"That Which Remains"

Council Private Chambers, The Citadel, August 8, 2193

"*wheeze* The invasion was an utter disaster."

"That, is a severe understatement." Toraph commented, though he did not say anything more.

"The Humans have caught us off guard. They're stronger than we thought they were." Yorgal rumbled out. "What matters now is how we move forward."

"I concur with Yorgal." Tevos said. "How do we proceed?"

"First, we'll need to address the most important issues we can handle." Toraph then spoke. "We won't be able to muster enough forces to launch another incursion into Human space for the time being, especially with the Turians pressing us on multiple fronts. There's no other choice than to bunker down on our side of the relay and expect a counterattack."

"That seems to be correct, yes. *wheeze* A severe defeat like this will shake morale if not handled properly. The flow of information must be controlled."

"It'll be tough, but I have contacts with some powerful media Matriarchs who own major stakes in news and extranet social media. I'll see if I can convince them to deploy a VI that will auto-moderate mentions of our defeat in the Human colony."

"Good call... with Asari morale buckling, we may need to tighten our grip on information flow." Yorgal then said.

"What else can we do to stop more Asari Republics from pulling out from the war?" Toraph now asked.

"I've been asking for one too many favors with the Matriarchs as of late." Tevos then shook her head. "One of you will have to try something. I need to make good on some promises first."

"*wheeze* Such as?"

"The Asari enclave within Turian territory, Nevos. Matriarch Samune and several members of her clique wants it reintegrated into the Republics."

"Matriarch Samune the war industrialist?" Toraph asked again.

"That's the one." Tevos sighed. "If we reintegrate Nevos back into the Republics, and if we award Samune and her clique development contracts, they're willing to sell war material for lower prices."

"Very well *wheeze, I'll contact some of my contacts and see what I can do for the Republics." Bola said. "*wheeze* will that be all?"

"There is one more thing." Toraph answered. "The Fleetmaster of the invasion fleet. He is a Patriarch of clan Gatatog. Councilor Yorgal, what do you think we should do with him?"1

"Karath has disgraced the Gatatog name with his failure." Yorgal said again with a low rumble. "Make an example out of him."

-000-

JCF Headquarters, The Citadel, August 9, 2193

"And so, you made the decision to withdraw from the Human colony, because you were taken by surprise by the enemy?" A Salarian JCF Admiral asked.

"I made the decision to withdraw when I realized there was no realistic way to win the battle." Karath defended himself. "It's as I have written on my report. An attempt to engage the Human Dreadnought fleet would have weakened my fleet enough to the point the strike craft could pick my ships off. An attempt to seek out the source of the strike craft will leave the ground force without orbital support. Splitting the fleet to try and tackle both will see the fleet defeated in detail. Doing nothing will give the Humans the initiative. A strategic withdrawal was the only option that would save as many lives as possible."

"And yet lives were still lost because of your actions." An Asari Matriarch now spoke. "A fourth of the ground forces were left on the Human colony because of your rushed evacuation. It will take considerable time before we can muster another invasion fleet to attack Human territory. Those soldiers you left are as good as dead."

"I had the choice of losing a quarter of the ground forces, or lose all of them and the fleet!" Karath responded. "A decision had to be made before the Humans could seize the initiative!"

"Yes, yes, a decision had to be made." The Salarian admiral spoke again. "Please explain the leap of logic behind the decision to carry out orbital bombardment against the Human Colony?"

"And did you not consider that the withdrawal from Human space would cede the initiative to them on a strategic level?" A Krogan Warmaster now spoke. "Until we can rally together enough forces on the Human front, we are now on the defensive."

"Which is exactly why I withdrew the fleet in the first place!" Karath spoke again, struggling to keep his voice calm and level. "The loss of an entire fleet would have forced us to redeploy fleets from the Turian front, which is something we cannot afford. With the colony devastated, the Humans will be preoccupied with relief efforts, giving us time to shore up our defenses. Moreover, the forces that withdrew now have a wealth of experience on how to fight the Humans. Staying and dying would mean that we would have to relearn all of that through avoidable bloodshed."

"Your forces were not expected to stay and die, Fleetmaster." The Asari Matriarch spoke again. "The concern rises in whether or not it was wise to rush the evacuation so soon. Had you held on and contacted Headquarters before hand, reserve JCF forces could have been deployed to reinforce you. Your fleet would have suffered more short term losses, but the overall strategic initiative would have remained in our hands. The sacrifices would have been worth it."

Karath grit his teeth and clenched his fist. The JCF Tribunal was dead set on punishing him for saving the lives of his subordinates. It would seem that there is nothing he could say that would sway their thoughts.

The Fleetmaster stood chose not to respond any further. It was now abundantly clear where this session was going.

"Given our technological advantage, reinforcements from a reserve force realistically could have given us an outcome that is to our advantage." The Salarian Admiral now continued. "How this eluded your mind during consideration, leads the tribunal to the conclusion that you are unable to act and react properly in situations of intense pressure."

"As such, it is the Tribunal's decision to reassign you from the 18th fleet, effective immediately." The Krogan Warmaster concluded. "A more qualified officer will take your place as replacement. You will be assigned to the reserve listing in the meanwhile."

The reserve listing. Where an officer's career went to die. With the war at full swing, all reserve officers have been recalled into active duty in one way, shape, or form. The listing has since evolved into an unofficial means of punishment. Some officers are simply too important or influential to be punished like the grunts or line officers. So they are sent to the reserve list to kill their careers instead. This was a sign of incredible shame for an officer, especially if that officer is a Krogan.

"The session is concluded and dismissed." The Asari Matriarch finalized.

Karath kept it all in has he turned around and left the hearing room. He wanted to shout, yell, lash out somehow... but he did not. He was better than that.

As he exited the room, he was greeted by a dozen or so JCF officers of various different races. The now former Fleetmaster recognized them all individually. They were officers that had served under him during the invasion.

"Fleetmaster Karath!" A Krogan Shipmaster greeted as he saluted. Karath noted that the rest also saluted him. "What was the result of the tribunal?"

"Well, first of all, you can't call me Fleetmaster anymore." Karath answered, his voice low and almost deflated. "Now I am Gatatog Karath, disgraced Patriarch of the Gatatog Clan."

"No sir, you'll always be our Fleetmaster!" A Salarian said, shaking his head.

"I can't believe they're removing you from your command?!" An Asari officer now spoke. "You saved the lives of many soldiers and sailors!"

"That's not how the Tribunal saw it." Karath sighed. "They're of the opinion that I have single handedly derailed the plan to force the Humans back into the negotiating table and remove them from the war."

"And that's supposed to be worth the lives of hundreds of thousands of sailors and soldiers?" Another Krogan officer asked. Karath recognized him as one of the communications officer in the Maw Hammer. "We're not even certain the plan will work! They're gambling lives for a plan that might not even work!"

"They clearly think it's worth it." Karath shook his head. "Either ways, the Tribunal has made their decision."

"That's not fair!" Another Krogan officer said. "Those pyjaks are just looking for a way to shift all the blame to someone else!"

"Maybe... maybe... but the decision has been made... I'm sorry to have failed you." Karath sighed out.

"No sir, it was an honor to serve with you, sir." The Asari officer said.

"The honor was all mine." The former Fleetmaster replied. "My only regret is that I could not lead you to victory."

With those final words, the disgraced Krogan Patriarch excused himself from his former subordinates and left the JCF Headquarters. He would have to live with the shadow of his punishment for the rest of his life...

Unfortunately for him, Krogans live very, very long lives.

-000-

The Silver Office, Arcturus Station, August 12, 2193

"Donald, you need to get some rest." Nabwana said, passing a cup of tea to his friend and running mate. "Obsessing over the reports like this won't do you any favors. You've been at this for over two weeks at this point."

"They leveled one of our Colonies, dammit." Harper retorted, eyes still locked to his screen. "I need to know how much damage was done, and what can we do in response."

The Vice-President shook his head and sighed. He looked over behind him at the pillow and blankets sitting on the office couch. Harper was being too hard on himself. There really was nothing he could have done... but Harper didn't care. He had the weight of the entire Human civilization on his back, and it was starting to cause him to crack. He fidgeted with the datapad he was supposed to deliver to the President for a moment before sliding it onto Harper's desk.

"Grissom asked me to give this to you." Nabwana said as he passed the device. "I haven't taken a peak at it, thought the President should see it first."

"What is it?" Harper asked without even looking away from his monitor.

"Some kind of document that Grissom is asking you to approve. I haven't looked at it at all, so if you want to find out, you're going to have to open it first."

Harper side eyed Nabwana for a moment, before finally taking the datapad and opening it.

Nabwana watched as the President very, very quickly skimmed through the document before signing it equally as fast. The Vice-President raised an eyebrow as Harper quietly passed the datapad back to him and went back to eyeing his monitor. Now curious as to what exactly was in the datapad. Nabwana scrolled back up through at least a dozen different pages from the signature line before arriving at the title page. When the Vice-President read the title, it was only then that he understood why Harper was so quick to approve.

Gamma Weaponry Deployment Plan

Harper just signed off on the use of the Alliance's growing arsenal of perfected Gamma Nuclear bombs. The weapon's development was completed shortly before the war with the Batarians, but being a mostly defensive war fought in Alliance territory, Congress was hesitant to allow its deployment for the longest time. It was only now that they were on the offensive that the steadily growing stock of WMDs could be unleeashed. Nabwana thought about how destructive and dangerous the prolific use of such weapons would be... but couldn't bring himself to disagree with its deployment. The Xenos had escalated it first by devastating New Cyrene... this would merely be the Alliance hitting back with equal force.

The Vice-President locked the datapad and tucked it under his arm.

"I'll bring this to Grissom right away." He said with a small nod.

"Thank you, Godfrey." Harper gave a quick, curt nod in return.

Nabwana left the President's office and quickly headed towards the AFCOM HQ a few streets down.

It's time for Humanity to really show the galaxy that messing with them was going to have harsh, harsh, consequences.

-000-

Marathon City, Mars, August 17, 2193

Eva sighed as she went through the documents on the dining room table. Requests from both the Army and the Marines to check and recheck the Powered Armor and Hardsuits for radiation insulation. Cydonia Mechanics have been up to their necks with the whole situation. Being the biggest supplier of Powered Armor and Combat Hardsuits, Eva and company have been working over tome to make sure the Alliance's new Gamma Warfare combat doctrine can work without a hitch. After all, it would be utterly disastrous if their troops all died from radiation poisoning. Granted, the fallout from these Gamma bombs should dissipate very quickly, but it pays to be prepared.

To these ends, Eva took her work home with her and commandeered the dining room for her work. Her regular desk simply did not have enough space for all the datapads, paper documents, her computer, as well as her food. She was so engrossed in her work, she didn't feel the presence of a man slowly approaching her from behind until his hands were around her and his voice was right on her ear.

"And you call me a slob when my desk is a bit messy." She heard the man speak.

Eva let out a loud yelp and whirled around to meet the perpetrator, only to come face to face with her longtime boyfriend.

"Jack!" She yelled out, still half surprised. "Don't scare me like that!"

Harper replied with a smug grin before pulling away.

"When did you get back?" She now asked, having calmed down.

"A couple hours ago." He said, picking up a paper bag he had put on the floor earlier before he pulled off his little prank. "I was in Volgograd yesterday to sign off on the transfer of some ordinance. Turns out that Dad wants Domestic Intelligence to keep track of all WMDs we have. Since I've got nothing to do until the the tranfer's done, I requested for some shore time."

"Oh." Eva simply said. She still wasn't liking the idea of total nuclear warfare, but again she had no control over that.

Jack had taken the paper bag and placed it on the only empty space left on the dining table. He took out a container which Eva realized was filled with takeout.

"I stopped by at Wufei's after I landed. Picked out your favorites."

"How very thoughtful of you."

"I have my moments." Jack smirked.

The two ate quietly for a while. Eva continued working on her reports even as she chowed down. It wasn't until she finished eating that she broke the silence.

"I heard you were at New Cyrene when... when it happened."

Jack sighed and nodded.

Eva paused for a moment before asking.

"How bad is it?"

Jack sighed again and slumped into his seat.

"Initial casualty count is already in the low millions... it's projected to keep going."

"Oh my God... the news didn't cover specifics, how did they..."

"The alien bastards dropped rubble and shipwrecks in between cruiser fire... there's also word that... they dropped a Near Orbital station, but we don't have specifics on that yet."

"They dropped an entire colony station?"

"The stations were mostly evacuated before the invasion, but still..."

Jack took a deep breath and stared Eva right in the eyes. She could see a steely resolve in them. Whatever fiery hatred or vengeance was in her partner had been cooled and tempered into grim determination.

"This war is going to get worse before it gets better. I can't let this happen again... I won't let this happen again."

-000-

Galactic News Update:

Colonial News Center: ...an update on the situation in New Cyrene. Confirmed casualty count has breached the one million count and projected to keep rising along with the number of reported missing people. New footage has surfaced of the relief effort in the Tember City metropolitan area, where an eighth of the entire colony's population lives. The video overlooks what appears to be a massive crater, presumably caused by a direct hit from a warship's main gun. Joining us now live from New Cyrene is one of the organizers of the relief effort, one Senior Engineer Park Ha Yun. Good evening, Mister Park, is it true that remnants of the invasion force still continue to...

Hierarchy Official News: Our Human allies have struck a massive blow against the Citadel aggressors invading their colonies... though not without heavy losses. The Citadel invaders, scorned by their loss, initiated planetary bombardment before evacuating from Human territory. Primarch Fedorian has offered to deploy a Pioneer Division to help in relief effort as a gesture of cooperation, but was declined by President Harper, claiming that the Pioneers would be better used elsewhere. The Human's propensity for honor and responsibility should be an example for all Hierarchy subjects to follow. In other Human related news, the operation to relieve the force encircled in Thargora Thoraga is getting Human assistance in the form of a naval battlegroup, along with ground force complement. While Hierarchy forces will remain the bulk of the operation's driving force, the Human reinforcements have been graciously accepted by Primarch Fedorian and the Council of Primarchs.

-000-

A/N:

This chapter got delayed due to me finishing up my studies, but now that I'm officially done with University I can work on this again until I find a job.

The Human/Turian cooperation is really ramping up from here... finally. Took me long enough, but we're finally here.

I also missed the story's anniversary on January, unfortunately. I'll try and keep the monthly update schedule for as long as I can while I'm still job hunting, but when I do get a job I'll have to deprioritize working on the story again.

Thanks for reading, as always. Good luck, Godspeed to all of you, and do enjoy the rest of your day.