There we are, this is a big week for me as I am posting four chapters for everyone. This one was fun to do but a little tricky, had to really figure out what to do and how to do it. After all how do you get the reactions of the entire universe down, you go to the top and work your way down.
But yeah, this is what I got and came up with and I assure you, the next chapter is going to be even more awesome as we are going to be delving into Mass Effect 1, ain't that awesome? But still hope you enjoy the chapter and like what is in it.
Now the reviews are at the bottom. Also I will not be posting anything else until January, going to be relaxing over the Christmas break. So kudos. And have a Merry Christmas.
Are We Alone
Chapter 05: Schisms of Faith
"Reports are still coming in as we learn of these shocking revelations…"
"The events upon Elysium, Akuze and Torfan had been grossly concealed to the public…"
"Possible human experimentation…"
"Your Excellency, what are your thoughts on the people believing that these beings to be actual angels and gods?"
"The Alliance has gone too far!"
"Take that! We proved gods exist, and they are on our side! Humanity all the way!"
"I was on Elysium, I saw him. He saved me…"
"It was a monster…"
"An Angel…"
"Demons, all of them!"
This went on across hundreds of different outlets; every single news station was on top of this story and running it. For the last two days it had been like this since the leak had been sprung, and it had been something that had engulfed the entire galaxy in a frenzy the likes that has never been seen before.
Within the first hour almost every news network had begun to release the story. In the next hour everyone had heard about it. Leaked videos, personal accounts and even confidential files had been leaked all across the Extranet for all to read. It had been hell for the Alliance, accusations had been the first thing that had been thrown around and now there was a shakedown.
Alliance Parliament was less than pleased with this revelation; it would seem that their nuts were on the chopping block with the Citadel Council being the bloody executioner. In fact that execution was still going down, they had conducted multiple inquiries and sessions simply to bring to light every little detail the Alliance had hidden from them. Forgoing every other political matter to solely focus on this and bring it to light and expose everything the Alliance had done.
They were pissed, more pissed than ever before. And they were making it known by not only whipping their newest and favorite race, but also sodomizing them publicly. It had been brutal to see their former Commander of the Navy being dressed down and made to look like a criminal, even if he took it in stride, Hackett couldn't help but feel sorry for the man that has sacrificed himself for them.
"Bad isn't it?" Anderson said.
Hackett looked up from his scotch towards the Captain and nodded, there was no other way to put it, aside from catastrophic. The only thing to make this the worst day for the Alliance is if the damn apocalypse happened right now, and that would not stop the hellfire the Council was pouring on them.
"You have no idea, we will mostly be untouched, but the Council is demanding that we stop all military production of any kind. They do not want us doing anything related to the military. No recruitment, not even damn training." Hackett said, taking a large gulp of his drink and glaring darkly at the hundreds of feeds that were coming in over his Omni-tool screen.
"You're serious?" Anderson asked, sounding horrified at the demand and the possibility that it could be done.
Parliament was in a dangerous situation, with this kind of pressure not only from the Citadel Council but almost every single racial government in the damn Galaxy they were under a tight leash. Any sort of infraction, no matter how minor, they would jump on it and turn it into a gaping wound that they would pour uranium into. They were being that vindictive about this, and technically he couldn't blame them.
"I am, they don't want us having these things running around. So they keep a close eye on every single military group we got and make sure we behave." Hackett said. "Sad part is these guys are not ours, and I can safely say we are in the clear so long as no one does anything stupid."
That was wishful thinking, if they don't appear in the next hundred years they may be in the clear, if not, than they will be utterly screwed. The council will hang this over their heads for the rest of their existence, no matter how implausible it is.
"That may be hard, before I came here I heard about Blackwatch and STG agents looking into our different projects and development programs," Anderson said, his voice low but none the less grave. "They found a link with Cerberus, apparently some of them were operating as fronts for their research."
"Why wasn't I informed of this?" Hackett barked, looking at Anderson sharply, he had not heard about these searches, let alone about Cerberus operatives.
"This happened yesterday, and I only heard about it now. With the military wing of the Alliance basically being watched communication is all but non-existent. And that is what I think they want, us being unable to defend ourselves as they look for clues." Anderson responded.
"My office has been bugged, I don't know if yours has or not, that is why I asked you to come here." Anderson said.
Hackett looked around to see that the entire bar was basically deserted, too damn early for patrons really. It was good for them though, this was a safe place to hang out and talk without the risk of people eavesdropping, and no way that the Council had humans in their pocket. Humans were on the shit list of every single alien race there was now. Probably more hated than the Krogan and Quarian's combined.
"Yeah, those listening to us talk about this cover up will more than likely see to it we are court marshaled. Especially if the Prime Minister wants to save face and get the human race out of the gutter." Hackett said, taking another swing of the glass and drowning the last of his scotch and giving a hiss as it settled in his stomach.
"He is in deep trouble, the Council is calling for him to cooperate or they are threatening to dissolve the Embassy and also cut off trade all together." Anderson said.
"That would be bad." Hackett said, agreeing with the assessment fully.
If the last two days had been bad, the loss of trade would end with the total collapse of the System Alliance economy and government overnight. Everything would simply stop and then the chaos would begin, they were too far integrated into the Galaxy's infrastructure that if they tried to pull out or were pushed out they would simply collapse from the financial strain.
"You think the Asari will do it?" Hackett inquired, he was never much of a people person, that was more Anderson's thing.
But the fact that despite the Asari proclaiming themselves to be very wise and kind, often showing off their wisdom and kindness to the universe and allowing for integrations. They were just as ruthless when the time came, you don't become as old and long lives as them if you do not defend yourself. The Asari were just as dangerous as anyone, possibly even as dangerous as the Krogan.
"Their scared, most of their people are worried that with the appearance of these beings that the Alliance will try to strong arm them. With how we first came onto the Galactic scene and how we integrated into it, that is no surprise. Some think we are trying to set ourselves up as a major player now, maybe even a dominant race and government." Anderson said.
"The Asari really believe that?" Hackett said, he had expected that the diplomatic Asari would not be so cold in response to this.
Guess he was right, ruthlessness and mercy come hand in hand.
"Their afraid, everyone is, we just witnessed something as close to a god as we can get and people are scared." Anderson said. "The only ones not afraid are humans, and they are going about this a whole lot differently."
"I know, some people are starting to think god exists now." Hackett said, shaking his head at the thought.
If god did exist, he wouldn't have sent this sort of bad luck their way. But it made him wonder what made them decide that they needed to come down and play with the hopeless mortals. After all, you don't get beings like this appear for no reason.
"It doesn't matter, all that matters is that we weather this storm as best we can." Anderson replied.
"That is going to be the hard part, and I can promise you, after the storm passes. I don't think there will be much left to save." Hackett grimly declared.
Citadel, Council Chambers
The Chamber was abuzz with activity; the many promenades that lined the room were littered with reporters and people wanting to watch. This may have been the third day of the long hearing and testimonies, but this day was one of the most important.
Former Admiral Ines Lindholm would be formally prosecuted and sentence to prison for his crimes in this conspiracy against the Alliance and the Citadel Council. He would face Universal Law. But for the last few minutes of the hearing the man had been less than cooperative.
"Ines Lindholm, we have been through this for two days, you have admitted to the conspiracy to hide the existence of these humans…" Tavos started,
"They are not human." Ines interjected calmly.
He looked ragged; he was tired and deprived of sleep and often food. His accommodations on the Citadel had been less than pleasant and likely done so in order to make him more compliant to the Council when they question him. Sadly he was a soldier and had been through more shit than these pansies in Blackwatch could throw at him.
"Enough of this stalling!" Sparatus roared, clearing more vexed than the other two Councilors, but not by much.
"I am not stalling, just getting the facts straight." Ines replied.
He had to repress a smirk, he may be acting childish in the way he was handling this, but he was practically a dead man already. As soon as this was all over he would be locked up for the remainder of his life simply to appease the Council. Didn't mean he could have a little bit of fun before that happened, his last hurrah.
"Lindholm, these five individuals here." Valern said, gesturing to a screen of five images.
Each imaged showed off five of the faces of the individuals that had been shown throughout the case as humans that have undergone genetic engineering. But they have gone by many other names. The Guardian of Elysium, The Angel of Akuze, the War God of Torfan. These three were the big hitters with the middle one being the only one not seen completely but appeared to be a young girl.
Each of them had become legends in their own rights, a savior, a avenger and a monster. While the rest were that handsome guy and the monster's kid, not very original but they haven't done much other than look stoic and ask for candy.
"Each and every single one of them is human in appearance, and appears to be all of Asian descent as well as using Japanese as their spoken language. Proof, irrefutable proof, that not only they are from Earth, the Human race but are fluent in one of its languages. Yet you continue to deny they are human." Valern replied, crossing his arms and appearing annoyed. "There is no point in denying this, you must admit to this and confirm that the Alliance has manufactured these entities."
"I cannot confirm that, because the fact they came from nowhere and possess abilities that simply are scientifically impossible only proves that they are beyond the capabilities to create through engineering or not." Ines replied.
He would never admit to such a moronic accusation, them creating these things? That is a joke that isn't even remotely funny. These things were beyond science and understanding; they had abilities and powers that could only exist in comic books.
They were able to clock the one named Ichigo to be able to move at speeds close to Mach eighty three, and that is what they could detect. If he can move that fast without getting his skin torn off than there was no way he could be even remotely human. There are limits to things, and the fact these guys defied all expectations only proves just how impossible they were.
"Then how do you propose that they came to be? That they are spirits? Gods! I do not believe for a moment that the Alliance or you were unaware of these things!" Sparatus yelled, pointing an accusatory talon towards the former Admiral. "They are test subjects and individuals that have been experimented upon, you will reveal all now and admit to your crimes!"
"Doesn't matter what you think. All that matters is the truth, that there is no means that the Alliance could have created these entities and no matter how much you push to prove it, you will not get the answer you want." Ines replied.
"Ines Lindholm, if you continue this I will be forced to hold you in contempt for the law. If you cooperate and stop this equivocating we would greatly appreciate it." Tevos said, appearing to try and offer a plea out of this.
He looked at her for a moment, was she actually trying to bride him into lying? That was damn cute, because he would sooner take a bullet to the brain before lying in order to save his own skin.
"I am not delaying, I am simply reaffirming the details that you keep forgetting." Ines replied, and this time he could help but let a ghost of a smile appear on his face as the three fumed at his stubbornness.
Three Hours Later
"This is an outrage!" Sparatus yelled. "We should have continued, the fact we sentenced him not answering our questions is heinous, he should have been made to admit to the crimes!"
"We have little proof, and even little information on these five. Their names are not in the registry, not even in the last fifty years. Not even in the last one hundred." Valern replied.
Reports from the STG and Blackwatch had turned up almost nothing on these beings other than what they already know. Odder is the fact all information the Alliance had only dated back to about three days after the Battle of Elysium. That meant the Alliance was not lying in not knowing about these people.
Yet the fact that these entities exist only made it frightening that the Alliance may have had no control over them. If that was true than they were in grave danger, depending on their allegiances they could potentially be a major threat to Citadel control over the galaxy.
"He is correct; we have no proof that these humans were created by the System Alliance or any group within human control." Tevos said, although she was not happy about that.
As much as she was a mediator for the Council she could not help but feel this was a move by the Alliance to exert control. With recent findings of a rogue paramilitary group within the Alliance, she had no doubt that they wished to make humanity a dominant species. If this was a show of power by either the Alliance of this Cerberus she along with the rest of the Council will need to remind the human race where they stand.
With their actions within the Skyllian Verge, their raids against pirates and other Terminus forces, has causes a lot of tension. Something the Council could not handle at the moment, with the Batarian's shouting and making demands and the System Alliance on the other end. They were acting on their own and outside of the Council's approval, something that they did not like.
It would seem that they have been too lenient in the last few years with them.
"We could still use this to our advantage. The human race has been getting quite uppity in their approach and maybe a little humility would be prudent. It is best we start taking some stricter measures in terms of their involvement with the galactic community." Tevos suggested.
The System Alliance has been given a good deal of freedom since their inclusion in galactic politics, but maybe it was time that changed. They had been quite headstrong and moving very fast in their goals, which she could see now were very large. Maybe it was time that they be chained and made sure that they did not get too far ahead of themselves.
"I propose we halt all ship and military movement through our space, along with limiting ship numbers and movement on their outer colonies. We cannot risk them having a sizable fleet on their borders, if they plan to expand; we need to make sure they do not do anything." Sparatus said.
"This would cause problems; the outer colonies of Alliance Space are in greater danger to pirate attacks. We need to make sure our actions do not cause a reprisal, there is only so much that the Alliance will take before they start moving against our wishes." Valern warned.
"They wouldn't dare, if they do we can always cut off trade and aid, they need us more than we need them." Tevos replied.
"Do not be too sure, the Alliance being reprimanded like this would also cause untold strife in Council Space as well. If humans are put under scrutiny by the other races, we may have something similar to the Quarian discrimination campaign that happened three hundred years ago." Valern warned.
That was something they did not want, the Quarian Discrimination Campaign was a series of political and cultural attacks on the Quarian race for the creation of the Geth. This led to the people slandering their race and often making them out to be criminals, and led to many deaths and division among the Citadel races on how to deal with them. None of it was pleasant and is still felt even today.
"The humans should be given the treatment they deserve, they are responsible for this." Sparatus replied.
"Yes, but the difference is that they have the army, and potentially engineered force capable of wiping us out with no effort at all. Do not get ahead of yourselves." Valern said, taking on the odd diplomatic mantle in this meeting. "We press too hard they will snap and strike, we keep them to the ground and leave just enough room for them to breathe and become docile. We do not act aggressive in this, we play it slow and calmly, and in the end we will have someone that we can control and thinks we are being kind rather than tyrannical."
Tevos had to admit it would be the smarter way to go, if they did press to hard the Alliance may retaliate for unfair treatment towards their race. That was something she would need to account for in the next few meetings they have with their governments. They will need to nip this in the butt soon; otherwise the Alliance may make another move.
Arcturus Station
Hackett glared at the STG agent in front of him, he was not in the mood for the bullshit right now. But what he was being told was far from pleasant, not two days after Ines Lindholme's sentencing and his life imprisonment, he had been given orders.
Order from the Citadel Council, who was still instigating a navy disarmament as well as army distribution halts. All Dreadnaughts were to be rendered inactive and all capital ships were to remain near the home world. While all military forces were not permitted to leave the ground under any circumstances, unless cleared by the new Council administration currently running oversight on the Alliance military and Government.
"This is a joke, you expect me to follow these orders?" Hackett said, tossing the report aside and glaring at the Salarian.
"You have no choice, if you do not follow this you will be found in contempt." The STG Captain replied.
"I have every right to be, this entire thing is a farce, and you are only doing this to piss us off because we did it to you." Hackett replied.
"If you have anything to say, I advise you take it up with the administration, they will surely take your words at some value." The Captain responded, moving for the door and stepping out as it opened, only waiting for a moment to give a final warning. "I would advise you follow this, you may end up like Lindholme."
"Careful, you may have that little leash of yours, but if you step too far out of line we will make our discomfort known, and you will not like that." Hackett said, shutting the doors before the Salarian could respond.
He slumped into his chair; he could not believe what was going to be happening with the System Alliance now. It was being chained down and controlled, like a dog that was to be trained and taught to heel at command.
The Council was taking away all their freedoms, anything government or military was being shaken down and forced to comply. Ships being grounded and projects halted, no matter what research was being done they ended it cold. They were being choked ever so slowly, rather than a quick strangulation, this was them being suffocated slowly.
If this continued the entire System Alliance would fall apart within months, their strength would crumble and then they would be left helpless and vulnerable. It would be the very end of them all, they would crumble and be left with nothing but the ruins of their once great culture that had been turned to dust by the Council and their paranoia.
"Like hell." Hackett growled.
He wouldn't allow the borders of Alliance space to be undefended by their own ships, left to be protected by a flimsy force of Turian ships. Having oversight in so many different projects and facilities that risk of exposure and revealing of classified material was extensive. Keeping people trapped on different worlds, military and civilian alike, policing everything within their own space.
He would not allow that.
Ines Lindholme sacrificed himself so the Alliance could stand tall, and Hackett would make sure that happened, because he wouldn't let the Citadel Council get their way. That meant laying down and waiting to die, and he intended to rise back up stronger than before.
"Tyresa." Hackett said, watching the VI appear briefly on his desk. "Get me a secure line, I need to contact a few people. Set up feedback jammers, I do not want anyone sneaking in."
"Who do you wish to contact?" Tyresa asked.
"Everyone in my contacts lists, under Associates and Favors." Hackett replied, glaring ahead of him, he would change this, no matter how many rock he had to turn over and how many politicians he needed to piss off.
Jessica ducked under the swing before deliver two quick jabs to the ribs and then a third to the stomach, staggering her opponent who sagged from the hits. She followed up with a quick jab to the jaw and sent him to the floor; he hit the ground hard, on his hands and knees while in a daze.
She turned and leaned back as another man attacked her, as she quickly began to backpedal she weighed her options before attacking. Stepping forward into his wide punch and blocked with both her forearms, she felt her own jar from the hit but she carried on. Twisting on her heels she sent an elbow jab to his head.
But her elbow was caught by his palm and then it snaked down her arm, grasping her wrist and pulling it behind her back. His other arm snapped under her left arm and armpit, wrapping around her neck and placing her in a chokehold. A curse escaped her lips, but it appeared more like a gurgle, as she had her arms restrained completely.
Jessica looked ahead to see her second opponent was getting back up and looking ready to capitalize on her incapacitated state. Shepard quickly worked out a way to try and escape, pulling her leg behind her captors own limb she roughly pulled it out from under him and pushed back. They both fell to the ground, as he hit the ground Shepard shot her head back three times, feeling the painful contact of the back of her skull with the front of his nose.
As his grip loosened she looked up to see the man above her, he planted his foot onto her chest and pressed her back down onto her former captor. Now returning to being her captor, his arm wrapped around her throat again and began to choke. She tried to free herself but it was no good, he had her too tightly.
Shepard looked to the foot still on her chest and decided she needed it gone, and a quick jab to the side of the knee did that as the man was sent to the ground. A scream escaped his mouth as he dealt with the painful blow, the side of the knee was very vulnerable and if hit hard enough it could snap. Luckily for him she had only given it a nice love tap.
Raising her arm she jabbed her elbow into the side of her captor several times, forcing his grip to slacken before she raised her head and swung it back again. A crunch was heard, likely the guys nose breaking, before she turned to face him and gave a quick punch to the jaw for good measure. And like that he was out like a light, she smirked for a moment before she felt something jab into her side and sent her tumbling.
"Dammit." Shepard growled, holding her side, that was going to bruise in the morning.
She turned to the second man; he was back on his feet and limping slightly. He was the only one she had to worry about now. She got to a knee as he rushed her, sending quick kick to her head. She raised her arms and caught it, pulling hard she dragged him off his foot and to the ground. Leaping up and then onto the man, she drove her knee into his stomach and then delivered a quick punch to the face.
She followed up with three more strikes, ignoring the pain in her knuckles; she delivered one final strike and left the man below to go limp. With a heavy breath she rolled off the unconscious man and onto her back, she was panting and it had been a long and hard fight.
A buzzer sounded, and the lights came on.
Around her were standing about two dozen other recruits, all of them part of the N5 programs. Shepard looked over to the right to see someone walk onto the training floor.
"Not bad, taking on two other recruits like that might have to get you into the N6 after this." Makkai Zombor said, despite his words they didn't seem all that kind in terms of giving praise.
It was always rough and sounded irritated with anything and everything, which made it hard to determine if he was being sincere rather than aggressive.
"Thank you… sir…" Shepard replied, breathlessly lifting herself up off the mat.
She looked over to see that the medics were already treating Sergeant Rinat Averyanov, one of her fellow recruits and a friend. The guy had a lot of muscle on him, and was a bastard to put down, but that didn't stop her. It was always a game of theirs, to see who could take down the other the most, the score was eighty three to fifty six, in her favor.
"Alright listen up, with recent administrative changes, meaning a bunch of fucking aliens deciding that the human race doesn't know how to run itself, we are likely not going to be carrying on to the N6 program." Makkai stated addressing every single recruit.
They were nearing the end of their training in the N5 program; they had basically been brushing up on everything they had learned. But now their futures would be set, being a N5 would elevate them far in the Alliance military. But the sad part is that the navy had its balls in a vice.
Shepard got to her feet and walked back in line, her side was likely bruised and blue, and she was certain she had a black eyes. Ignoring this she had to listen to what he instructor said, it was regarding their futures as soldiers. As well as their chances of going on to N6, if that was the case she could complete her training and finally become an N7.
If they were given the chance.
With the way the Alliance was handling this crisis it was not going well for them, especially with the Council breathing down their necks. Hell the entire N-School had nearly been shut down had it not been for Admiral Hackett pulling the strings and basically flipping the bird to the Council. She had to love that man, he is the reason she even got into the damn ICT in the first place.
"But fuck them! We got ourselves a nice little mission near the outer colonies, pirates. Lots of them!" Makkai said aloud. "We will be leading an assault there in two weeks, anyone who wants to get into the next class sign up now. Because there will be no other chance for a long fucking while."
Shepard smirked slightly, almost invisible; it would seem that Hackett was working his magic again. With the way they were shaking down navy ships and preventing them from carrying out patrols between planets. It was a miracle that he was able to even make sure that they could move between planets.
"Dismissed, and congratulations, these last few months have been hell on you all. For those that survived it, you will do the Alliance proud." Makkai said, turning and moving out with the rest of the staff.
Shepard followed the rest of her fellow trainees out, planning on getting to her room and having a quick shower before hitting the cafeteria for a quick mean. She had to get ready for the op, it may be two weeks away but she wasn't going to miss her chance to get onto the team.
A quick trip through the training facility and she would be at her quarters, passing the window to look at the alien jungle outside the viewing port. It was one of the most dangerous training locations in the entirety of Alliance space. All kinds of creatures lurked within, almost all of them think a human is like a lobster dinner, and it was exciting. You do not train Special Forces soldiers with a simple hike, you make them run through the danger and make them learn to spot the bad things around them.
It was kind of weird, sending people into danger so they don't die later. Weird, but none the less, interesting.
"Just have to pass the N6, and then I am an N7." Shepard said to herself, entering her room and quickly disrobing.
It had been a hard and painful four years for her, getting into this school along with the way the Alliance was handling the situation with these super powered warriors had not been easy. She was actually lucky to not have taken any flack, publically anyway. After the news of these guys, currently dubbed Phantoms by the Alliance, she had her Star of Terra confiscated and shamed for her willingness in this conspiracy.
But she had been lucky, she was already in the N-School when the thing dropped and she was too deep in to throw out. They couldn't wash her out because she was doing too well, and that is what she wanted. The star she didn't care about, the praise or the ridicule, all she cared about was making the life she had worth it. She was not saved on that planet because she had a good and fulfilled life.
"My life was shit before you saved me," Shepard said aloud, the water running down her back. "Now I am going to repay that by making it actually worth a damn."
Call it repaying someone for doing a good thing, or her cliche idea of starting a better life, but she wanted this more than anything.
Jessica had enough of being some street punk that just got by surviving, she intended to make something of herself and be more than what she was. Being an N7 is only the beginning for her, she wanted her life to matter, to actually mean something more than just being a soldier. She wanted to do what he did, make a difference where it mattered, to show that what he had done can be done by others.
"Don't know how you did it, but you changed me." Turning the shower off and walking into her small room.
A single bed with a trunk at the end, it held all her possessions aside from one that sat on the bedside cabinet. She looked at it and held her gaze with the brown eyes within the photo, a holo-still image of the Guardian of Elysium, Ichigo, the scowling face of the man could be seen there. The only image that could be seen of him.
But she remembered another face, one that had been there to save her in her time of greatest need. She smiled at that, she had no idea how he did it with only a few words and a single touch, but he changed her. Made everything better.
"Preferred it when he smile, he's a lot cuter." Shepard said, pulling down her tank top as she moved for the door, she was starving and wanted to get her dinner in and then get in at least an hour of sleep before they go through the drills again.
"We have lost Projects Ascension and Project Trap Door, with the Council interference we have lost valuable data and personnel." Miranda said, looking at The Illusive Man who sat in his chair.
The last few months had been hard for Cerberus, hiding within the Alliance ranks was no longer working for them. They had been losing projects and groups in rapid number and it was beginning to tie back to the organization as a whole. Even with each cell lost they were still losing people fast. Soon enough they would lose everything else.
"Yes, that is troubling, but we need to deal with this in a way that we haven't before. We need to go dark for a while." The Illusive Man said.
"The Council will expect that, they will know we are just hiding and they will wait. They are using our existence as further motive to keep the Alliance in check. If we do not do something Humanity could become an endangered species." Miranda pressed.
"I am well aware, which is why we need to make some sacrifices," The Illusive Man said, taking a drag of his cigarette before placing it down into the tray. "The Council, as you said, will not stop hounding us until they sink their claws into something that they want. Luckily I have a way to appease that appetite."
Miranda looked at him for a moment, her mind going into overdrive to see if she could figure out what he was planning. Then it hit her, and that same smile she always had played on her lips.
"The Erebus Protocol." Miranda said, crossing her arms and smirking. "You are going to sacrifice part of Cerberus in order to save the rest."
The Erebus Protocol was a special directive that could only be carried out in the event the organization had been breached by outside forces. This included the Alliance of Council, and that the only way to survive is to sacrifice a large portion of their organization.
It involved sacrificing several cells and leaving them to be found and destroyed, this also included setting up a false leadership group that would take the fall of the organization. When they split these cells off the rest of Cerberus would go dark, hiding for as long as possible until the Council lost track of them or the cells were all destroyed. After that they would restart their operations and get back to work on their main objective.
"You are certain we should resort to that though? After all Directive Black Sun seemed more…" Miranda said, but he cut her off with a swipe of his hand.
"No, we are not initiating Black Sun, we have too much going on to allow the entire organization to go dark and scattered. We need to remain mobile and be able to reform at a moment's notice; we have too much riding on this to scatter ourselves to the furthest reaches of the galaxy." The Illusive Man said.
"You are still trying to locate these anomalies?" Miranda asked.
Those unknown warriors from Torfan, Elysium and Akuze had taken his interest and attention more than anything else. He wanted to know everything there was about them, what data could be found was limited and much was extrapolated by their scientists. They couldn't make heads or tails of it.
"They are the key to this, if we find them we have something that the entirety of Humanity can rally behind." The Illusive Man said.
"It is unlikely they will just join us, they seem to have their own agenda." Miranda said.
"True, but luckily when we return, we may become a much more potent force than before." The Illusive Man replied. "For either way, we will become stronger than ever before."
He smirked slightly, the Council thought that they could keep humanity in line by stepping on them and showing a strong hand to put them down. But in truth all they doing was driving the deep hatred of man towards them, and when they were ready Cerberus will be there to offer the aid the people need. Their numbers and forces will grow, and soon the Council will realize just how much of an enemy they have made.
"Well, this is bad." Kyoraku said, looking at the assembled group in his office, close to twenty of them were here and they shared the same feeling as he.
In his hand was a report regarding the developments in the World of the Living and the galaxy at large, and all of it was not good. Most of it was basically the existence of them causing a stir, especially Kenpachi and Ichigo; those two really had made a riot.
"No kidding. The humans are worshiping us now, haven't seen anything like that in nearly fifteen hundred years." Ukitake said, a little surprised as he glanced over Kyoraku's shoulder to read over the report of several churches rising up to actually worship Ichigo as some kind of savior and god.
"I cannot believe this?" Ichigo growled out, to think these guys would go so far to venerate him, in a way he was annoying rather than gratifying.
Also since he came back the Captains had been giving him grief for going off on his own and doing that, he went against the rules in a big way. The only reason he wasn't severely reprimanded was because of his close ties to the Nobles Houses and also because Ichibei Hyosobe prevented any punishment being handed down.
Even so they were basically glaring holes in the back of his head all the time and telling him he fucked up.
"Hey, says here that they are even making a cartoon!" Kyoraku said, pointing at something in the report. "Aw hell, he is going to be a ladies man too! Says he is getting a harem!"
"What!?"
"Just kidding," Kyoraku replied, smiling in a goofy manner as he glanced at the former Substitute and now Captain. "But look at it this way, any publicity is good right?"
But even with that reassurance the orange haired young man couldn't help but slump in defeat. He had not thought that this would transpire, obvious from the fact his shoulder had fallen, along with several annoyed stares he was getting from the people in the room. It was obvious that his actions were the start of all this, even if it was likely going to happen eventually had he intervened or not.
"God dammit, why didn't I cover my face or something?" Ichigo said, his head falling into his hand as he realized how big a fuck up he had made.
That misery did not last long before he was quickly knocked across the room with a boot to the head, sending him skidding along the floor before he hit the wall. The former substitute, now Captain of the Eighth Division, quickly jumped to his feet and glared at the attacker.
"Cover your face?" Rukia yelled, having grown slightly and actually seemed to be developing into a woman, something Ichigo had said about her being a late bloomer. "Why didn't you just not do anything!?"
"Really? What about you on Akuze? Snow Angel?" Ichigo asked, brushing off her accusation with one of his own, and making the female Captain glare angrily at him.
"I didn't know about the security cameras and you knew damn well that you would have been seen and caught! And you were, me on the other hand, I at least tried to cover my tracks!" Rukia yelled back, pointing an accusatory finger at her friend.
"Hey, we're past that now, no need to bring up anymore bad blood alright." Kyoraku replied, calming the situation before anything else came up. "Although, this is to be expected."
"Yes, with the fact that these planets are spiritually inept and in the process of actually forming spiritual realms of their own, we have no choice but to actually manifest there. I did warn you that this would have happened eventually." Mayuri stated.
"I know, I know. But still you should have accounted for these guys getting ahead of themselves." Kyoraku replied. "You are lucky that Central is not going further with this, they were not happy."
"Given what we are going against I can assume that is why we weren't punished?" Ichigo asked, crossing his arms and frowning seriously.
A quiet descended over the other captains as they looked at one another, there was a reason they had gone out into the void. It had actually been at first to collect the lost souls of those leaving earth and having them reinforce the Dangai and barrier between the worlds. But now they were up against something different.
"Yeah, but with what we are dealing with it is hard to track them down. Worse yet we do not even know if it is going after humans. For all we can determine the other races spiritual realms are different from our own. And we have no idea if the enemy is using their souls as well." Kyoraku said. "Might want to look into that, maybe we can find some other Soul Reapers out there."
They have been across the different worlds for nearly two decades now, and have yet to actually travel outside of System Alliance space. Mainly because setting up relays on these different worlds in tricky and the fact that they had to keep to spiritually active sites otherwise they couldn't manifest there.
Urahara has been helpful but he has not been able to move about much because of this ban on space travel, so their plan to expand into the rest of the Galaxy to search was becoming impossible. Also made them consider contacting any possible foreign alien Soul Societies in order to see about getting them to work together on this.
If they even existed.
"Based on what information we have they will be drawn to areas of conflict, I advise we use this chaos to our advantage in locating them." Mayuri responded.
"That is a lot of ground to cover, and also we have no idea about what they can do. Each of them is drawn to different sources; this has turned from looking for ripples in a pond to finding a needle in a haystack." Ukitake replied. "If they are separated it will be even more difficult to track them down."
"Yeah, but knowing these guys and from what Oshou said, they will come out in a flashy way. It is our duty to track them down and put them back into their cells, we cannot let them run free any longer." Kyoraku said. "All of you are being sent out, take with you teams of Shinigami and scour a planet, move quickly and efficiently, we will lose more if we allow them to act on their own terms."
With that the Captains and Lieutenants moved for the exit, filing out and planning on getting out into the field as soon as possible. Kyoraku sighed to himself; this had become a real chore for him, especially with the humans finding out about them. This had not happened in a long time, long before he was even born in fact.
"If the three of them get a foothold in the galaxy somewhere they can cause all kinds of damage." Urahara said, standing besides Yoruichi and Tessai, all three of them were very serious.
Even after the Blood War they had remained as mavericks doing as they pleased in the World of the Living. In fact Urahara owned a large series of stores on multiple worlds across the Galaxy and dealt in almost all forms of things. This had allowed them to move about freely across the Milky Way on their mission to collect human souls and slay hollows.
But still he had not been able to get his stores and relays everywhere, and that was costing them time and a large amount of unexplored ground to cover. This was even worse because the fact that what they were searching for was on the move.
"I know, as of this moment I need you three to continue the search." Kyoraku said.
"They have been loose for the last one hundred and eighty years, why act now?" Urahara asked.
"Don't know, but from what Oshou told me, these guys are bad news, worse than Yhwach." Kyoraku said. "I guess that is why he went into the Muken all those years ago, not for Aizen, but to let them out."
Reviews:
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For their support and praise.
Zrocker119: I have plans for them to appear in time, yes.
Accursius: Glad you liked it. Also to explain that you have to look at them solidifying their power over their bodies, basically they have to make space suits for themselves in order to survive. They compress their power around them not only to breathe but also interact with the world. If they didn't it would simply scatter their bodies across the vacuum of a reishi-less environment, kind of like a human exposed to space.
A normal soul in this situation can survive for a time, but eventually they will simply break apart into nothing. Basically they cease to exist, nothing but empty soul cores to be sent back to the Soul Society. It does drain their power as it is a conscious effort in order to keep them from being torn apart. So basically they will be concentrating on sustaining this barrier and also fighting, so it does tax them considerably.
Ghost024: The memory whipping would take too long, and they do not have it in large supply to do it with everyone and also there is too much evidence left behind for them to cover their tracks effectively.
Guest #2: That he is.
Guisniperman: Glad you like it, and never doubt that one will turn up there eventually.
Rakaan: They most certainly will be scared then.
Tashio: The devices were not used mainly because of their recent ineffectiveness, and considering that they have recordings of her she could not risk them repairing or salvaging any info on the devices. She killed them to prevent anyone from collecting the data after it was damage from the servers. She tried to cover her tracks, knowing that simply erasing their memories would likely do nothing if they tried to recover some data.
The Shinigami are beings made up of pure reishi, basically a dimensional particle that doesn't exist in the normal universe. So they are akin to the ancients, and the forms they take are simple representations of their bodies. Even their blood is not real, just a representation of their bodies.
Bringer of the Morrow: There is a reason the Shinigami do not chose to rule or interfere with humans, and it is a good reason. Kind of like a double edged sword.
PhoenixCorpse: The Chain of Fate is basically a tether to the Reincarnation Cycle as well as their human bodies. The when the chain is severed from the body it is meant to move onto something else, but certain things can interfere with it and cause it to become attached to something else. As you see in the earlier Manga with the demi-hollow that had his chain attached to the hospital.
But with a soul, when it dies it immediately goes to the Soul Society, which is like a waiting station. After their soul does eventually expire they travel to the soul king and he transfers it through the Dangai back to earth. Since the Soul King is Yhwach's father and they share a commonality, it is my belief that the methods used by Yhwach to harness souls of Quincy are similar to how the Soul King does it for other humans. He places a portion of himself into humans and brings them within him and transfers them back through the cycle.
MadMaskJK: You may.
Invisiblepoptart: Look in awe at the awesome.
Correnhimself316: Of course, he wouldn't be a badass if he couldn't. Also the reapers are an unknown to even them, and the things they are against are much worse.
There you have it, enjoy your Christmas break!