent as many waited to hear and see what would happen next.
"I do not need to do anything. At the time, our peoples were at war, and the actions done at that time have no importance in the now." Yukari said as she turned around to face the councillors. "Also, from this point on, the Alliance will not be allowing its people in Council space, or on the Citadel. Ambassador Flandre and her retinue will be returning to the Alliance, and we will be leaving the communications device in her abode for the Council to contact the Alliance if it wishes. We must prepare for the future, and partaking in your pathetic attempts at democracy and equality will not ensure the survival of life in the galaxy. We hope to hear good news about what your species choose to do in the future. Good day."
"No I won't allow this!" the Batarian yelled as he pulled the trigger on his gun, only to find Flandre in front of him with her weapon to the side, and the front half of his pistol on the ground.
"Wait, this is., you cannot do this!" Tevos called out, causing Yukari and Kaguya to pause as Flandre moved back beside them.
"Oh? And what can we not do?" Kaguya asked neutrally.
"All of this! Slandering the Asari Republics, backroom deals with the Hierarchy, nuking now two known garden worlds, dumping all of this information on us without any precedent or warning-"
"The Asari Republics have had access to a Prothean VI, beacon, and archive all this time and never told anyone else, you have no right to tell us what we cannot do," Kaguya said before smiling. "Especially since we are not a member of Citadel space. Good day, councillors. I hope all of your species can make the right choices."
"Wait, you can't do this!" Tevos yelled as the three of the left the door with the door closing behind them with a slight click.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"So, the plan continues as expected?" Flandre asked as the four of them walked down the halls of the presidium, Yukari and Kaguya being people who could naturally see Koishi just as Flandre could.
Yukari stopped and smiled. "Yes. With all the information they now have, and that has been sent out into the galaxy at large, the Citadel Council will need to change rapidly, or will fracture into pieces. If they can change enough, they will move forward stronger, and if they cannot, then their individual races will likely either seek refuge with the Alliance, create new confederations, or embrace philosophies of imperialism. No matter what happens, they will become stronger than they were and begin enhancing their militaries, thereby increasing their potential use to us in the future."
"There will be a lot of chaos in the coming years, but this is the only way to prepare," Kaguya added with a melancholy sigh. "Even with all of our populations, ships and technologies we cannot be everywhere in the galaxy at once and simply would not have the numbers to end this danger."
"Agreed," Yukari said as one of her Sukima opened up on the wall beside them, showing the inside of a ship. "Let us leave this place now. There is much to do, and it will be enjoyable to watch these races and what they choose to do with the information we have left them."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Author's notes: Alright, we have finally reached the end of the ME1 Storyline! And of course with that comes the ultimate question of, what comes next.
Continuation – in regards to continuing into ME2/3, I have considered it since the get-go, however my notes and pans have only gone up to this point, and with how long this story has been going on for, I need a break. To put it simply, a continuation is on the table, but will not be happening instantly or soon as I need a serious break from Mass Effect. There will be a few chapters of specials after this one (showing off Isika's test and the mission on Noveria) and then this story will be considered complete and finished with a sequel perhaps happening at some point in the future.
Spin offs/side stories – so in regards to this, many people, including the one behind the spin-off focusing on isika(xyzdreadnought), have shown clear desire to fiddle with things in this horrible monster of a combined universe I've created. If people wish to do spin offs or side stories of characters unseen here, or of OCs, I have nothing against it. All I ask are that people 1- do not use the main characters of this one. 2 – Do not make or show any kind of bio's for characters so that when/if I get to the sequel it does not cause undo confusion. 3 send me a PM telling me of your story so I can read and enjoy it too XD
Self-review – now the painful part here.
So, after writing this story for nearly 4 years now (posted on May 13, 2017) my writing has improved since it was started, and has also changed. However I am not a person who goes back to ret-con or rebuild story chapters I have already posted and am very bluntly aware there are problems. Some characters appear once and never again, some plotlines are not closed or have been forgotten about, and the balance of things (magic/science, politics/action) are not the best in places. I believe that I have improved in some of these facets, but there is always ways to get better.
On that point, if anyone wishes to give a well thought out CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISISM Review, Pease feel free too, I would love to hear what you think of the story as a whole.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has been following, Faving, Reviewing and reading this story for however long you have been. Thank you kindly for reading along and enjoying the story as much as I have been enjoying writing it.
Thank you, and let's hope 2021 is a better year than 2020 was.