Helloooo viewers! Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews and support for this story! There's still a little more exposition to go before we reach Andromeda. I want to tie things up in the Milky Way and provide some backstory to the main show. Please continue to leave reviews, I read each one of them and take them into consideration. I'll never turn down free ideas and feedback :}
Keep leaving reviews!
~M~
It was a beautiful day, by Earth standards, in Vancouver. Sunny and warm was just how most people liked it. Outside the windows one could see children playing make believe or tag or some other new game on any of the many open rooftop parks, smiling like there was nothing wrong in the world. You rarely saw this sort of atmosphere anywhere else in the galaxy; Earth was truly special. It made leaving it behind all the more difficult.
For the past two years Senior Captain Hannah Shepard had been stationed on Earth assisting with a myriad of defence matters. While her son was galivanting around the galaxy she played clean-up duty, running a great many successful operations in the aftermath to completely remove Batarians or Geth from Alliance space. She spent the past two years shoring up defences, re-examining defensive doctrines and reassigning various officers. The fact that Earth would fall nonetheless stung. Badly.
She turned away from the window and resumed packing her travel bag. Singular – "bag", not "bags". One learns to pack lightly in the military. The Drell offered assistance only to be waved off politely. She smiled at the thought of her son sending the galaxy's most deadly assassin to escort her to him. And to think she had used to have to tie his shoelaces! They grow up so fast.
"May I ask what amuses you?"
She smiled warmly at the Drell. For an assassin he was rather polite.
"Just thinking about how far Shepard has come. It makes a mother feel old"
"You hardly look a day over thirty, Senior Captain."
"Ha!" she exclaimed, matching the well-mannered (and apparently cheeky) assassin's smirk, "Did my son put you up to that?"
"I'm simply following orders"
"Unbelievable, simply unbelievable."
Hannah shook her head and left to grab her private terminal. Briefly she scrolled through it, reading her recent messages. The Admiralty was scrambling and everyone was panicking. They were finally taking her son's warnings seriously and all it took was mass desertions and an inventory crisis. Hackett and Anderson were doing the best they could manage but they stood no real chance in the war to come. The stubborn bastards would fight to the end, doubtlessly giving the Reapers hell. She sighed and deleted the messages. It wouldn't be enough. The galaxy was finally trying to prepare but it was too late. You don't wait until the enemy is in your trenches to open fire.
Alas, what could one person do? Her son was right; there would be no war, only slaughter. All they could do is focus on the contingency plan.
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
Working with Hanar and Volus was… difficult, to say the least. Two radically different species with radically different physiologies and mentalities. And it was Kesh's job to put them in an Ark with the Drell and Elcor. How fun.
The Drell were the only thing keeping her sane. They were polite, compliant, and worked as a go-between the other species. The Elcor too made things easier on her by not making things harder. Unlike certain species. Kesh sighed. If she got one more 'this one believes' or 'how dare you relegate the Volus to this' the Krogan thought she may just lose it.
All of the other Arks were easy to manage as it becomes so much simpler when you only need to handle a single species. Only two of the ships were designed for multiple species; Ark Obelisk and the nexus itself. Now Kesh found herself in the position of managing the development of a dreadnaught size ship that needs to house four different species. Thank goodness the Batarians weren't invited.
Yesterday Kesh sorted out disputes pertaining to the positioning of each species on the Ark, today she is organising the transport of relevant machinery to each quadrant of the ship. Tomorrow she has a meeting with some of the highest members of the Initiative. Something about a huge reveal or whatever. It's not at the top of her list of priorities at the moment.
Project management was challenging. No more challenging than watching Krogan society descend into barbarity, she mused. She snapped herself back to the task at hand, there's work to be done.
"Reception? Please send in Captain Zirr."
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
"…told you that we do not have the industry for a sustained conflict, the only-"
"Superweapons are not a viable solution, Sparatus. We don't have the timeframe to develop such an arsenal."
"He's right though, Tevos, conventional warfare will not win us the war. Unfortunately we are running short on time. Perhaps cyberwarfare will be our saving grace against the machines."
"The Asari will not be participating in any project which abandons the principles of the Citadel Council. The status quo-"
"Stow it, your absence wouldn't even make a difference! The Asari are dead weight at this point. The rest of us are the only ones actually doing anything! Blast it even the Volus have done more for galactic peace than you have!"
"I'm on your side here but you must exercise restraint, Sparatus. The Salarian Union will dedicate itself to such a project but not at the expense of the Asari Republics."
"Listen here you sn…"
Udina just leant back in his chair as his 'colleagues' fell into disarray. Decades of hard work propelled humanity to where it was today and everything was just falling apart. It was depressing. The Citadel was useless! How hard did humanity scramble just to watch a bunch of third rate aliens bicker like children! Where the hell was Shepard? That sickeningly altruistic jock! He was a problem solver, he was the problem solver, where the hell was he? It was all so disgusting. Everyone was so bloody…
"Useless…"
"Udina?"
"You're all useless! The galaxy is literally barely holding it together but we aren't doing anything to stop it! I will not sit back and watch all that humanity has done come to naught!"
He shot up, filled with disgust and determination, and stormed off to his office. The Citadel was not going to be of any use. He needed something or someone else to give humanity it's winning edge. He needed money, resources, manpower, and he was going to get none of it from this pitiful excuse for a government. Aides and diplomats parted to make way for him, the few who tried to speak to him shutting up when he death-stared them.
In his office he opened up his terminal and activated maximum privacy settings. Was he really about to do this? For minutes he simply stared at his screen in consideration. He was desperate, yes, but just how much? Udina wiped his forehead of sweat. No, he couldn't depend on the Citadel anymore. He clicked a few buttons and waited for the connection to stabilise.
"Councillor Udina, I take it you've given more consideration to my proposal?"