…
"One day things will change, my friend. Soon it will be their land, their people… their blood."
(Reznov, Call of Duty: World at War)
…
SSV Explorer, February 4th, 3:58 PM, 2182
…
"You must be insane." Richard commented with a disbelieving tone to his voice. "You want us to go to the Quarians of all people? Why?"
"I'm telling you, it's our best option." I urged, looking at everyone gathered here. "I think the Council species are too well connected with the Alliance. All the Alliance would need to do is demand we be handed over. They've already labeled us."
"Yeah, but what about their isolation from the rest of the galaxy?" Sira backed him up, waking around to face me. "If they thought we could be handed over for a price, they'd surely do it."
"Oh please, Qu-Quarians have m-more honor than that!" Dan defended loudly, pointing his finger at her. "Just because they cr…created the Geth, I swear!"
"Everyone calm down!" Dimitri bellowed, holding out his hands between us. He took a deep breath before looking to the holographic projectors in the center of the mess tables where Lydia and Powell were silently arguing between one another. "We should ask resident A.I.s what they think. They have most to lose here."
They looked as us when they heard they were mentioned, turning their audio on.
"We've been going over our options here, and we both agree with Sean." Lydia chimed in with Powell behind her. Sira and Richard both turned on their heels in denial as everyone looked attentively at the A.I.s.
"Despite the Quarians and their hatred for A.I., we're confident we can remain hidden in the ship's systems and appear as simple V.I.s" Powell added, crossing his arms behind his back. "As far as proving our usefulness, we believe it would be wise to flaunt the technology inside the ship to impress them. Show that we can be valuable assets to them."
"But that's all classified!" Sira jumped in, mild fear spreading across her face.
"Don't you get it yet?" Jack jumped in, walking over and looking Sira right in the eyes. "The Alliance tried to kill us. After everything we did for them, they tried to kill us. Right now, the technology on this ship is the only bargaining chip we have out there!"
"He's right." Mara nodded, taking our side as she stepped forward. "There's no point in keeping any of our tech secret anymore. The best we can do now is use what we have to integrate with another faction, one that'll protect us from the Alliance. The Quarians could be immensely useful to us as well, considering their proficiency with technology."
"Both sides would ben…benefit each other." Dan remarked, looking down at the floor as he rubbed his chin. "We c-could be of great help to their people, given the age of their Fleet, and they wo-wouldn't have to comply with any search requests made b-by either the Alliance or Council."
"I thought you, of all people, would understand the danger we are putting Powell and Lydia in." Richard remarked with obvious venom, glaring at Dan. "You obviously don't care at all that we'll be bringing them to the most hostile environment in the galaxy. You don't even care about your sister, do you?"
"What the fuck did you just say!?" Dan suddenly shouted, lunging forward at him before Dimitri caught him mid-jump. "Don't you dare say I don't care about my sister, you prick!"
"CALM. DOWN." Dimitri shouted, managing to shake the room with his deep voice. "We already have enough to worry about without you two ripping throats out!"
Dan glared at Richard for a few more seconds, seething in rage before Dimitri let him go.
"Majority vote says we go to Migrant Fleet." Dimitri announced with finality, looking hard at Sira and Richard. "If you rather take your chances out there with no money or contacts, be guest."
With that heated discussion out of the way, everyone dispersed to work on their assigned repair tasks. I could only hope that my hunch was right. We wouldn't be able to survive another encounter like the one at Eden Prime.
…
SSV Explorer, February 6th, 2:49 PM, 2182
…
"For… fuck… SAKE!" I yelled through grunts, trying to dislodge a fried data board from its console housing. This particular one had gone up in flames when an electrical discharge had fried the conduit next to it. I had to replace all of these if we expected to get and fine aiming back in the 250mm cannons.
I fell backwards as the bastard finally came loose, sending pieces of charred plastic through the air. I leaned back up, looking at the board's poor condition before looking back into the console itself. Just as I feared, the inside was beyond repair. We'd need to replace this one too, along with the other two on the port side of the CIC.
I shook my head in anger, standing up and throwing my oil-soaked rag at the console. This was a waste of time.
I walked into the back of the deck to see how Dan was doing. He was busy trying to get the communications equipment back up to snuff since it had experienced a large brunt of the attack. The communications room itself was rather small, about as big as a short bus. It was meant to be used for the transmission of classified data, considering the ship's former posting in a scout flotilla. Now, it was a wreck.
"Halt! Who goes there?" Dan asked, looking over at me from the floor.
"Major Chip Hazard, reporting for duty, sir." I answered with a big, stupid grin on my face. "Man, I still can't believe we remember that stupid movie."
"It's ama…amazing what gets burned into our b-brains as kids, huh?" He replied with an equally large grin. "So, what brings you here, Kemosabe?"
"Sheer boredom." I answered plainly, putting my hands in my pockets. "All the consoles I was supposed to repair are completely shot. There's nothing I can do to fix them without proper parts."
"Yeah, I'm running in…into similar problems myself." He remarked, looking back at the underside of the station he was working on. "This God damn t-thing is completely fried fr…from top to bottom. I thought these Al…Alliance ships were supposed to be tough."
"Well, considering the entirety of Seventh Fleet tried to kill us, I'd say we're lucky the ship is only mostly fucked up." I shot back with a grin, leaning on the wall as I looked down at my friend. "Hell, if it wasn't for Dimi's absurdly expensive titanium armor plating, we might not even be here right now."
"Ah yes, The Bear." He smiled, gritting his teeth as sparks barely avoided his face. "I would have paid so much mo…money to see him pull a Crazy Ivan."
"Heh, once a browncoat, always a browncoat." I remarked, chuckling at his Firefly reference. "No, what he pulled with those emergency thrusters… I'd call it the Siberian Dodge."
"I like it, but I don't th-think it'll catch on. Doesn't have the same ring." He replied as holographic displayed re-engaged for a moment, before quickly flickering out again. "I'd suggest calling it… The Russian Wildcat."
"I like how you're treating this as if it's not some unimportant bullshit we're musing to pass the time." I shot back, nudging his foot as he got back up.
"Hey, you're the o-one who brought it up." He shrugged, wiping off his greased-up hands on his pants.
"Attention: Lydia and I have found the Fleet." Powell announced through the ship-wide speaker system. "ETA is about two hours. I'd recommend everyone gather up what they need now so they don't have to look for it later."
"Well, are you ready for our next adventure?" I asked, looking at Dan as he readjusted his belt.
"I don't think I have much of a choice." He replied, pulling his coat back on.
…
MSV Explorer, February 6th, 4:31 PM, 2182
…
We all stood in the front of the ship as the grayish cloud in the distance slowly got larger. We jumped about 30 kilometers away from the actual fleet, close enough to communicate with them and far enough to look friendly. We hoped.
Unfortunately, because this was my idea I was going to lead the way. I knew that the Captains always spoke for their ships here, so Dimitri made me just that.
I really hoped I wouldn't fuck this up.
"Unidentified ship, this is the Neema. Either explain your presence here immediately or leave the area." An almost European voice commanded over the first comm channel. "If you refuse to do either, we will be forced to open fire on your ship."
"This is Captain Sean Michaels of the MSV Explorer, my crew and I request to speak with your leadership." I responded as the line went quiet for a minute, leaving us all on the edges of our seats.
"Captain Michaels, this is Admiral Han'Gerrel." A new voice declared, sounding much more authoritative. I reflexively straightened when he said he was an Admiral. "I've been told you wish to speak with me?"
"Yes Admiral." I confirmed, trying to keep my voice from going shaky. "My crew and I wish to seek asylum with the Migrant Fleet."
"Really? From who do you seek asylum?" Gerrel inquired after a short pause, sounding extremely suspicious. I couldn't blame him. "We don't make a habit of lending help to everyone who passes by, Captain."
"I must admit Admiral, it is a very long story and I'll try to shorten it as much as I can." I responded, shaking my head. "We were part of a former Alliance science team known as Task Force Cerebellum. We were betrayed by one of our own to the group known as Cerberus, but managed to escape. Unfortunately, when we returned to Alliance space, they tried to have us and our ship destroyed. We suffered varying levels of damage, and decided to seek out your people."
Gerrel stayed quiet for a few seconds before speaking up again.
"Why should I even consider giving your crew an audience?" He questioned, sounding slightly confused on top of his suspicion. "We already have many of our own problems to deal with without inciting a political incident with the Alliance."
"We wish to join your Fleet because we have troves of tech to offer your people. We have a hybrid eezo/fusion reactor that produces petawatts worth of electricity, a prototype man-portable weapon system that fires exhaustive plasma, and we even have an experimental jump drive that is capable of rendering Mass Relays worthless." I listed off, pacing back and forth as I spoke. "We can offer this to you and your people if you can just give us a chance."
Gerrel paused once again, likely pondering what I had just said. After what felt like hours, he gave me an answer.
"You have my attention, Captain." Gerrel replied much to everyone's relief. "I will summon the other Admirals to my ship for a Conclave. Dock at Cradle 9, a security team will meet you there and escort you and any other members of your crew to us. A Marine team will also be sent to investigate the interior of your vessel for security reasons."
"Understood. Thank you, Admiral. I look forward to meeting you in-person." I agreed as the connection went dead, leaving me with a brief sensation of relief.
"Well, that went pretty well, all things considered." Mara commented with a small smirk on her face. I smiled back at her as everyone except for Dimitri, who was piloting the ship, got ready for our meeting. We were all going to put on face masks so we wouldn't spread germs all over their clean ship.
"Are you two going to be alright here?" Richard asked Lydia and Powell as they appeared on the nearby projector.
"We'll be fine, don't worry about us." Lydia reassured, both of them nodding as they smiled. "We're going to stay low, see what kind of data we can pick up without peering directly into their computer systems."
"Just don't c-cause any trouble." Dan pleaded as Lydia smiled and disappeared from the projector, along with Powell.
We docked with the Neema, the very audible clank of metal-on-metal outside our docking port. After Dimitri put his mask on and sealed it, we started our walk down the long cradle arm.
"Alright, in interest of personal safety, I recommend we all remain quiet unless personally addressed." Dimitri suggested, looking at every single one of us. "Let Sean do talking."
"Sounds like a plan." I agreed, cracking my neck in an effort to relieve stress.
We reached the other end, going through another decon cycle before the door slid open, revealing a squad of armed Marines. They weren't pointing their guns at us, but I could tell from body language alone that a couple of them were suspicious and possibly nervous.
"Welcome to the Neema, Captain Michaels." Their leader, a Sergeant, greeted. "Follow me, the Admirals are waiting for you."
I nodded lightly, falling in step behind him as the rest of my friends stayed close. The Sergeant's men followed up behind our group, likely to keep an eye on us.
We traveled through the packed hallways for a few minutes while I took in just how old this ship was. It looked as if almost everything here had been replaced at least once, and in an effort to use all available space any loose boxes or equipment were suspended above the floor by cargo nets, much like the U.S. military did on large planes such as AC-130s. All the people they managed to fit on this ship was incredible, I knew that there wasn't a single wasted space in the whole ship.
Most of my gawking was done to avoid all the tracking pairs of eyeballs following us. Dimitri was getting most of the looks, likely due to how massive he was. He was probably the largest alien most of them had ever seen in person. Even though so many looks would have made the rest of us shrink, I knew he was smiling under that mask.
Richard was the exact opposite. He looked like he was about to go into a full-blown panic with all the people around him. We all knew he was scared to death of crowds of people, hence why he never took advantage of his vacation days to visit Earth. He preferred isolation or people he knew. I was hoping he could hold it together until our meeting with the Admirals was over.
Our trip ended when the Sergeant led us into a large, open room with plants growing on the walls. In the center of the room was a podium with space for five people, all of whom I assumed were the Admirals. As we entered, a small crowd had begun to form in the bleachers around the podium, many other Quarians gathering to watch the odd alien visitors onboard their ship.
"This Conclave is brought to order." The woman on the top of the podium announced, looking down at us. "Blessed are the ancestors who kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season. Keelah se'lai."
"Keelah sel'lai." Everyone around us softly repeated, as they returned their attention to us.
"We have gathered here this day to observe Captain Michaels and his crew." The woman continued, as I began to get slightly more nervous. "They have come here seeking asylum, as well as claiming to offer technology that could assist our people."
"I'm not convinced." One of the Admirals, the one with red and black fabrics on his suit, shrugged off with folded arms. He squinted at me before looking back to the others. "These are humans and an Asari we're looking at here. I don't even know why we're wasting resources on a meeting like this!"
"Rael, at least let Captain Michaels present what he has to offer before you try throwing him off the ship." One of the other Admirals, this one with red and white fabrics, defended, looking over at him.
"Fine, do what you want Koris, but I won't be held accountable for whatever these outsiders try to pull." He grudgingly agreed, looking none too pleased.
"Captain, we must admit that meetings like this are very… rare for our people." The one at the top of the podium commented, looking hard at Rael for a few seconds. "No one has come to our people seeking asylum since we fled the homeworld. It is an unusual circumstance."
"Well, we appreciate that you have given us this chance." I replied, hands behind my back.
"I am very interested in this tech you mentioned." One of the other Admirals mused, looking hard at all of us. She was donned in yellow and black, making her look like a bee. "Is it true you have an FTL drive capable of matching that of Mass Relays?"
That sent murmurs of quiet voices through the crowd as everyone got even more interested than they were before.
With that and the inquiry, I looked at Jack who nodded and stepped forward.
"It is true." He confirmed as the Admirals shuffled slightly.
"Admirals, I'd like you to meet Dr. Jack Windham." I introduced as we stood side-by-side. "He is the man who created the Gravity Drive."
The crowd grew slightly louder as the same Admiral stepped forward and looked harder at Windham's wrinkly face.
"How does it work?" She simply asked, putting one of her hands on the railing as everyone grew quiet.
"My Gravity Drive produces a powerful magnetic field around a ship, distorting the space around it and effectively isolating it." Jack began, miming the process with his hands. "When the ship makes a jump, it violently throws all the gravity around it to the front of the ship, shooting it forward at incredible speeds. The magnetic field remains during the jump, protecting the ship from g-forces and time dilation."
"That's incredible!" The woman exclaimed, straightening back up and looking at the rest of the Admirals. "Imagine what benefits such a drive would have for our people!"
"Don't get too excited, Zadie." Rael warned, throwing out his hands dismissively as he looked at her. "How do you know this human is telling the truth? He could be making it up for all you know!"
"Imagine the military applications, though." One of the other Admirals added, who I guessed was Han'Gerrel since he was the only other male on the podium. "A fleet of these ships could easily jump behind an enemy fleet and decimate them from the rear."
"It makes perfect scientific sense, Rael." Admiral Zadie dismissed, looking at him with crossed arms before turning back to Jack. "Though I am curious about something else. Such a device would need immense energy to function. How have you accomplished such a feat?"
"You and Dan should probably take care of this." Jack told me, putting his hand on my shoulder before turning back to our little group.
I nodded, ushering Dan forward as we both took center stage.
"Me and my friend, Dr. Dan Nemo, created the Nemo-Michaels Reactor." I stared off, as Dan held up his hand in greeting. "It's a dual system that combines a conventional Element Zero drive core with a fusion reactor."
That got the crowd talking again. They got loud enough that the admiral at the top of the podium had to silence them.
"Fusion?" The one on top of the podium questioned, leaning on the railing and looking down at us. "How does combining a primitive fusion reactor with an Eezo drive core produce the energy you claim it does?"
"You see, the t-trick is harnessing the immense static created by an Ee-Eezo drive core." Dan took over, shuffling slightly as he spoke. "When you ta…take that st-static charge and pump it into a Fusor-type fu…fusion reactor, the resulting electrical field is more than en-enough to heat ions to fusion conditions."
"Then, you simply channel the electrical charge from the fusion reactor into the Eezo core." I ended off, creating a loop in the air with my index finger. "Perfect synergy between both reactors nets about 3.2 petawatts of electricity per hour when running in standard conditions, 5.7 in emergency or combat conditions. In the end, you no longer need to discharge the Eezo drive core and helium-3 usage is halved during travel."
All the Admirals simply looked at us before talking amongst themselves. the crowd, on the other hand, went wild with chitter-chatter. I smiled under my mask, knowing that we now had both Conclave majority and Admiral majority. I really couldn't help it, but at least they couldn't see it.
"This is… a lot to take in, Captain." The lead Admiral, whose name I discovered was Raan, explained, looking at us. "Why do you and your crew wish to share this with our people?"
I thought about it for a second before looking back at all of them.
"We want to share this with your people because we can trust you." I started, looking at each and every one of them as I spoke. "Three days ago all of us were full-blown Alliance patriots, developing whatever we thought would make them stronger. We developed amazing things for them, helped with so many breakthroughs, yet what do they do when they fail to protect us? They try to have us killed, destroying everything we worked so hard to achieve."
That sent even more chatter throughout the crowd. I was actually getting through to them.
"We want your people to accept us because we want to work towards the greater good. We want to help families grow and make lives better, not further the destructive agenda of a bunch of backstabbing Alliance Admirals." I began to finish off, making sure to keep my posture as natural as possible without looking nervous. "As it stands, the Quarian people are the only ones who can offer us this opportunity now, and we're fully ready to dedicate ourselves to this cause."
With that, about two thirds of the crowd erupted into applause as the Admirals looked at each other.
"Are the Admirals prepared to render a decision?" Raan asked, as each one of them slowly opened their omni-tools and entered their answers. That sent murmurs of quiet voices through the crowd as everyone eagerly waited to see what the Admirals would do with us.
"Captain Michaels, in light of your recent experiences and what you wish to offer the Quarian people, we will grant you and your crew asylum here in our Fleet." Rann announced, as all of us quietly and collectively letting out a deep breath we had all been holding. "You shall be afforded the same amount of authority a Captain has here in our Fleet, and as such, can be approached with gifts by Quarians returning home from Pilgrimage."
"Thank you, Admirals." I nodded, bowing to them with barely contained happiness. "I really hope we can all help each other out."
"Yes… I like to start by seeing this reactor system and FTL drive in person." Zadie suggested, walking towards me as the crowd around us began to disperse. "Perhaps even a demonstration is in order."
"I'm sure we can set something up, Admiral." I eased, looking over as the rest of the other Admirals walked over to me.
This was going to be interesting, this new partnership.
…
MSV Explorer, February 6th, 5:19 PM, 2182
…
"Now here's what you've been itching to see." I announced, opening the door to engineering and ushering them inside.
All the Admirals had accepted my offer to visit the Explorer, much to my immense nervousness. We had repaired all of the vital systems and cleaned up what we could, but from seeing how new the Explorer was I think they were impressed regardless. This, coming from someone describing a ship with a series of large holes in its starboard section.
Everyone else had gone back to their preferred places, leaving me with the job as tour guide.
They all slowly walked around, looking at what we've had installed in the large room with intense interest. Even the marine escort they had brought with them couldn't help but look up at the fusion reactor as swirls of plasma looped around the chamber.
"This is simply amazing." Admiral Zadie commented, looking up at that very same reactor. "Is that plasma?"
"Yes, it is a unique form of synthetic plasma we call "EnPro", produced from the unique interaction between helium-3 and a mass effect field." I explained, pointing to the large storage canisters placed along both sides of the reactor. "I discovered its properties were perfectly suited for me and Dr. Ford's Ionized Plasma Projector, otherwise known as the Plasma Gun."
"Plasma gun… how does that work?" Rael of all people asked, now holding the edge of his face mask with his hand.
"We store the plasma in a specially-designed cell that's supposed to go into the back of the gun." I started, focusing on him. "Using an injector system and a specially-shaped magnetic field, we can fire bolts of plasma around 2800 to 3300 frames per second or… around 2,000 miles per hour, I believe."
"What kind of effect does this weapon have on a target?" He asked, still very interested. This was good for me and everyone else, all this interest they were showing.
"Well, it bypasses all forms of kinetic shielding, for one." I continued, slipping my hands into my pockets slightly. "On unarmored targets, it causes the instant boiling of body water that usually results in catastrophic and irreparable physical damage. To armored targets, it superheats armor plating and causes intense second-degree burns to flesh near the impact area."
"What about synthetics? Automated targets?" He inquired further, looking up at the plasma swirling around the reactor chamber.
"Well, we never managed to test it on those kinds of targets, though I predict that the impacts would melt their chassis and thermal damage would destroy sensitive internal components." I answered as well as I could as he simply stared up at the reactor.
"I'll be perfectly honest with you, Captain." Rael remarked, looking harder at me as he stepped closer to me as if so the others couldn't hear him. "I do not trust you, and I don't want you or your people here. But…If you can provide me and Han'Gerrel with tech like this, tech that can help our people eventually retake our homeworld… you will have my full support."
I stared off at the reactor for a few moments, pondering his proposal before I stared back at his face.
"I think we can work out a deal that's mutually beneficial for both of us." I nodded in agreement, holding out my hand to offer a handshake. He stared at it for a second before accepting it.
"Maybe you and I can get along after all." Rael mused, nodding as we both smiled.
…
A/N: Well, something good finally happened for our friends. It may still be slightly rocky, but a "beautiful relationship" is looking to be nearing on the horizon. What'll happen when you combine the minds of Cerebellum with the tech skills of the quarians? Truly, only time can tell.
I cranked this chapter our really fast, mostly because I really like writing things relating to the quarians. They are my favorite species in the Mass Effect universe, hence why I tried to make sure everything was matched correctly during the Conclave. Don't expect chapters to come out this quickly on a regular basis, I just happened to have a lot of free time.
nach77, who was kind enough to let me use his Alamo-class light frigate as a base the MSV Explorer, was even nice enough to make a custom skin for me. The ship in all its glory can be viewed here: stash/0lf1kikhmjv
(Place a period between the a and s in stash.)
I'd love to read any reviews, I'm always up for suggestions or constructive criticism. Stay tuned!