High Primarch's Chamber, Cipritine, Palaven. July 29, 2192.
Quentius quietly sat in the waiting room. Though he had submitted his report to High Command, the High Primarch was adamant that Quentius meat him in person, hence why the newly promoted officer is now where he was.
One of Primarch's aides walked into the room and called the captain.
"Captain Trevanian, the Primarch will see you now." The elder woman said.
Quentius picked up his officer's helmet and stood up. The young captain followed the aide into the office where she then left and closed the door behind him.
"Captain Quentius Trevanian, a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Fedorian said as he gave the officer a salute which was promptly returned. "Please, take a seat."
The two Turians took a seat on either side of Fedorian's desk, with the latter pulling out a bottle of aged brandy out of his desk, uncorking it, and then pouring it into two glasses already on the desk.
"I suppose I should be congratulating you son, your name will be written in the history books in the coming years!"
"Thank you, sir." Quentius quickly replied.
"Indeed! Despite the… unfortunate circumstance of the contact, I do believe this will be a boon to our war effort. If these humans can be convinced to join our side, we could pressure the Council on a much wider front, I have no doubt whatsoever that the Asari would not be able to stand such an intense war." Fedorian explained. "
"I suppose that is true, sir. However, I am not entirely sure that they want to join us in our war, as written in my report." Quentius said.
"Ah yes, you did mention that they seem to be more of the isolationist type. I'm quite sure that they'll see the wisdom in joining our side once they see just how much of a hypocrite the Council can be."
Fedorian swirled his drink for a few seconds before sipping from it. He continued after he had downed a significant portion of the brandy had.
"They call themselves the defenders of freedom and liberty? Bah! They would defend that vile race of slavers if it means they could make a meager profit from it." Fedorian scoffed.
An uneasy silence filled the room, with Fedorian clearly waiting for Quentius to say something.
"I see what you mean, but why tell me this, sir?"Quentius asked. "After all, I'm just one captain in a navy filled with thousands of others like myself. What difference would my knowledge of this make?"
Upon hearing this, Fedorian stopped sipping from his glass and looked straight into Quentius' eyes.
"You mean… Oh for Spirit's sake, you were the one who talk to them first Captian Trevanian! No doubt these Humans would prefer a familiar face as opposed to a new one."
Quentius was visibly taken back by this.
"Certainly, a professional ambassador would be more suited to this task?" Quentius tried to come up with a counter argument.
"Ambassador Nyx and his staff are preoccupied keeping the dominions in check. As of right now, you are the one most qualified to be negotiating with these Humans on behalf of the Hierarchy."
"I… I don't know what to say, sir." Quentius barely stammered out.
"A simple yes would suffice, Captain."
Still in shock, he slowly nodded his head in agreement.
"Excellent, I'll inform the good ambassador that he won't have to reschedule his 19 different meetings this month." Fedorian said, now getting up. Quentius followed suit. "I will forward to you the details of your objectives by the end of the day."
Quentius gave the High Primarch a salute before turning around and walking towards the door. The captain left the Primarch's chamber and passed by the aide who gave him a holodisk containing the details of his new ship and command.
Taking a deep breath, Quentius sighed and made his way out. He needed to sort things out, and considering he was at Palaven right now, he might as well as go visit his parents.
-000-
SPECTRE Corps HQ, The Citadel, July 31 2192.
"I'm telling you Wrex, something's up with the STG." Vasir said as she rounded the corner, following her comrade. "They've been holding back a lot of information lately… Well, more than usual at least."
Wrex grunted a little in acknowledgement as he opened the door to his quarters.
"I thought that was normal with them." Wrex replied as he dumped his rucksack and practically fell down onto his couch, Vasir dropped her own bag on his bed then dragged a chair from the study desk and settled it opposite of the couch before sitting down. "They've probably found out how the Turians have been getting them to chase their own quads these past few months, and are keeping the details quiet for now."
"If they did, my insider would have told me about it." Vasir said as she dug into her pocket and pulled out a protein bar.
"Since when did you have insiders?" Wrex asked, folding his arms.
"Since a few months ago! How did you think I knew about that Turian shadow raid in Nevos days before their force arrived?"
Wrex quietly sat there thinking, but just before he was about to answer Vasir cut him off.
"Don't you dare say 'my gut told me so', because we both know it's not."
Wrex just gave a shrug and chuckled as he got up and dragged his rucksack into his locker.
"Hey, it was worth a try." Wrex said taking a slab of dried meat from his locker before he closed it, then taking a huge bite out of it. "If something really is up, what do you think it is?"
"I can't say for certain, but it's likely to be game-changing. It might help end this war soon." Vasir said as she finished her protein bar. "On who's favor it'll end the war on is what I'm worried about though."
"You're afraid this might be another Rachni incident?"
"Yes." Vasir deadpanned.
Wrex entered a state of deep thought after this, clearly thinking of the implications of it.
"You're sure about this." Wrex stated more than asked.
After a short beat, and without even waiting for her confirmation Wrex opened his omni-tool and called his secretary. The call lasted less than a minute, afterwards he took his rucksack from his locker again. Vasir followed suit and took her bag own bag and followed him out.
"This better pay off Vasir, Bakara's going to be pissed that I'm not visiting soon."
Vasir just smirked and replied.
"Trust me, my gut told me as much."
-000-
SSV Sunlight Yellow, Above Shanxi, August 1 2192.
"So you're telling me that the son of an admiral -you- would willingly betray his own state, kill several of his own men, and leave behind all his family's glory, wealth, and status on the off chance that the very entity that they are at war at –us-, might help him?"
"Yeah." Dov'tok simply answered.
Kahoku sighed and rubbed his temples.
"Do you know what kind of political SNAFU you and your friends just dropped on me right now?"
"I don't know what a SNAFU is."
Kahoku groaned out has he emptied his mug of coffee into himself.
"Christ's sake man, even if I believed you –in which I don't- there's no way to prove that you did everything that you said you did."
Dov'tok leaned forward and placed his handcuffed hands above the table.
"What would convince you that I did all that I have mentioned?"
Kahoku paced around the interrogation table now, stroking his stubble covered chin.
"If you really are working with the Shanxi resistance, as you have claimed, their leaders will know of you. Am I correct in making that assumption?" Kahoku asked.
"It would depend on who you asked. I operated in the Qinq province, if you ask the rebels in Shaoji who I was, they wouldn't know." Dov'tok casually answered.
"That certainly complicates things. You do realize that our forces haven't reached Qing yet?"
"But they will in several days, will they not? In the eventuality that they do, make contact with the Qing cell, talk to the leader about our meeting here."
Dov'tok leaned back into a more relaxed position, signaling Kahoku that interrogation was all but over.
"Keep an eye on him." Kahoku said to the marines guarding the cell.
The admiral left the bland chamber and made his way to the Active Warfare and Control System center by the ship's bridge.
The ACI technicians and officers were busy routing commands and establishing connections to the dozens of resistance cells on Shanxi. Kahoku walked up to the officer in charge.
"Colonel Allistair, I thought you were attached to Drescher's ship." Kahoku said as he shook the man's hand.
"I wouldn't be doing much cooped up in the Jerusalem right now, Major Harper is taking over for me there."
"Glad to have you here either way." Kahoku said as he walked to the holo-table in the center of the room.
"The 99th and 46th Army Corps have already been deployed from the Libertalia and are reinforcing the front as we speak. Volter's 8th Marine Task Force is making his way to the Shaoji-Bei border region, General Isaiah's 16th is getting ready to cross the Guanxi strait, and General Tatsu's Corps has recently secured the city of Xibei." Allistair reported. "And if I may sir, how did your… interview with our guest go?"
"Like trying to dig out of Hell with a spoon. Guy's been cooperative enough, but he's being a huge prick about it." The admiral answered.
The ACI officer chuckled at that.
"He did ask for 'the highest ranking authority leading the liberation force', sir."
Kahoku snorted.
"Interrogations aren't my specialty; Grissom would have been more suited to it." Kahoku paused for a minute to asses the war map on display on the holo-table. "Which of our forces is closest to the Qing province?"
"That would be Volter's Task Force, why do you ask?"
"Our guest told me that his resistance contacts are located in Qing. General Williams was last operating out of that region when he was still in contact. My gut tells me that he's behind all of this." The admiral said as he highlighted the Qing province on the holotable.
"Would you like me to reroute Volter through Qing?" Allistair now asked.
"If he has the forces to spare, by all means. If he thinks that all 8 of his divisions are needed in the Bei region then have the 99th deal with it instead."
Kahoku now turned around and left the busy room. The day was still long, and he decided that a couple hours of rest would be good for his wellbeing.
-000-
Tykis Frontline Sector, Targora Thoraga , August 2, 2192.
Warmaster Okeer stood on a hill, surveying the battlefield. The Turian onslaught had been halted for the moment. Through blood, sweat, and battle his forces had grabbed the invading armies by the proverbial mandibles and dragged them into the ground along with his own forces. The Hierarchy's forces had lost all momentum and the frontline has stagnated. Neither his forces nor his rival, General Oraka, could break through the enemy's lines. This lack of action has lead to both forces digging in and beefing up defenses.
If he was going to be honest with himself, he was worried. He couldn't say what Oraka was thinking, but Okeer didn't think things were going well. Sure, they had halted the Turian advance, but settling into static warfare? Such warfare was practically unheard of in Krogan history. Even during the days when the automatic weapon was first discovered, the Krogan people fought a war of motion. Static, trench-based warfare was something his race encountered only once in a short and practically forgotten conlifct in Tuchanka's ancient years.
"Blood-brother!" another Krogan loudly exclaimed as he approached the Warmaster.
Okeer let out a hearty laugh and greeted his close friend.
"Urdnot Jarrod, good to see you again!" Okeer said has he butt heads with the old Urdnot commander.
"I rushed to the front with my Legions as soon as I could to reinforce your defense. The Turians aren't attacking anymore. What happened?" Jarrod asked as he climbed up onto a rock, raising his already considerable height.
"We have stopped them in their tracks my brother, but aren't able to push them back." Okeer said as he turned on his omni-tool to show Jarrod a simplified map of the battlefield. "Neither they nor we can manage a breakthrough at the moment. We lack sufficient supply lines and the numbers to do so. The VI program I have with me calculates we need to at a 6-to-1 odds battle, with our numbers outnumbering theirs to achieve a proper breakthrough and return to the war of motion."
"That would take months, if not an entire year to mass that much forces. The Turians will be massing their own troops as well" Jarrod said. "I don't believe we have the time."
"Why not?"
"The Asari are getting agitated. Matriarch Benezia and her ilk are gaining more and more support by the day. Armali and Serrice have already dropped their support for the war, Majesa and Dassus are threatening to drop support too if the death toll keeps the way it is." Jarrod paused for a second as if considering whether or not to divulge the next bit of information. "There's also word that Illium will soon be seceding from the Republics."
This piece of news wasn't exactly new to Okeer. He had expected for the Terminus Asari state to look forward to seceding from the Asari Republic Union, but he honestly didn't expect them to go after it so soon, especially with the war still in play.
"How… Unfortunate." Okeer said.
Artillery guns thundered in the distance behind them, tracers arced across the sky as they impacted their targets by the Turian's defensive lines.
The Turians replied with their own attacks blue arcs raced across no man's land and crashed onto Council's own lines. A massive counter-artillery battle began and threatened to drown out the two Krogan's voices.
A Turian artillery shell landed dangerously close to the hill they were at, and the two wisely chose to vacate the hill as the artillery guns escalated and intensified their attacks.
"If only the council would let us do what is necessary, we'd wipe the Turians off the face of the galaxy! They would be nothing but a memory, just like the Rachni." Jarrod said as he climbed into the Tomkah's troop compartment.
Okeer climbed up too and sat on the seat across his old friend.
"They will see reason soon Jarrod." Okeer gritted out.
The Tomkah drove away as the hill soon became saturated by artillery strikes. The armored vehicle continued driving deep into friendly territory where it dropped Okeer and Jarrod by the Frontline Central Bunker.
Entering the bunker, the two Krogans were greeted by a Salarian.
"Warmaster Okeer, Battlemaster Jarrod, timely of you to arrive." The STG colonel attached to Okeer's army said. "I was about to call you two for an emergency meeting, this way please."
The two Krogans followed the Salarian to the central chamber in the bunker. Inside they find more officers assigned to the Tykis Sector.
They all took their seats and the STG colonel began the meeting.
"As we've all noticed, current war progress on this planet has stagnated. Disconcerting as it is, the situation is a definite improvement over losing massive amounts of ground and soldiers each day."
A snort from one of the Krogans was heard.
"At Tykis Sector alone, casualties are at several thousand per day before we ceased all offensive operations. Scouts and cyberwarfare teams have reported that the Turians are at the very least suffering similar amounts of losses, though with how bad they've been getting at us information wise lately, I can't guarantee that it's accurate."
A holographic map projected from the center of the meeting table. The frontline of their operating sector was displayed, with the Turian controlled region colored in red, and theirs in blue. Shapes and figures showed where known Turian and Council units were located. Okeer began taking notes on all the extra information he didn't have earlier as he sincerely believed that he would need every single scrap of data available to win this campaign.
A long and bloody fight was coming for them, and Okeer's army was going to be right in the eye of the storm.
-000-
A/N:
Update March 31: Fixed an error in the chronology.
Lo and behold! I have returned. This one lacks in action because I have to set up some stuff. I'm thinking of going on a short detour on the Council front for the next few chapters and the politics, fighting, as well as the scheming between the Alliance and the Batarians are going to take a back seat for a while. I know that I didn't feature the Turian v Council part of the story enough despite the fact that it's what is literally the story summary started off with. I realize that this may have misled some readers, so I will be taking some steps to try and rectify that.
The planet that I will be using on this section, Targora Thoraga (it was actually a typo I made a couple chapters back but I figured it sounded alien enough so what the heck), is one I made up completely. It is not a part of Mass Effect canon, and is my original content.
For those of you who understand the terms used on the last section of this chapter, you will need no explanations, but for those of you who don't: the battle of Targora Thoraga will be very similar to fighting during World War 1. Descriptions of strategy and tactics will mirror those used during the 'War to end all Wars' in that both sides are somewhat inexperienced in it, and that it will be quite bloody. I hope to be able to justify the M rating in the next few chapters, where we (hopefully) dive straight into the mud, blood, and guts that is modern war.
Be sure to point out any errors I made grammatically, also specify where and what kind of error it is so that I may fix it.
Also, I will probably switch to a less episodic(?) title style.
Anyways, thanks for waiting guys, and thanks for reading this chapter.
Leave a review of what you think about the story, or PM me if you feel like it. Thanks again, and enjoy the rest of your day.