Culdar City, Anhur, September 30, 2192.
Anhur had just been relieved of Turian siege a mere few months ago. With the expulsion of the Hierarchy forces from Anhur, the Joint Citadel Fleet taskforce was recalled for other efforts in other fronts. With such damage and a practically nonexistent reconstruction effort, the planet's populace had begun boiling.
Dov'tok and his Turncoats stalked the shadowy alleys of the massive city. Their mission was to cripple the Hegemony's hold on the planet, and eventually kick off the rebellion against the Batarian elites. Right now, their movements were being masked by massive amounts of slave riots going on around the city's lower caste sector. Riots that Dov'tok and his Turncoats instigated.
The Turncoats were actually fairly popular among the slaves. But they were only spoken of in hushed tones and whispers, as any mention of them by the slaves could result in harsh punishments. Dov'tok and his allies were counting on this when they take down the consolidated military network; the same network that the slave's shock collars were all wired to. He never understood the reasoning behind that, but he thanked Syorta that the Hegemony was dumb enough to connect all the slave collars to it; it made his job a hell of a lot easier after all. Using the riots as a distraction, Dov'tok and his Turncoats eventually made it to the city's military base, one which held a Ra'aksorgat Garrison. The Ra'aksorgat, which roughly translates to slave army in English, were essentially a horde controlled using some very invasive cybernetics shoved into the subject's spine and connected to the nervous system. The Batarians that thought of the idea believing that the slaves would be motivated into doing anything just to stop the pain.
'We'll see what happens when we set them loose then.' Dov'tok mused.
The Turncoats scaled the wall and snuck into the barracks, blending in with the soldiers inside. With all the chaos happening all over the city, the military was being overwhelmed. This was a good thing, as it gave Dov'tok less people to deal with. They approached the base's control room and found it unguarded and proceeded to storm in. The Batarian loyalists inside didn't have enough time to react and were dispatched very quickly. The Turncoat's computer technician sat down on one of the terminals and accessed the system.
"Well, looks like that worm program we uploaded into the network back in Shanxi is still here." He said. "All I need to do is insert this line of code and…"
A loud alarm sounded throughout the base, and an alert was sent to every single Batarian soldier on duty at the time.
"Alert: Slave Suppression systems disabled" many soldiers would read.
Simultaneously, shock collars not only in Caldur City but also all over Anhur started deactivating themselves, unlocking and falling to the ground with a clatter.
"Glad those idiots didn't realize someone would use the network against them." Dov'tok commented. "Time to make our exit." The Turncoats discreetly left the control center before anyone realized what was going on.
The riots and chaos escalated when the slaves realized they were now free. Gunshots were heard from every corner of the city, and unfortunately for the loyalists, not all of them were Hegemony forces. The Turncoats, still disguised as Batarian soldiers, made their way towards the armory, whose guards were conveniently already dismissed. They carted with them several crates of weapons and took it to a shuttle. They escaped before anybody could do anything effective to stop them.
In the shuttle, the technician activated his omni-tool and activated the worm program again, this time opening the Ra'ak holding cells, and painting every Batarian wearing armor or uniform as their targets.
Dov'tok could barely hear the screams of terror as the horde began tearing apart the loyalists endlessly. With that, the Turncoat officer opened his omni tool and called.
"Colonel Cathka, phase one is complete, next part is up to you."
Far away, in a Cruiser of his own command, Cathka acknowledged.
"Good work Dov'tok, you've done us proud." The Colonel said.
He nodded at the ship's captain, who then sent out encrypted messages to all the other ships. Those who had the cypher with them understood the message.
It was time.
A Batarian battlegroup had been assigned to Anhur under the guise of securing the Terminus border which the Turians had used previously to attack the planet. In reality, it was to try and contain the riot-turned-uprising. Cathka had managed to pull a lot of strings and got a lot of his men onto the assignment. At that moment, some thirty-odd ships turned against the loyalists ships, one of which being a Batarian dreadnought. The four cruisers closest to the dreadnought aimed their broadside cannons and began bombarding the one kilometer long ship. The dreadnought, was unprepared and therefor did not have its shields prepared. The cruisers kept bombarding the dreadnought, and what little fire that the dreadnought could dish out back was blocked by the cruiser's own shields. The Turncoat ships lacked the firepower to completely destroy a dreadnought so they settled for crippling, then ramming it into Anhur's gravity well. The massive ship, one of the Hegemony's six dreadnoughts began to burn up in atmosphere where it shattered and exploded in a blaze of fire. Further subduing of the battlegroup proved unnecessary, as most of the lesser ships forfeit the fight as soon as the dreadnought was taken out of the picture. Many of the previously loyalist ships and crew, in an act of self-preservation, defected to the Turncoats.
With the Batarian navy in the system taken care of, the Turncoats seized control of planetary communications and broadcasted a message.
"Comrades-at-arms, this is Colonel Cathka, one of the leaders of the Free Batarian Front! Today marks a change in the course of our collective history. No longer must we toil alone without assistance. Beyond our territories, allies more powerful than the Hegemony move to bring justice to the tyrants who have oppressed us for so long. Today, no longer will the rest of the galaxy watch idly from the sidelines as we march towards our freedom, we are not alone!"
This rallying cry helped to boost morale of the rebels on the ground, now with Turncoats showing up and helping to guide the revolting Batarians. The riots had stopped being chaotic acts of violence, but had become an organized act of revolution.
The Batarian Civil war had begun.
-000-
The Silver Office, Arcturus Station, October 1, 2192.
Trade talks have… stagnated to say the least. This stagnation, in combination with Fedorian's rather impatient and impulsive nature, has led to some rather heated disputes between the President and the Primarch. Eventually, Ambassador Nyx persuaded the Primarch to take a tour of the station's many attractions as opposed to arguing further with the President. In his absence the Ambassador would take over negotiations.
"You'll have to excuse the Primarch's impatience. The Hierarchy is in some rather dire straits at the moment. He feels as if he has to shoulder the entire weight by himself, despite his staff being there to support him." The Ambassador said.
The Alliance Vice-President, Nabwana, nodded in return.
"Quite. President Harper has similar issues. He feels deeply responsible for the loss of Shanxi last year. He largely blames himself." The Vice-President explained. "The man feels like he's in over his head, and that the solution to the problems is for him to triple his own efforts. Can't say it's been very healthy for him."
"Seriously speaking though, we have a lot of Eezo to spare. The Turvessi moon is a surprisingly rich source for it." Nyx brought up, trying to bring the subject back to the arms deal."
"Trust me, both the President and I want to agree, but Congress is skeptical. On paper we have a capable military, but in reality it's not enough to fully protect our systems yet. To deal with the Batarians? More than enough, given the numbers we now have. To hold off the rest of the Allied Races? We have neither the tech, nor the numbers." Nabwana told the Ambassador.
"That's why you're inciting civil war in the Hegemony, isn't it. You need friends."
"The good Admiral prefers the term Proxy. If all goes according to plan, we'll be able to leverage the Batarians to lease us several mines in their territory which will help boost production heavily. Hell, we might be able to provide a rifle for everyone above 16, if the numbers hold up."
"Here I was thinking Humans didn't enjoy war." Nyx joked lightly.
"No, it's just the Americans." Nabwana jokingly replied. "We don't necessarily enjoy war; we love our comforts more than I would believe is healthy for our civilization. But, we won't die off if we don't have them. We'll live without creature comforts, as long as it's justified. It seems that we're quite different from these… Atari."
"Asari." Nyx corrected.
"Right, the blue people." Nabwana said.
"Well, the Asari certainly love their often luxurious lifestyle. It's probably the only reason why they're still not in full mobilization, by our standards at least." The Ambassador explained about them. "Despite their massive economy, less than a fifth of it is being contributed into the war. That is by no means a small contribution however; A fifth of 980 Trillion credits is still a magnificently large number."
The Ambassador took a pause as he drank from the class of purified water the VP had provided him.
"Honestly, the only reason we're still in the fight is because the Asari despise massive, lengthy, and costly wars." He then continued.
"That explains why they were so eager to bring in the Krovers to war."
"Krogans." Nyx corrected once more.
"Yes, the dinosaurs." Nabwana joked again.
The VP seemed to go into a deep thought for a moment, before coming up with an idea.
"You know, have you ever thought of getting into bed with your enemy?" Nabwana suggested.
"Excuse me?"
"From the data that you've given us, along with your own comments and remarks, it seems that the Asari will be the first to 'break' so to speak." The VP elaborated. "If you supported their anti-war campaigners, align your propaganda and media efforts to make them seem like the good guys, it might pull the Asari economy further from the war and…"
"… drastically change the balance of power! Why didn't I think of this beforehand?" Nyx said, seemingly dumbfounded by himself.
"Perhaps you Turians need to start looking at things from a different perspective?" Nabwana then said.
"I… Yes, I think… I think we should." The Ambassador shakily said. "I think I should bring it up to the Primarch immediately. I believe he would be interested in hearing this."
The Turian stood up, shook the VP's hand quickly, and then left the room. Nabwana let out a small chuckle before pulling out his phone and calling the President.
"Harper, I think I might be on to something with the Turians. If we play this correctly, our standing with most of the galaxy is going to be rock solid." He said to his commander-in-chief.
"Alright, we'll discuss it later during lunch. IF it's as good as you think it is we'll be securing leverage for the Alliance for a lifetime." The president said over the line. Nabwana then cut the call and told his secretary to reschedule several meetings over the next few weeks. He was going to have to work overtime to make sure it goes smoothly.
-000-
The Citadel, October 7.
With his ship docking in the Citadel, Jarth and his bodyguards departed the ship and headed for the Citadel embassies on a shuttle. Of the eight guards he had with him, three were Alliance N7 operators. One of these operators was busy admiring the station.
"Christ, that's massive." One of them said.
"You'll get used to it." Jarth said as he straightened his clothes.
As the shuttle reached the embassy quarters, the N7 operators put on their helmets and activated the sound suppression system. Nobody could hear the Humans talk inside their helmets besides the people who were connected to their network. All of Jarth's guards were wearing the generic armor Batarian guards were used, though the arm section was modified slightly so that it would be more comfortable on a Human.
"Remember lads, try to act like we're one the four-eyes." The team leader said.
Near the entrance to the Batarian embassy, Jarth the elder was waiting.
"Father." The younger Jarth greeted.
"Son." The father returned before continuing. "I've already stalled the Council as long as I can. Jath'amon has been called to speak next session, and I'm not sure how much longer I can keep them busy with the mining license requests. Where is Ambassador Goyle?"
"She is still considering on whether or not she should be making an appearance later. On the other hand, Moth'omar said he has his speech ready now. We should enter the Council session and control the narrative before the Chairmen's Ambassador seizes control. 'Beat them to the punch' as the Humans say." Jarth the younger explained.
"Very well, I assume some of your guards are Humans?" the three N7 operators nodded in response. "Good, pay close attention and record what you can. If you can transmit this to your Ambassador, that is even better. She needs to see firsthand how ineffective and slimy the Councilors really are." The Father then said.
As he finished that, Jath'amon exited his office and made his way into the Council chambers with his own guards. The Jarths followed suit, where they then met the Free Batarian representative, Moth'omar.
Unlike the Jarths, Moth'omar had always disliked slavery. His was the first company to fully modernize. Though working conditions are still dangerously poor, lower caste workers who even managed to get into the company can rest assure that they will be taken care of, relatively speaking. Moth's already public progressive leanings made him the perfect candidate to be the face of the Free Batarian Movement.
"You're late." Moth'omar said as the group entered the chambers.
"We took the scenic route." The younger Jarth jokingly replied. The joke flew straight over the representative's head.
"We're losing the initiative as we speak. I was hoping to be able to discuss this further with you, inflate the situation with dramatic effect. It seems I'll have to ditch that plan." Moth'omar said as they took their seats.
Jath'amon, paranoid as he was, began looking over Moth's posse with strange looks, but brushed it off as more corporate lobbying.
"Emergency session on the 18th day of the 6th Citadel month has now started. First topic of discussion is the suspicious nature of recent Batarian ship movements." An Asari said.
Jarth the Younger leaned towards one of the N7 operators and whispered to him.
"That's Tevos Yori, the Asari Councilor. She's shrewd, cunning, and diplomatically talented, but lacks confidence in her actions if she doesn't have backing from her colleagues." He said as the operators nodded along.
"The Council calls upon Hegemony Ambassador to the Citadel Jath'amon to step forward." Tevos continued.
Jath'amon stood from his seat and walked to the petitioner's stage.
"Ambassador Jath'amon, the Council and the Joint Citadel Fleets have been receiving reports of unexplained fleet movements. Your actions are in direct contradiction to the objectives the JCF has given your navy. You have held more ships than needed over Anhur, which directly undermines the war effort on the Batarian front. What is your explanation for this?" The Krogan Councilor said.
"That's Gatatog Yorgal, the Krogan Councilor. He's who you call the Council's muscle. If you need politicians to be threatened, he's the most convincing one to pull it off." Jarth then explained quietly.
On the podium, Jath'amon cleared his throat as he began to speak.
"Esteemed Councilors, on behalf of the Chairmen of the Hegemony, I assure you that nothing of major importance is transpiring that would compromise the war effort's second front. Battlefleet Vanau was moved to Anhur in order to secure the border with the Turians, in the absence of the Joint Citadel Fleet."
"Is that so?" the Salarian councilor now asked.
Once again, the young Jarth explained to the operators who the councilor was.
"That's Toraph Linron, the Salarian councilor. He's quick witted, and always has tricks to play against his political enemies. He used to be STG so he has a lot of connections in the Intelligence community; in fact he's used that in his political dealings plenty of times. It's a rare sight when something eludes his watch."
"The reports we have said otherwise. Does the organization named the Free Batarian Front strike a memory for you?" Toraph questioned.
"A fringe organization, they have tried a terror attack on Anhur some days ago to strike civil unrest. We can assure you that nothing major has happened." The Ambassador lied again.
"Except that's not true, is it?" Tevos now spoke. She brought up footage on the holo-projector, specifically, one of the Turncoats destroying the Batarian Dreadnought. "That's one out of 6 Dreadnoughts lost to fringe rebels was it? I don't think the loss of one of three functional Dreadnoughts counts as 'nothing major'." She said, driving the point.
"Damn, she's good." One of the operators commented.
"And what of this organization's announcements? Specifically the ones that mention and I quote: 'allies more powerful than the Hegemony move to bring justice to the tyrants who have oppressed us for so long'. The only foreign influencer capable of doing such actions is the Turian Hierarchy. Does this mean that the Hegemony has been compromised?" She continued.
"No, esteemed Councilor, the Hegemony is not compromised by the Hierarchy, and the Hegemony is most definitely not in any danger to these radicals!" the Ambassador exclaimed.
Yorgal now spoke.
"So everything is under control then?"
"Yes councilor." the Batarian replied.
"So fringe rebels destroying your dreadnoughts and taking over your battlefleets are not major hindrances to your war effort?" he asked again.
"Yes councilor." He replied again, this time stressing the yes.
"So the Joint Citadel Fleet will not need to intervene and stop these rebels?"
"Most definitely yes, councilor." The Batarian replied.
"*wheeze* Then I suppose it shouldn't be too much of a bother *wheeze* to send a pair of SPECTRE agents to make sure all is as said, if you're telling the truth?" the Volus Councilor sneakily said.
"Completely forgot he existed." Jarth whispered to the operators. "That's Bola Fore, the Volus Councilor. Honestly, he's like the child in the group. Nobody really takes him seriously unless it's an economic matter.
"No, no, that will not be necessary." Jath'amon quickly rebuked the suggestion.
"Why not? Is there something you wish to hide, Ambassador?" Toraph now questioned.
"No, esteemed councilors, I believe that the agents have better use for their resources than investigating dead ends and minor conflicts in Hegemony space." The Batarian now tried to convince the Councilors.
"Are you sure?" Tevos asked, stretching out the last word.
"Yes, councilor, most definitely." The Batarian, clearly tired of the Council's game, said.
"Alright then. You are dismissed Ambassador." Tevos finally said after a pause.
Jath'amon visibly let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as he walked over to his seat. He believed that most of his problems for the day were over.
"The Council now calls *wheeze* Moth'omar of the Batarian Trade Federation to step forward." Bola now called.
"Wish me luck." Moth said as he stood up and walked to the petitioner's stage.
As he arrived on the stage, the Councilors spoke.
"Moth'omar, you requested to speak here because of 'a geopolitical event which must not be ignored' though I fail to see what a Batarian business consortium could find that would bring the need for such a claim."
This clearly shook the Batarian ambassador. His paranoia flared as there was only one major geopolitical event happening within Hegemony space, and he had just spent the last few minutes denying it.
"That is, esteemed councilors, because the good ambassador Jath'amon has been lying through straight to your collective faces for the past several minutes!" Moth'omar boldly proclaimed. The ambassador in question had nearly jumped in his seat, and the council looked almost shaken.
"Clarify." Yorgal simply demanded.
"I believe it is fair to say that every individual in this room is aware that I hold some 30% of the entire Batarian economy. Less will remember that I am very much opposed to slavery." Moth began explaining. "Simply put, the Hegemony has no place dictating the lives of an entire species with such a backwards system of government. The Batarian race lives not under a Hegemony, but a Tyrannical Oligarchy!"
"Impossible!" Jath'amon burst out furiously.
"What do you mean, impossible? Everything that I will bring forward here has definitely, without a single speck of doubt, happened. Anhur, following the Turian siege has, and forgive my lack of civil words, become fed up with the Chairmen's varrenshit. For years the leaders of the Hegemony ruled over its people with its corrupt and filthy iron fist. One must only look at the recent campaigns held by the Hegemony, as well as those unofficial." Moth said, emphasizing on the last word.
"So *wheeze* why are you here, Moth'omar?" Bola asked.
"Simply put, I have been tasked to speak on behalf of the Free Batarians, and our first public statement, is that we choose not to recognize, neither acknowledge the sovereignty of the Chairmen of the Hegemony, and Khar'shan."
"This is a surprise." Toraph understated.
"If you've been paying attention to the Hegemony's internal policies for the past 2 decades, this wouldn't be. The Hegemony was already rotting away. It's about time we put it down."
"Once again *wheeze* what do you want?" Bola asked.
"We want recognition as a sovereign state." Moth'omar said. He was about to expand on that when Jath'amon cut him off.
"No, that is illegal!"
"Why? What is your justification?" Tevos asked.
"The Free Batarian Front is a terrorist group which uses violence and chaos to spread their goals. If the council chooses to recognize their sovereignty over Anhur, it would be a direct violation of the Citadel Charter. Every race has its right to self-govern, as is written in the 3rd clause and our self-governance puts us at odds with this terror group."
"The Free Batarians of Anhur wish to exercise such right. We have been crushed under the boots of the Chairmen for centuries now; we deserve our right for freedom!" Moth argued.
"This is troubling." Tevos said as she contemplated the galactic laws. "By all means, the Batarian people already practices the 3rd clause. Slavery is legal in Hegemony space, and therefor they have not broken any clauses in the Charter."
"So the Asari, the oldest democracy in the living galaxy, is unwilling to stand for freedom and liberty?" Moth'omar now challenged the council.
"No." Tevos defended herself. "What I am saying, is that this kind of issue has never been covered by any Citadel law. In fact, it is also arguable that it is the Free Batarians that is committing the illegal acts, if we were to observe Hegemony law."
"So it is settled then. The Free Batarians of Anhur should be branded an illegitimate state!" Jath quickly threw in.
"If such is the decision, then perhaps we'll throw our lot in with the Turians. At least as one of their Dominions, we are viewed as equals." Moth then said putting forward an idea many in the chamber find appaling. "I'd imagine that Grand Marshall Kandros would be elated to have a forward operating base in the Terminus. Imagine her getting cozy with the different warlords out there."
"You wouldn't dare." Jath'amon grit out.
"Why wouldn't I?" Moth replied. "I see now that the Council's talk of 'freedom' and 'self-determination' is farce which is used merely only when it suits their goals."
Moth'omar stepped away from the stage as he turned his back to the Council. As he began making his towards the chamber exit, a loud voice called him.
"Representative Moth, wait." Yorgal loudly called. An uneasy silence fell as the Batarian business magnate stopped in his tracks. "We mustn't quickly jump into ill thought plans."
Moth turned around to face the Council once more. He walked towards the petitioner's stage once more.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Seeing that neither side will be willing to settle this peacefully, I propose an… unorthodox solution." Yorgal said. "During my studies of ancient Krogan law, there was a sentencing which roughly translates to 'Trial of the Right'."
"What is this sentencing, exactly?" Jath'amon asked.
"Basically put, when during trial, if no side can be proven guilty or innocent, combat will be used to determine those who is truly right. I propose that both sides settle this issue, independently of the Council body. The Council will not intervene in your conflict, but will support whatever is the final result."
Moth'omar thought of the implications of such a ruling.
"You mean that you will recognize our legitimacy in the event that we defeat the Hegemony?"
"Or condemn your actions as illegal, in the event that you fail." Yorgal said with an air of finality. "The ruling is made under the assumption that the winner is right. After all, if you are in the right, your people will support you, no?"
Jath'amon was pissed at this; no doubt he was expecting the Council to back him up completely.
"Fine then, we'll wipe the galaxy of your ilk!" Jath then cursed out at Moth, stomping out of the chambers with his guards in tow.
"*wheeze* you are all dismissed." Bola then told the rest of them.
-000-
Event Log Update:
The Hierachy: besieges four new systems by the end of the week, occupies one. Covertly ships 18 tons of armaments to Anhur.
The Free Batarian Republic: declares war on Batarian Hegemony.
Batarian Hegemony: leaves the Citadel Allied Races.
Citadel Allied Races: war support drops by 1%, liberates two planets successfully.
United Krogan Federation: deploys Super Heavy DreadnoughtFSV Ukarn.
Asari Republics: TheRepublic of Somarispulls out of the war effort. Dreadnought ASV Blue Thessia pulled out of active service for repair and refitting.
Systems Alliance: parliament passes limited conscription law, also approves limited usage of WMDs. Navy deploys new Spacecraft Carrier SSV Hornet. Universal Memorial Day held at beginning of week.
Hanar Primacy: deters invading Hierarchy Fleet, Hanar battlegroup crippled for foreseeable future, loses sole Dreadnought.
Salarian Union: unveils advanced cyberwarfare VI to combat Hierarchy cryptologic systems.
Dominion of Rakhana: minor uprisingput down by local forces.
Dominion of Dekuuna: begins construction on new Landcruiser project.
Dominion of Heshtok: project to extend Vorcha life expectancy achieves unexpected breakthrough.
A/N:
And that's pretty much it for today! It's been pretty hectic lately, and that's not considering that I'm going to start university soon *shudders*
So, expect updates to slow to an absolute crawl starting next the middle of month, I doubt I'd have a lot of free time to work on this when I start studying again.
So, the event log is for things that I kinda wanted to mention on news updates, but can't find the time to write out full paragraphs for it. Minor happenings or little tidbits that don't really affect the main story too much will be placed on event logs. Big, galaxy shaking events will pretty much still be in Galactic News Update, so the event log is really just background noise, most of the time.
We're getting closer to the Council/Human first contact. It'll happen soon folks. Hopefully before I start university, but I digress. My response to a few who have asked 'why neutrality?' is that Humanity's beef is only with the Batarians. Kind of like China in world war 2. They technically were only at war with the Japanese, and were quite uninvolved in every other front. Will the Alliance join in on the galactic scale mess? Most likely. We'll have to see how that plays out in the future.
Right, and minor sidenote, I'm kinda in the market for a new cover for the story. I'll probably make one myself given some free time, but if you want to submit one or give suggestions and the likes of it that's fine by me.
Anyways guys, leave a review or PM me your thoughts, feedback is always nice.
As thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your day.