…
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies."
(Groucho Marx)
...
UCV Saint Luke, May 13th, 4:32 PM, 2185
…
I stared out at the warped space outside through the viewscreen, all of us surfing through the influence of a gravitational field. The Ibycter was on the other side of the Caprica, fully hidden by the dreadnaught's sheer size, along with several other ships. Around us were the most modern, sophisticated ones we had, mostly fresh refits coming out of Reach and Turviss. We limited the number of Geth vessels in our Fleet as to not surprise the Council too bad, they'd already be shocked enough seeing the Caprica alone.
After the Quarians reunited, things progressed quickly. Though the resettling of Rannoch had begun en masse, many Quarians had, surprisingly, decided to stay on Reach. This wasn't out of any sense of loyalty to the former Admirals or anything, they simply decided they enjoyed their lives or Reach enough to stay. I was shocked at just how many of them had supported us during the exodus but chose to stay anyways. That must have taken some dedication.
Shortly after the reunification, Raan, Zadie, and Kar signed the Articles of United Confederation, cementing the new relationship between all of us. It was great to finally see people agreeing to work together, and getting to briefly return home for a few days was just icing on the cake. It didn't last long, however. Less than a week later, we received reports from Hackett's intelligence, forwarded by Greg, that now Cerberus was raiding Alliance outposts in the Attican Traverse, stealing ships, supplies, and apparently even Alliance personnel, including Marines.
No one had any idea why they were doing this, and with the Alliance spread so thin trying to stop the Reaper's advance, they weren't able to send reinforcements to help. Under the Articles, we'd normally jump right in to provide assistance, but if we did that while the Council was watching, they could view it as an invading force, causing countless obvious problems. To stop this from happening, we decided to go with the original plan we laid out during our formation.
We were officially making the United Confederation known to the rest of the galaxy today, arriving at the Citadel with our ships to show we meant business. We had no intention of fighting of course, but we knew from past interactions with the Council that if we didn't make our strength known, they'd try to brush us off. No, not this time. With the Caprica, Saint Luke, and Ibycter all in one place, they'd be forced to take us seriously and listen to what we had to say.
Sure, a statement this bold held a certain level of risk, but at this point we believed the Council was more worried about the Reapers than the "disconnected" factions in the Terminus. The Caprica wasn't even finished internally yet, with only one functional flight pod, vital decks pressurized, and weapon systems operational, including a full complement of Dan and Dimitri's "Sprint" missiles. The Council didn't need to know we were going into this with only half our glass full, of course.
"Admiral, we're nearly there, estimated time to the Citadel is five minutes." Dixon announced, saluting in his newly-pressed jumpsuit, complete with full identifying marks.
"Good. Inform all stations, tell them to remain at their posts until further notice." I acknowledged, getting a quick nod from him as I turned back to the center console. I rolled my shoulders to adjust my jacket, which I still wore proudly.
The new identification standards for the new United Confederation Navy were as simple as we could possibly make them. There was no real "uniform", just mass-produced patches that gave name, rank, and blood types. It meant anyone, no matter their race, would be able to identify themselves and each other at a glance. This meant, however, that all the individual Geth platforms serving alongside organics had to create easy-to-say names for themselves. While most of these were simple numbers, there were also gems like Sundry, Vertex, and Gamma, just to name a few. I was starting to believe that the Geth really did have a sense of humor.
My jacket and jumpsuit had Admiral patches sewn onto both shoulders, A+ blood type tags below those, and my last name across the top of my right pocket. As a bit of personal flair, modified Razor patches from Battlestar Galactica were present exclusively on my jacket, having been chosen as the ship's official emblem. I wasn't worried about any copyright claims for a franchise that had been effectively dead for over a hundred years.
"One minute!" Dixon yelled to the whole CIC, getting me to grip the edge of the holographic board tighter as the clock counted down. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!"
This would certainly be interesting, that was for sure.
The jump ended, dropping the whole Fleet into visual range of the Citadel, shrouded by the nebula it resided in. All appeared normal, we had dropped into the nebula right where we intended to, near the Mass Relay, but not close enough for them to think we had used it. While we were sure they knew our FTL capabilities, we did it anyways as another part of our plan. Showing we had no use for the Relays and being able to move a Fleet as large as ours would put plenty of stress on their scientific community.
"Citadel Control, this is Admiral Ysin'Mal vas Caprica of the United Confederation Navy, requesting permission to enter Citadel space." Mal spoke clearly through all channels as I kept my eyes focused on their Defense Fleet, the Destiny Ascension in particular. "My fellow Admiral and I would also like to request an audience with the Council."
For nearly a minute, there was no response as several of the smaller comm frequencies went wild, completely jammed with chatter as smaller civilian transports and freighters spotted us and rang back to Citadel Control about the small fleet of ships that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
"Uh… Admiral, this is Citadel Control. The Council has agreed to grant you an audience, though entry into Citadel space is permitted to shuttlecraft only. Please confirm." A very nervous traffic control officer spoke, getting me to smirk as Dixon shot me a similar look.
"Message confirmed, thank you Control." Mal thanked in an amicable tone, obviously amused. "Where shall we land?"
"Shuttle Bay 192 is currently being cleared, you may land there at your earliest convenience." Control replied, still quite tense. "The Council will be waiting for you, Control out."
The line clicked as it switched back over, the red light next to the phone blinking as the private line opened up. I quickly picked it up, listening in.
"Sean, Iolin, meet us at Bay 192. Remember, only one escort per shuttle. We don't need to spend an hour going through Customs." He ordered through the one-way connection, getting pings from both of us as the line promptly closed.
"Dixon, you'll be in charge until I return." I said, zipping up my jacket as I adjusted the shoulder my 1911 rested under. "Hold position here, and if anything at all changes you hop on the priority line and contact me."
"Understood sir." He saluted one more time as returned it, walking out of the CIC where my escort was waiting.
He was none other than Largos, who, much to my surprise at the time, personally volunteered to be part of the Marine detail aboard the Saint Luke. Though he had since received full training with traditional firearms, basic computer systems, and other technical fields, he chose to keep using his traditional Artsruni staff weapon, which I had no problem with given he agreed to carry a modified assault rifle as a backup weapon.
"You ready to go?" I asked, standing with both hands behind my back as he gave me a slow bow of acknowledgement. "Right then, let's go."
We made our way to the port shuttle bay, where one of our pilots was already waiting for us. We saluted each other before entering the shuttle, Largos and I sitting down quietly as the doors sealed and we lifted off the deck.
I opened my omni-tool and browsed the extranet to see if there was any chatter regarding our arrival. Luckily, there was already plenty of news going around in the form of emergency reports, news flashes, and other little snippets. I had to give the news cycle credit, they didn't sit on their hands when something big like this happened. I picked a random news video to play as relaxed.
"-ow reporting. The images you are seeing are of a fleet of ships that just entered the Serpent Nebula twelve minutes ago, holding position beyond the Citadel's defensive forces." The asari news anchor rattled off, reading off a datapad occasionally before making full eye contact with the camera. "Reports are unclear, but the only things we do know at this moment is that the fleet is part of a previously unheard of faction known as the "United Confederation", and are led by a man calling himself Admiral Ysin'Mal vas Caprica. His name suggests that he is a Quarian, though there has been no confirmation at this time whether the Migrant Fleet is involved with this new organization. The large ships at the center are of unknown design and origin, and are refusing hails at this time. We will return to you once we've obtained more information."
I let out a huff of amusement, allowing myself to smirk as I closed my omni-tool and watched the ward arms fly by in the distance. Largos stared at the station in awe much like Dan and I had years ago, cementing my smirk into a full grin.
"Pretty impressive, huh?" I said, getting him to face back towards me.
"It is indeed an impressive sight, Admiral." He agreed, choosing one of his rare moments to speak quite well.
"Don't let it get into your head." I warned, getting him to cock his head to the side in minor confusion. "Despite what the people in charge around here would have you believe, this entire station is just one giant mass relay linked to dark space. If the Reaper, Sovereign, had succeeded in activating it years ago, none of us would be here right now."
He gave me another simple nod as we spotted the other transports coming up alongside us. The shuttle bay came into view as we slowed down and pulled inside, the field around the bay isolating us from space.
"Well, time to make a splash." I joked, both of us standing up as the shuttle doors opened, revealing a rather… substantial C-SEC team.
Though they outnumbered us three-to-one, we had more firepower and, most likely, better barriers. I could see many of their faces go from confident and determined to shocked and worried as we all walked out in the open. Several even held their weapons in a more defensive manner, though none outright pointed their guns at us as Mal walked to the front of our group.
"Welcome to the Citadel, Admiral." A human man with gray hair greeted, shaking Mal's hand and giving the rest of us stern looks. He seemed to be the only one relatively unfazed by our arrival. "I'm Armando Bailey, Commander in charge of C-SEC operations in and around the Citadel Embassies."
"Nice to meet you, Commander. These are my compatriots, Admiral Iolin, Admiral Michaels, and Admiral Pistis." Mal introduced as we each gave a nod in acknowledgement. "Will there be any problems meeting with the Council?"
"Not right now, though when the Councilors see you all together they may start having second thoughts." He joked, bringing some much-needed air to the atmosphere around us. "At this point, nothing surprises me anymore, so seeing a Geth and several large bird men walk onto the Citadel is just a drop in the bucket."
"It's good to know the Council sent someone who's accommodating." I added, feeling a slight sense of relief.
"After what happened back on Earth, this is a welcomed distraction, believe me." He replied, turning back to Mal. "The Council wants me to escort you through the spaceport to the Presidium. Stick close, stay with your group, and move quickly. The press are going wild out there, and I don't need an incident with tensions this high. Understood?"
"Lead the way, Commander Bailey." Mal acknowledged as we followed him, his officers forming a wall around us as we left the shuttle bay and entered the crowd outside.
Bailey wasn't kidding when he said the press we going wild, it was an outright frenzy as the C-SEC officers fought against the crowd, pushing them back and doing their damnedest to keep them away from us. We ignored all their questions, shouted or otherwise, as we walked, thought most of their focus was on Iolin and Largos, especially the camera drones. They were both complete aliens here, and considering no one had seen the Raloi before, I was sure plenty of crazy theories would arise in the press before official statements were made.
Finally, we reached the elevator that led to the Presidium, all the officers besides Bailey and two others remaining on the other side to keep them out.
"Those ravenous people will be the death of me." Bailey shook his head, focusing on me in particular. "I recognize you, Michaels. Weren't you here with those Quarian Admirals last year?"
"Yep. As you can see, a lot's changed since then." I spoke matter-of-factly, letting a simple smile creep onto my face.
"That's one way to put it." He sighed, sounding more tired than anything else. "Who are you big guys, anyways? You don't talk much, that's for certain."
"We are Raloi, hailing from the planet Turviss." Iolin said in his usual, booming voice, managing to finally catch Bailey by surprise. "Our people were discovered by Admiral Michaels, and we became allies a short time later."
Bailey just nodded his head as we reached the top of Citadel Tower once again, the doors opening to reveal the area had changed slightly. There were now body scanners lining the area, along with bins and a small storage area off to the side.
"As per standard procedure, you are all required to hand over any weapons you are carrying before the Council will meet with you." Bailey explained, something I knew was already coming. "I know what your thinking and how you feel, but these are the rules. Your weapons will be returned to you once your meeting has concluded."
All of us took out our respective weapons and put them in the bins before walking through the scanners, my 1911 included. Largos, however, seemed reluctant to part with is staff.
"Come on, son. No weapons, no exceptions." Bailey urged, looking up at the warrior with his arms folded.
"The Kilat Staff is a ceremonial weapon, never meant to leave a warrior's sight." Lagros reasoned, unwilling to break long-standing tradition. "To willingly part with my staff is to violate the code I swore my life on."
"Look, I understand you're new to all of this, but we have our rules." Bailey denied, obviously not in the "budging" mood. "Either you hand over your staff and go through the scanner, or you stay here until your friends return. There won't be a third option."
"Largos, just stay here until we get back." I jumped in, wanting to end this argument now. "We hopefully won't be that long."
He held the staff in an upright position with both hands, giving me yet another slow nod as I shot him a thumbs up.
"I need to brush up on their traditions, I've been a little slow on that front." Mal whispered as we walked past the fountain and up the stairs, getting me to smirk out of mild embarrassment.
"Sorry about that, if I had known he was that attached to his staff, I would have brought someone else." I apologize, Mal quickly shaking his head and holding up one of his hands as we went up the stairs.
"Don't worry about it, things are fine." He dismissed as we entered the garden where all the trees were in full bloom. "Wow, so this is what the Council chambers look like."
"Seen it, done that." I joked as I smirked at the politicians around us, all of them looking at us in various states of confusion, awe, and even fear.
"My, these people are all so… small." Iolin said out loud, sounding more confused than anything else. "Those on all fours, they are Elcor, correct?"
"Indeed, Admiral-Iolin." Pistis answered before I could, getting me to let out a huff of amusement. "The Elcor originate from the planet Dekuuna, where their high gravity forced them to evolve into the large, muscular beings they are today. They are currentl-"
"I was already informed of their origins, but thank you for sharing anyways, Admiral." Iolin cut off with an obvious, forced attempt at manners. He had been doing his best to improve his social speaking abilities, but had a long way to go. He was already annoyed that his House Nakharars had changed their official title to the Raloi Technocracy.
Finally, we reached the top of the Council chambers, standing at the edge of the platform where they were waiting for us. It felt eerily familiar for some reason, though part of me enjoyed the fact that I was here with an official purpose this time around. Though I never enjoyed being in charge of things, I could take pride in the feeling I got when said things went the way I intended them to go.
"On behalf of myself and my fellow councilors, I'd like to welcome all of you to the Citadel. I am Councilor Tevos of the Asari Republics. This is Councilor Velarn of the Salarian Union, Councilor Sparatus of the Turian Hierarchy, and Councilor Anderson of the Systems Alliance. The... arrival of your fleet was most unexpected." The Asari councilor introduced with slight strain in her voice, quickly hitting the button to begin recording. "Who might your companions be?"
I couldn't help but notice how much more formal she sounded this time around. She seemed to be taking this meeting far more seriously than the one last year if this was any indicator to go off of.
"Councilors, I am Admiral Ysin'Mal of the New Quarian Commonwealth. This is Admiral Pistis of the Geth Collective, Admiral Iolin of the Raloi Technocracy, and Admiral Michaels of the newly-established United Confederation Naval Fleet."
The three of them gave each other worried glances, knowing something big had happened.
"The "New" Quarian Commonwealth?" Tevos stuttered, obviously shocked to hear that being said. "The Quarian Commonwealth hasn't existed since the Geth forced them to flee Rannoch! How can the Quarians call themselves that?"
"As of May 5th, 2185, peace has been declared between Geth and Creators, ending all conflict. We have returned full ownership of the Tikkun System to the New Quarian Commonwealth." Pistis spoke in his usual, stilted manner, getting each of them to look at us with some of the most shocked expressions I've ever seen. "We now stand as members of the United Confederation, ready to combat the Reaper threat."
"This must be a joke!" Sparatus yelled, unable to believe what he was hearing. "The Quarians and Geth have been at war for over a hundred years! What could have possibly been done to end it now?"
"The better question is who are these Raloi? I've read the leaked intelligence reports, but seeing one of you in person is a whole new experience." Velarn questioned, rubbing the underside of his chin as he stared at Iolin. "Admiral Iolin, we've never encountered a species such as yourself before."
"My people hail from a world that isn't connected to your "Mass Relay" network, called Turviss." He explained, leaning his head forward as all Raloi often did when speaking. "Admiral Michaels discovered us during a survey mission, and quickly established relations between us and the Quarians."
"If I may, what is this "United Confederation" you keep mentioning?" Tevos quickly spoke, obviously wanting to get as much information as possible.
"Months ago, the Quarians, Geth, and Raloi agreed to form a confederation in our effort to prepare for and fight the Reapers." I answered, standing at attention as I spoke. "In addition, we established a partnership with the Systems Alliance, and have been working hard on new, advanced ships intended to fight the threat now devastating the Alliance and sitting on your doorstep."
"So you all came here to "flaunt" your new ships? Try to shock us into providing support to the Alliance?" Sparatus spat out, obviously not amused or understanding of what we were dealing with here. "We won't be brow-beaten, no thre-"
"We're not here to threaten you or demand anything, we came to make our presence known to the rest of the galaxy." Mal cut off, gaining the full attention of everyone. "The Systems Alliance are good allies of ours, and despite how deplorable we find your decision not to provide them with assistance, we will not try to reverse your ruling."
"Then why else would you come here in such a way?" Tevos wondered out loud, sounding more intrigued than anything else.
"We intend to move forces from the Terminus into the Attican Traverse to support their remaining garrisons in the region, and we don't want any shots fired at us by Council ships." Mal explained, Velarn crossing his arms as Sparatus put both hands on the railing. "All the ships in our fleet are marked with new UCV designations, and are what your military commanders might see when we begin entering the area. We don't want any miscommunications that result in violence."
Another thought popped into my head as Mal spoke, something I hadn't thought about since it was first brought up during our meeting aboard the Osiris. Old Dan's schematic for the "device" we finished mapping out. In that moment, I realized that if we were to have any chance, we'd have to look at all options, no matter how outlandish or off-the-wall they seemed.
"As a sign of good faith and cooperation, we'd like to share with you a design for a handheld scanning device capable of detecting Reaper signals, even those in indoctrinated individuals." Mal said, snapping me back to reality as he turned to me. "Sean?"
"Oh, right." I quickly nodded, opening my omni-tool and projecting the design for the Council to see. "It's capable of tracking the signals up to one-thousand meters, and grows stronger the closer you are to the source of the signal."
"Interesting, if it works." Velarn jeered slightly, getting me to shoot him an annoyed expression.
"It does. Hackett used it to track down and identify several individuals in the Alliance Navy who had been indoctrinated, saving many lives in the process." Anderson boasted, making a copy of the schematic and sending it to all of them. "We should build as many as these as possible."
"If I may, there is also another… design, I'd like to share with you." I quickly refocused, everyone turning to me.
"Sean?" Mal questioned, understandably confused as I quickly dug through my files to find my copy of the "device". I eventually found it, projecting it between our two groups.
"This is a schematic for a large Prothean device my team uncovered recently." I spoke as clearly as I could, gaining the full attention of both the Council and my own party as I rotated it and zoomed in on certain portions. "We're not sure exactly what it is, but we've noticed some strange similarities between this array near the top of the structure and the reverse-engineered quantum entanglement communicators Cerberus now uses."
"Why would that be a relevant comparison to make?" Tevos asked, sounding unsure about all of this.
"Cerberus directly reverse-engineered their QECs from the remains of Sovereign." I answered to a flurry of varied expressions. "If I'm right, I believe this device is intended to combat the Reapers in some shape or form."
"So you don't even know what it does?" Sparatus rebuked in his usual, unconvinced manner. "How does that help us?"
"Whatever this device does, it involves accessing the quantum network all Reapers use for instantaneous communication." I reasoned, knowing how important it was to get all of this across. "To do that without a Reaper itself involves immense amou-"
"Hold on a second… I think I recognize this." Velarn immediately spoke out, opening his own omni-tool and scrolling through his files. "Here it is!"
He waved his hand, adding a dense, new layer to the object's design, finally creating one large schematic.
"Oh my god…" I exclaimed as Velarn moved the hologram around, showing the new sections.
"Seven years ago, a team of our best archaeologists uncovered an ancient Prothean bunker beneath one of our colonies, finding this stored in the bunker's archives." He explained as I gazed at the design, finally able to see it in full detail.
"And you never thought it prudent to share this information with the rest of us?" Sparatus remarked with even more anger, bordering on pissed off.
"At the time, we determined that the data had been corrupted and classified the site for security reasons." Velarn reasoned, crossing his arms. "I see we were very wrong."
"What if this is the answer? The key to defeating the Reapers?" Anderson thought out loud, his voice booming across the chambers. "The Reapers must have tried to destroy these designs so we'd never find them in the next cycle."
"So they split it into pieces to keep it safe. Compartmentalization." Tevos nodded, finally understanding what we had here. "If they cared this much about protecting it, then it must hold great value."
"You can't be serious." Sparatus denied, still unconvinced. "If this device really was capable of defeating the Reapers, then why are the Protheans extinct?"
"Many other possible factors could be attributed to the device's failure." Pistis chimed in, getting me to whip my head around. "Perhaps the device was never finished, was destroyed, or sabotaged by indoctrinated individuals before deployment could be carried out."
"It's impossible to know! How could we put any serious time or resources into such a device if we aren't even sure if and how it works?" Sparatus fought back, banging his fist against his console. "It would take the combined resources of the galaxy to construct it!"
"If that's what it takes to defeat them, then it's worth it!" Anderson shot back, now willing to put up with him anymore. "This is bigger than humans, turians, or anyone else! The fate of the entire galaxy is hanging in the balance, and arguing hypotheticals isn't going to end the threat of the Reapers!"
"Councilors, please!" Tevos yelled, staring daggers at both of them before turning back to us. "Admiral Michaels, we will decide what to do with these designs after further deliberation, but we thank you for sharing them with us regardless."
"The least you can do in return is recognize each of us as a legitimate power, and allow us to establish an embassy in the Presidium." Mal immediately revved back up, getting another round of surprised faces from Tevos, Velarn, and Sparatus.
"Absolutely not." Sparatus denied, crossing his arms. "Your people used to have an embassy, and lost it after breaking many of our laws, laws you are still in violation of as long as the Geth exist."
"Geth are their own civilization." Pistis immediately chimed back in, his aperture narrowing sharply on the turian. "If Creators are banned from owning an embassy, then we wish to apply for one in their stead."
"You shouldn't even be here, Geth." Velarn shut down in a very cold voice, shaking his head as Pistis' head flaps shifted back slightly. "We aren't going to grant artificial constructs embassies just because they stopped killing their former masters."
"That's not fair to either of them!" I argued, taking a few steps forward in anger. "None of you want to admit that you or your predecessors might have made mistakes!"
"Unfortunately Admiral, Councilor Velarn is correct, we can't make acceptions when we have our own laws to uphold." Tevos shook her head, sounding progressively more tired. "However, we have no qualms over offering an embassy to the Raloi, seeing as they are newcomers to the Citadel. Admiral Iolin, would your people be interested in such an offer?"
Iolin stood still for a few seconds, looking at the three of us in complete silence before turning back to face the Councilors.
"The Raloi have no need for a partnership with such vacuous beings as yourselves." He spat back in their faces, surprising everyone. He even shocked me, using his forwardness to the greatest effect possible. "We've built deep relationships with our allies, and intend to build ourselves up without your help."
"That's… disappointing to hear." Tevos spoke in an exasperated tone, still quite surprised by his proclamation. "Our military commanders will be informed of the new information regarding your ships and intentions, but either way, we look forward to seeing what your people have to offer the rest of the galaxy in the future."
"If there is a future." I snuck in at the last moment as the meeting ended, and they walked out of sight, leaving us by ourselves again.
"Keelah… forgive me Admiral, but what was that?" Mal exclaimed under his breath, obviously not thrilled about the designs I had brought up. "That was classified information, and you just put it all out on public record for the rest of the galaxy."
"If there's a chance it'll kill the Reapers, then don't you think it makes sense to tell them?" I argued quietly as we walked back through the Council chambers, still being watched by those around us. "Keeping secrets isn't going to stop them from burning our worlds."
"I know why you did it, just… give the rest of us some warning next time, you bosh'tet." He brushed off, unable to stay angry at me as shook his head.
"Consider it payback for keeping my team out of the loop for so long." I joked, feeling happy with how things had turned out.
Despite the harsh reception, we came in and got our messages across without any violence, unless you count the bruise Sparatus would likely develop on his hand. I did something I hadn't originally expected to do, connecting with Tevos and Velarn for those brief moments, and hoped that would lead to the Device being built in the future. If my hunch was right, it really could mean the difference between life or death.
…
A/N: Well, this came out rather fast, huh? This started out as a quick draft I started before releasing the last chapter, and kinda just blossomed from there. I really wanted to hammer in just how much weight is bearing down on everyone's shoulders at this point, and In think I managed to convey it well enough without bashing people over the head with euphemisms. I suppose all of you can be the judge of that.
As always, I'm always up for suggestions or constructive criticism. Please leave a review telling me what you think of the story so far, and stay tuned!