Chapter 13. The Patient Hunter
2130 CE THS Silus, Medical Bay
The first thing he felt was the lack of feeling in his chest. Then the light headedness became apparent.
Saren opened his eyes and the bright ceiling lamps attacked him, his predatory ancestry doing well to adapt as quickly as possible to the change. When he realised that he was in fact not dead, he sat up.
"Easy there, Arterius," he heard a voice, he couldn't quite make out who it belonged to though, it was coming from his left. "Take it slow or you'll start bleeding again," Hepsus said, looking like he hadn't slept in days. "You've just been in surgery again, you shouldn't even be up right now," he explained.
"How long was I out?" Saren questioned, a dry feeling making itself known in his mouth, causing him to reach for a bottle just a bit too far away for him to grasp.
Hepsus, understanding his comrade's intent, grabbed the drink, opened it and handed it to him.
"Five days."
"Damn."
Then the memories of his last moments came back to him.
"Spirits, Bassilo?" Silence was all he got. "Is he alright, Hepsus?"
"He didn't make it, bled out in the casevac shuttle, the round tore his main artery open. Lost too much blood." the cabal explained, sounding detached as if that would make it easier.
Saren's free talon dug themselves into the bed he was lying on, tearing fabric as his mandibles twitched into a mix out of anger and sadness.
Everything had been pointless.
"It's not your fault, Saren," the other turian said, strangely addressing him with his first name.
"If I had been faster," he began, guilt crawling up his spine.
"Don't do this to yourself, the only one to blame is that sniper."
"Did we get him?" he asked anger evident in his voice. Hepsus was right. This was the enemies fault, not his.
"A Jiris turned the entire mountain into a series of craters, bastard is probably just mush now," Hepsus replied.
"Did I miss anything else?" Saren questioned. There was a time and place to grieve, it wasn't in a hospital bed.
"Asari councilor got arrested, turns out she's responsible for the attacks last year," Hepsus said, a thinking expression appearing on his scaly face,"Oh, and the HSA killed Jona Sederis two days ago with the help of some cabals."
"I was less interested in politics and more interested in our mission, Hepsus," Saren sighed, at least the other turian had tried. Although he would have to educate himself on these subjects as well.
"TNI claimed every single enemy casualty, Tunae Prime is now under quarantine, something about a potential biological weapon being released by accident."
"Are w-?"
"No, we're fine. No one on the ground caught it, by some miracle really. Anyway as I was saying, they shipped the bodies of the Silus during the night rotation. No one knows where they took them," Hepsus explained. "And they tore the whole base apart, arrived with a cruiser. They took everything from that planet."
"That's just plain weird."
"Glad we see eye to eye on this one," Hepsus chuckled. "I'll go tell the squad you're up, need anything?"
Saren remembered the recordings. "Can you bring me my omni-tool? I think I got a lot of catching up to do."
"You just want to watch porn, admit it, Arterius," the other turian said as he got up. "I'll be back soon."
"Five days are a long time, you wouldn't even last two!" Saren called after him as the cabal raised one of his arms, waving him goodbye as he walked out of the medbay.
2130 CE, Dis System, THS Umbra
Jartar was the place this mess began and as far as Desolas was concerned, he'd do good to retrace Haliat's steps one by one to figure out where the pirates took the artifact and where Haliat had vanished to. The search on Tunae-Prime and the planet on which Haliat had betrayed his unit had turned up nothing, therefore this was their only other clue.
The stealth drives of the frigates used by the Blackwatch were still mere prototypes but they worked as intended, masking the ship from anything but direct, visual identification.
"Three batarian Hensa cruisers in orbit, all of the using IFFs of the Batarian External Forces," the captain of the frigate informed Desolas. "First scans indicate that at least 400 batarian soldiers are roaming the surface, they are looking for something, General Arterius."
Standing in his black-golden armor, the general was truly a sight to behold. Already an intimidating turian, the armor just added to the sheer command presence that radiated of the turian general. Desolas walked over to the junior officer in charge of ground control and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Ensign Adalius, can you show me the highest concentration of batarian forces?" he asked.
"Yes, right away General," the junior officer said, somewhat nervous. She switched the image to an area of the planet Desolas knew all to well.
He held up his omni-tool, the picture of Haliat's deployment area appearing above his wrist.
Then he held the picture next to that the ensign had just shown him.
"It's the same place, isn't it?" he asked although he already knew the answer.
"Yes it is, Sir. Concentration is focused around the last deployment site of Captain Haliat's unit. However a site considered a secondary objective during the last operation, the site which we suspect the pirates originally came from, is only guarded by a fraction of the batarian ground forces. No more than twenty guards from what I can tell. There could be more deeper below the ground though."
"Good work, Ensign. Get back to it, let me worry about any batarians hidden down there," he said, petting her shoulder and walking back to the captain. There was no point in assault such a large force with a single team. He had to adapt. If he couldn't trace Haliat's steps, he could at least trace those of the pirates. After all, they were connected.
"Thank you, Sir."
"Captain, how long until we can deploy for orbital infiltration? I want to investigate the secondary objective."
"One hour. Sir, if I may suggest something?"
"Of course Captain Isarius, naval matters are your area of expertise."
"Jartar has only a trace atmosphere but due to that, sound travels relatively bad across its surface. Coupling this with the modified engines of the Umbra's shuttles, we can deploy you almost on top of the enemy with next to no risk of being heard. The batarians aren't capable of detecting the newest generation of our stealth shuttle either, therefore eliminating radar detection. In addition to that, using Jartar's natural terrain we'll also be able to limit the risk for visual detection. It'll save you a lot of marching distance, General."
"And you are confident in your pilots ability to execute that maneuver, Captain Isarius?"
"Absolutely Sir, we've trained that very maneuver in the past under similar conditions with confiscated batarian equipment. My crew has my complete faith."
"Good thinking, Captain. Let's get to it then. I'll be with my team, make the necessary preparations."
The captain gave Desolas a sharp salute causing the general to return it before walking out of the combat information center of the Umbra and towards the elevator in order to reach deck 3, the location of his team. The doors opened and he stepped inside, pressing the button. The doors began to close only for a hand to reach between them at the last moment, holding the elevator.
"Good day, General Arterius," a familiar voice greeted.
"Good day, Lieutenant Callius, I was actually on my way to you."
"I was on my way to you too, I have news. Your brother woke up," she said. "I thought you'd like to know, Sir."
"You were correct," Desolas replied as he brought up his omni-tool, looking for the contact named 'Saren', once he found it he began to type a short message. "We'll insert on Jartar via the Umbra and a shuttle." Desolas added while writing his brother that they would soon see each other and that there were certain things they had to talk about.
"Very well, Sergeants Veltax and Galviat are already geared up. Just waiting for your word, Sir, though they might be slightly disappointed about not being able to march towards our target," the Lieutenant said, her last statement only somewhat sarcastic.
"Lets go for a hunt, Lieutenant."
10. June, 2388 AD, HSASV London
After having been cleared by the medical officer, having been debriefed and congratulated by Admiral Jun and having written a series of letters Anderson had just one more thing to do.
Write the last one.
"Dear Mrs. Abrami, it is with regret that I have to inform you," he voiced the sentence in his head. "it is with regret that I have to inform you that your husband Master Chief Petty Officer Santino Abrami was killed in action.
That didn't quite feel right. Too formal.
"It is with regret that I have to inform you that your husband and my friend Santino Abrami gave his life in order to save others."
This was better, he began typing.
"Due to the Master Chief's actions, the mission was a succ-" he couldn't write that, Santino's wife didn't care if the mission was a success or not. She cared that her husband was dead.
"Due to Santino's bravery, his fellow soldiers, including me, were saved in the face of insurmountable odds."
He drew in a breath and stared at the screen, writing the other letters had been easier, if one could call something like that easy, this one was tough.
"Humanity owns a debt to your husband, it can never repay," he continued. "With Master Chief Abrami, the navy lost an exemplary sold-" again, nothing something a wife would want to hear right now.
"With Santino, all of us lost a comrade, friend and brother that one rarely finds." That was better, at least he hoped it was. "I personally own your husband a debt, I can never repay but I will do my best to honor our friendship."
Just one more thing to do.
"In N7, we look out for our own," he added his personal contact information to the letter. "If there ever is anything you need, anything we can help you with, do not hesitate. Sincerely, Lieutenant David Anderson, Naval Special Operations Command, N7."
He sighed and pressed the button to sent the letter. Such was the nature of their profession.
2130 CE, Dis System, Jartar
Desolas was grateful that his armor shielded him from the hot air outside which would burn his unplated skin the moment it was able to touch him.
He knew why the batarian outposts were located in caves, down there the temperature was bearable, shielded from the hot gases by the cold earth. One such cave, the one Haliat's Blackwatch team had explored, was right in front of him. A lone vehicle of the Batarian External Forces parked in front of a tunnel created by the volcanic activity of the planet..
"You'd think they'd guard this place better," Galviat said as the unit crept up next to the brownish vehicle, the sigil of Batarian State Arms making it clear that this transport was the property of the Batarian Hegemony.
"They are looking for something they know not to be inside of there, Galviat," Desolas said as his head peaked around the edge of the vehicle, spotting only a lone batarian observing the horizon opposite to them, a boxy, equally brown Terminator assault rifle pointed at the ground while his comrade checked something on his omni-tool. "This place is low priority. Keep your eyes on those two guards, Veltax," Desolas finished and as soon as the order was spoken his Blackwatch guard moved sideways and pointed his Phaeston at the couple after which his general began to slowly walk towards the tunnel up ahead, his team right on his heels, Veltax ready to dispatch his targets should the need arise following as the last of the group.
Entering the cave, the night vision gear inside Desolas helmet activated itself once the rocky walls began to block out most light from the outside, while his suit also informed him that the temperature was slowly decreasing and that Jartar's residue atmosphere was slowly being replaced by the one created by batarian atmosphere generators.
The four turians continued their walk through the cave, drops of water sporadically dripping from the ceiling and creating small puddles, which they took care to avoid in order to minimize the sound they created, on the dark grey rock. Desolas took his steps carefully, each one calculated as if a predator was just waiting for them to make themselves known. years of practice did good on helping him achieve that goal as the general's personal guard followed him in equally practiced fashion. The Blackwatch team kept a slow pace, the thought of some batarian external force member hearing their steps, now made audible by the presence of an artificial atmosphere, and trapping them in the kill zone that was this narrow corridor ever present in their mind as they advanced.
"The location of the research camp is just up ahead, General," Lieutenat Callius injected. "Some batarians moving around the area," she added as a cone of light became visible at the end of the corridor at which point it reached into a bigger cave. "Medium sized metal structure in the center of the cave."
Walking closer towards the cone of light, his night vision gear once more shut itself off. Desolas crouched down behind a series of rocky extensions, reaching out from the floor of the cave, and aligned his Phaeston with his eyes, scanning the bigger cave up ahead with his rifle. In its center, the brown form of a batarian colonial building, most likely assembled inside the cave itself, given the lack of any entry big enough to just lift a prefab inside, stood in the light of a series of floodlights, somewhat mimicking daylight. He spotted one batarian soldier, his helmet removed due to the presence of the atmospheric generators, leaning against the door way, a Terminator rifle resting in his arms, his brown helmet matching his reddish skin shade. The four eyes of the soldier were focused on the boxy rifle, checking its details instead of scanning his surroundings.
He moved his sights away from the batarian outside of the building as his unit moved up while using rocks and the fading darkness of the cave as cover. Next he found a sniper, a Kishock Harpoon gun placed on a window ledge located on the second level of the colonial building, the sniper, unlike his comrade, had not removed his helmet. Instead four yellow eye slits looked through the scope of the gun, one which had been fired at Desolas in past deployments, and stared straight at the light cone up ahead, intending on shooting any unwanted guests at a moments notice.
"That's a biotic walking up the front door," Veltax observed. "AMP in his neck, only carrying a pistol, bandolier full of inferno grenades."
"Priority target," Desolas finished his comrade's line of thought. "Galviat, put him in your sights, Lieutenant, you'll have to take care of the sniper on the second floor."
His subordinates moved across the dark, rocky surface of the tunnel and crept ever closer towards the light of the main cave, their eyes on their targets, ready to strike once they got the order. Desolas himself, still leaning around the rock for cover, shifted away from the batarian biotic, looking for more enemies in his line of sight. Moving across his field of vision, he found what he was looking for, as another two batarians walked towards the first batarian he had spotted, who was still inspecting his Terminator rifle.
"Veltax, we'll take care of those three. We'll each eliminate one and shift our aim to bring down the third with combined strength."
His orders were fulfilled at a moments notice as the last turian of his unit also moved into position, resting his Phaeston on a rock to steady his aim. Kneeling down the turian began to slow down his breath.
"Anyone else on the motion scanner?"
"Just five other life signs."
With everyone in position, no other foes in the area and the right moment to strike drawing ever closer, Desolas himself aligned his rifle with the batarian he had originally spotted, lighting up his target laser and noting that his team was doing the same, four batarians now doomed without their own knowledge.
"Execute," his finger squeezed the trigger, a mechanical process beginning in his brain.
The round fired by Galviat was a phasic one, tearing through barriers and biotic protection alike. It bypassed the protective field around the batarian biotic and drilled itself into the four-eyed skull, red blood shooting out of the sizeable hole created in place of his nostrils.
The Lieutenant's burst took longer to take down the target but the cover of darkness still enabled her to eliminate the sniper she had been assigned without him getting off a shoot. Her target dropped the Kishock Harpoon down the window as his body slumped forward, red blood running down the wall of the building as his life ended by the hands of a Blackwatch soldier.
The group targeted by Desolas and Veltax didn't suffer such 'pretty deaths', instead simply being riddled by the rapid firing Phaestons the two soldiers had aimed at their three targets. The sand grain sized rounds subjected the batarian soldiers to a hellfire of kinetic energy as each of them was hit by dozens of small projectiles, shattering barriers, penetrating armor and shredding flesh, bone and muscle. The first batarian, who had been taken by complete surprised dropped his rifle as red mist erupted from his back, the force of the rounds making him jerk before he slid down the wall, several red stains appearing as his body revealed the brown metal behind him. Veltax target instead turned around just as his armor was breached, tripping forward as the rounds did their work, his head falling right into the turian's line of fire, ending him as a single round turned his brain to mush. The last batarian was torn apart as two Phaestons, a rifle other militaries such as the Salarian Union's ground forces considered a light machine gun given its magazine capacity and rate of fire, concentrated their bite on him. The rounds of Desolas, coming from the right, tore through the batarians hand carrying the rifle and caused him to drop the weapon before the turians aim found his heart, at the same time Veltax simply sliced through the batarians left side with precise shooting, damaging lungs and bigger blood vessels as he shifted his deadly attention.
As fast as the shooting had started, it ended. Five batarians dead, nothing but the steps of the Blackwatch operatives moving up echoing through the cave.
The four elite soldiers walked into the light, Desolas turning his attention towards the blood stained door as his rifle aimed at it, halfway expecting a batarian slaver with a shotgun to jump out and shoot him in the face while holding an asari child in front of him for protection.
That mission had been particularly nasty. Slavers were simply the scourge of this galaxy.
Past memories vanishing as he mentally forced them down the hole they had crawled out of, Desolas came to a stop just in front of the door, the red body fluids of a batarian staining his armor's feet somewhat weirdly as they clashed with its black colour.
Galviat stepped past him, placing his sniper rifle on his back, now shouldering his own Phaeston given the close quarter combat ahead of him, and placed a hand on the manual opening of the aging batarian building.
Desolas nodded towards him and the turian pulled the lever, the door swinging inwards as Galviat gave it a shove. Desolas, leading by example as expected from any Blackwatch officer, was the first through the door. Spotting nothing in front of him, he shifted towards the side the door had opened to as the second soldier through the door covered the other side. He was again greeted by nothing, finally leaning around just so he could see past the door, checking for any hidden hostiles.
"Clear," Veltax called as he covered an entry to another room.
"Clear," Desolas echoed, his side equally peaceful. "Check those side rooms." he said keeping his eyes trained on the door in front of him. "Then we move forward."
A series of metal thuds sounded behind him as two Blackwatch soldiers forced open doors and entered the rooms, no gunfire indicating that the Lieutenants scan had been correct. They were in fact alone.
Desolas felt the hand on his shoulder as he began to move, Galviat once more stepping past him to repeat the process with the door up ahead.
It swung open ,revealing a batarian lab and a stair way upwards. The lab was messy, terminals, notes, geological samples and wiring covering the place as Desolas moved forward, turning the corner and staring down a very familiar sight, lining the shelves of the laboratory, some of them placed on the ground. Wires and other scanning equipment were attached to them, apparently the batarians were in the process of finding out just what these were.
He wasn't interested in any of that. He knew enough.
"Back. Now. Fast," he ordered as purple, smooth spheres greeted him. They were the same size as Haliat's unit had encountered only it wasn't just one. No by his count it had to be atleast five. Five spheres hardly guarded by the batarians. Untold numbers of them possibly just out of sight.
His unit did as they were told and double timed out of the room as if it would blow any second. Desolas himself lingered, ignoring his own advice and lowering his rifle as he noted one of the spheres looking slightly different. It reminded him of an ancient sticky grenade, spikes extending from the spheres interior and reaching in all directions, a camera pointed at it from one of the tables, wiring that looked like it belonged to the sphere itself laid out on a table next to it. They were running tests on these things.
"General," he heard as he gazed at the spheres, something about them just made him curious. He dismissed the call of his Lieutenant with a wave of his hand. His mind began to race. The pirates had stole the spheres, the batarians were now securing the planet but they considered a dozen of the things expendable? Such a low priority that only a fraction of the ground forces were guarding this place? The had to know what these things could do. Batarians weren't above using slaves for experiments and this place looked aged. Surely they had been down here long enough to figure out it's effects?
Something wasn't right here. Sure, the Umbra had been undetected but Desolas himself would never leave such a location with such a small unit. Unless those spheres were so plentiful on Jartar that a few dozen were to the Hegemony what a few credits were to a rich asari matriarch. Insignificant.
His instincts had never failed Desolas and right now they were telling him that someone wanted him to find these spheres.
"General!" he heard, shaking his head as he stopped focusing on the smooth outlines of the artifact. He had seen what these things could do, no need to push the spirits of fate today. One Arterius had already been spared by them, he'd hate to tempt them once more. He walked out of the room and found his unit looking at him.
He almost fell for his unknown foes trap. Luckily he wasn't alone, a turian could always rely on his comrades.
"You've been in there for two minutes Sir," the Lieutenant said. "Are you alright?"
"I' fine," he said, somewhat surprised that two minutes had seemed like mere seconds. This really had been a close one.
"Whatever these fools dug up here, we'll burry it. There is a reason they left them here for us to find. I won't take the chance with these thing," Desolas ordered with resolve in his voice. "I want this cave collapsed, can you do that Veltax?"
"Yes, Sir. I'll just need some time to place the demolition charges in the right places."
"Make it happen as fast as possible. For all we know these things are biological weapons, primed to do to us whatever they did to Haliat," Veltax and Galviat hurried out of the room, beginning their task.
"Sir, if we blow this cave our trail goes cold," Lieutenant Callius said, now alone with him. "We should grab whatever we can and follow the trail here on Jartar."
"If we don't blow this cave, by this time tomorrow I might shoot you in the back, Lieutenant," Desolas countered. "If the trail goes cold but I prevent that from happening, I'll gladly take that chance. Whatever the batarians found here needs to be can't leave this place. It's far too dangerous."
The general closed the door behind him. "Inform the Umbra that we'll pull out for now. Tell them to prepare quarantine for me. I want to be on lockdown for the next two days. For all we know those things already accomplished their purpose on me."
"Yes, Sir," the Lieutenant replied as both of them walked out of the room. "Might I suggest something?"
"Speak your mind."
"The batarians must have killed some pirates during the attack on their research team, I give them that much credit. If we find those bodies, we might also find whatever clues they have gathered on them," the Lieutenant said her hands moving in an explanatory fashion. "The Hegemony might support piracy in the Terminus, but not if it concerns their own space. They hunt them down just as any other government. I assume they'd be even more 'eager' to find this particular group of rogues given the nature of their operation on Jartar."
"Instead of focusing on the trail laid by our prey and seeing it go cold, we stalk the predator following it with more success than us. Striking it down when it reaches its target," Desolas mused. "You were right to speak up, Lieutenant Callius. This was a good idea."
"I have my moments, Sir."
The two walked out of the building just as Veltax began to apply charges to a rather important looking stone pillar. "I'll make it look like a natural collapse, Sir."
"Make sure the bodies are damaged to such a degree that the batarians won't be able to tell they were shot."
"Of course, Sir." Veltax said. "Lieutenant, could you be so kind and lift that dead sniper out of there?"
"Just this once," the turian woman joked as she began to glow purple, engulfing the corpse in biotic energy. "And just because you asked so nicely."
"You treat me so well, Ma'am."
The corpse began to float down just as Galviat began to drag the corpses away from the building and towards the stone pillar, increasing the chance that they'd be burried and mangled by falling rocks.
"Any idea where the Hegemony would take the corpses of the pirates?" the Lieutenant asked him as she dropped the batarian sniper.
"I know where I'd store them." Desolas replied. "But you won't like it."
"Where, Sir?" Veltax asked as he placed yet another charge.
"Medical section of the cruiser. Keeping the corpses cold until experts arrive for examination."
"Sounds like we're going for a little space excursion," Galviat called as he dropped the batarian biotic down on the pile he had started. "Just what I was looking forward to."
10. June, 2388 AD, Cronos Station
"With Sederis dead, we just need to wrap up the last resistance pockets and the matter will be concluded," he said, his gaze held on the glass in his hand, the liquid in it swirling as he moved his hand in a circular pattern.
"IFS sympathies are growing though," the other man said, the lighting of the room obscuring his face in the shadow while shining on the red dagger on his uniform. "The army has been cracking down on cells but with every one we clear, two more seem to appear."
"The situation is growing rather bleak, I have to agree on that," Harper said as he took a sip of his drink. "What is your take on this new, xenophobic movement on Shanxi? I hear they are starting to draw in Iffy sympathizers and regular people alike. Worrying, isn't it?"
"Yes, this whole 'Terra Firma' thing has been growing exceptionally fast on Shanxi. The worst part is that it was founded by a guy the army recently arrested for breaking the curfew, we can't keep making our own enemies," the man agreed.
"Rei," Harper said as the man in the background stepped forward, revealing a scarred asian face. "What if I told you that resurging separatism in the Fringe isn't our main issue at the moment?"
"What happened?" the other man asked as he raised an eye-brow, not taking the bait.
"Do you recall what happened to my eyes?" Jack Harper said as he turned around in his chair, blue artificial orbs meeting the brown eyes of his former Section 13 partner.
"They found another one?" the man said, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the unnatural shade of blue. "When?"
"Word is some pirates stole it from the Batarian Hegemony, turian special forces tracked them down, one of them turned on the others. Now, after engaging the pirates on 'Tunae Prime', the Hierarchy has sealed of parts of the Hades Gamma cluster."
"What does Task Force Lightbringer say about all this?" 'Ryōshi' asked, referring to the Cerberus unit with the sole assignment of gathering as much of the Shadow Brokers knowledge as possible while trying to get a fix on the secretive information broker's position. Tracking the broker of course had the pleasent side effect of learning some of the things his agents told him in the progress.
"Surprisingly little," Harper replied. "Only that Turian Naval Intelligence has claimed all hostile corpses from an engagement with the pirates before shipping them off to god knows where. The details are spotty, apparently even the Shadow Broker can't quiet break turian secrecy like he can do to the batarians but the word 'unknown cybernetic augmentations' caught our attention."
"I can see why it would. I presume you are asking me to go to the Hades Gamma Cluster to find it?"
"This is something I can't entrust my strike teams with. This needs the attention of someone who knows how dangerous these things are," Harper explained. "Furthermore everything linked to Object Omnicron is still classified to anyone outside of Section 13. Not even the Chancellor is aware of its existance, let alone my encounter with it back in 2379."
"He's really buying that they are just experimental prosthetics? I figure you would've told him by now really." the specialist blurted out.
"I am one of the few Section 13 specialists he ever had a face to face with. For all he knows half of us could walk around with blue, shiny eyes and robot arms." Harper muttered. "If there are more of these things out there, we have to take them out of the equation," Harper rose from his chair. "You are my first pick on this one Tao, you saw what they can do. You were with me when we found them."
"Jack, are you sure that this isn't something the Chancellor should know of?"
"All in due time, right now the government would just waste our time. Debating won't solve this issue, just give it more time to grow."
"Just because we were given autonomy during the Fringe Wars, doesn't mean we should exercise it in times of peace, you should know that Jack. We are still serving the HSA. We need to be accountable for our actions, especially in situations like this."
"Ryōshi, you should know that sacrifices have to be made in order to ensure humanity's survival. This time, we have to sacrifice parts of the truth to do our job. If we inform Chancellor Noé, therefore not using our right to autonomy in face of serious issues, we allow another Object Omnicron to do its bidding with no one there to keep it in check until he gives us the go ahead," Harper reasoned as he handed him a tablet computer. "I've written up a detailed report on the matter alongside a briefing. You know this is the right thing to do."
The man across him took the tablet as he began to read, showing his final agreement with Harper.
"You are leaving in four hours, the director already cleared the operation," Harper said and the man began to leave. "Watch your back out there, Tao. This is a tough one."
"It'll be easier if I don't have to watch yours as well, Jack," the specialist joked.
With that he left the director of Cerberus alone on the viewing deck of Cronos Station, only a white star keeping him company as he lit another cigarette. He inhaled the smoke, a calming sensation rushing through his body and picked up what he had been working on before. Sometimes he missed simply being in the field, less administrative work and more movement had always been his preferable environment. But he couldn't be picky right now.
He knew first hand how serious this situation was.
2130 CE, THS Silus, Medical Bay
Making sure everyone else was asleep, he turned on the omni-tool Hepsus had delivered when he had returned with the rest of Saren's squad. After booting it up, a new message popped up in the corner of his omni-tool, sent by his eldest brother, Desolas Arterius.
"Saren, I've heard you're up. I've spoken to Kabalim Vitallion, apparently he's thinking about recommending you for the Nova Cluster for your bravery," he read. "I'm sorry about your comrade but this is the oath we took. Death is part of our duty, do not feel guilty about him," he kept reading, Desolas voice narrating the message in his mind. "Mother and the rest of their family are sending their congratulations and hope you get well soon, they're glad to hear you're awake,", of course, no direct mention of his father. Not that it surprised him really. "There are a lot of things we have to talk about Saren, I have been keeping a secret from our family for far too long, I don't think I have to keep it from you anymore," Saren's mandibles clicked into a thinking expression once more as he kept reading. What was Desolas talking about? "We'll see each other soon, there's a lot we have to discuss. Until then, know that my thoughts are with you, brother. You've done good, I couldn't be more proud of you."
He closed the message, a warmth creeping up from inside him as he read the final words, then his mind shifted. A new thought forming inside his head as he saw the 'download completed' notification in the left corner of the omni-tools projection.
There were still two recordings left which he hadn't seen yet. Two recordings Saren was certain he needed to see.
He pressed play and Elanos Haliat returned to the 'screen' of his omni-tool, the background matching that of the prefab he had found the recording in. Haliat looked different, there were fine blue lines running under his face and no signs of the injuries he had sustained just days before.
"The artifact healed me. No, it didn't just heal me. It improved me," the Blackwatch officer began. "It has shown me things, things I can't quite grasp yet but it still makes sense now. All of it really," he rambled. "How could we not see it? It was obvious. This entire time we've been living a lie. Our entire understanding based on a faulty assumption," the turian laughed, sounding equally amused and desperate.
What in the name of the spirits was he talking about?
"I feel stronger than before, more alive than I've ever felt," the turian said, yellow eyes now turned blue, his voice different from last time. Deeper. "The artifact is just a piece in all of this, just another pawn in a game played since long before we even rose from Palaven," Haliat said. "Compared to its master, we're insignificant but its gifts can still benefit us. There is still hope for us. With its powers, we can create a new breed of soldier. A breed that will be able to endure what's to come."
Haliat shifted in his chair, looking over his shoulder as if he was being watched.
"Some of the pirates refused to embrace its touch, we delivered them from their wrong path. The rest of us now serves its purpose," This was strange, Saren remembered how Haliat thought the artifact was a threat to the Hierarchy just two days before this recording, how even the pirates had thought the same.
"I was wrong about its nature," he explained as he got up and began to pace the room again, "If only they could've seen it, they would've been useful pawns in the battles to come," Haliat turned towards the camera, the appearance of his body sending shivers down Saren's spine, blue lines everywhere, a mechanical talon in place of his left, organic one, his stance somewhat hunched. No sign of the person that had made the last recording, let alone the two before. The recording ended there, no sign of anyone actually pressing the stop button, just a frozen frame of a deformed turian soldier staring at the viewer.
Saren shook his head and opened the last file, made mere hours before his unit had raided the base.
"They are coming, they are trying to take it away from me. I won't let them have it. I've ordered the pirates to hide the artifact, bring it somewhere safe," the turian said, clutching his head in pain. "Something is in my head, I can feel it. Ever since the artifact's touch grew more distant, I've been in doubt," the turian said. "Is there justice in my acti-"
He suddenly snarled, jumping up from his sitting position, throwing his chair across the room. "I can't doubt myself now," he whispered. "I can't doubt my actions, it is far too late for that," he repeated himself, his stance shifting as if he was fighting an invisible opponent, knife drawn without him even noticing it, walking in circles, facing whoever it was Haliat thought to be in the room, expecting the first strike. For nearly a minute, the turian captain remained silent, facing off against a fragment of his imagination. Then, as suddenly as he had drawn it, he dropped the blade and walked back up to the camera, his voice becoming clearer. "But I have to. There was no justice in what I did, there was no reason for my actions, I've been deceived, misguided," Haliat began to type away at the personal terminal, his exact intent hidden by the angle of the camera.
"I know someone will find this," he declared, once more sounding like the officer in the first recording, his eyes slightly less blue, a taint of yellow appearing, a sense of urgency in his tone. "The humming, spirits the humming already should've tipped me off," he chuckled nervously. "The voices, I try to fight them but they are too strong." he explained, the tone of urgency becoming even more noticeable. "I've felt its grasp lighten at times only for the shadows to return without warning, I'll lock the computer and these logs to the outside and myself." Then his voice shifted again as he withdrew from the terminal, snarling like a caged varren, fighting a battle within himself.
"No the artifact is righ-, I am still," he declared, voice sounding deeper, the blue in his eyes starting to glow ever more aggressive but dying down again as the Blackwatch officer smashed his remaining organic hand against the side of his head. "The shadows are closing in, I feel myself fading away while something else is replacing me piece by piece," he shook his head, the blue almost vanishing. "Locking the terminal now. If anyone finds this and comes looking for me, kill me, don't hesitate. I am beyond saving. Don't get near the artifact, no matter how tempting its call appears, no matter what the voices promise. There is som-"
He snarled once more, almost sounding like an animal, defiance evident in his eyes as blue began to creep up. As his organic hand visibly stopped the mechanical one from reaching the screen, Haliat looked into the camera for a final time. "I am too far gone. Its grasp is returning. I can feel it, this is the end of me. I can't fight it, not again. I'm sorry, I failed."
The recording ended as the turian entered a final command into the terminal. Haliat's eyes once more completely blue. This was only a shell of the turian that had created the first recording out of boredom but a small spark of hope remained in his eyes. A hope that someone would heed his message, find the recordings. Act on his warning.
That someone had been Saren.
He thought about what he heard, what he had learned. Something out there, something not even a Blackwatch officer was able to fight but merley delay, was waiting for its moment to strike. A predator lurking in the dark, ready to jump its unsuspecting prey. The galaxy needed someone to stand against it, someone who'd seen this recording. It needed someone who'd shine a light into the dark hiding spot of whatever creature lurked in the shadows.
Then and there in a hospital bed aboard the THS Silus, Saren Arterius made a choice that would define his life and his legacy.
He'd be the one to carry the torch.
Codex: Fringe Wars 2378 AD
2378 AD began with the election of Francis Noé, the earth-born politician becoming acting chancellor after the previous government stepped down. Born in 2329 to a working class family, Lieutenant Commander Francis Noé only entered the political playground in 2364 after completing a 25 year contract as a fighter pilot of the HSA Navy.
Before his appointment, the man had been called 'reactionary', 'pragmatic' and 'aggressive' by his advesaries, making him an unlikely candidate to be elected during stable peace times. However his past history of military service and his alignment with the Systems Alliance Foundation (SAF), the oldest party of the HSA, turned him into an attractive candidate in times of war and instability.
In his opening speech, addressing a parliament consisting of only 74% of its previous size, some now members of the IFS senate, others dead, the chancellor called for a large scale offensive into the Fringe while using his constitutional emergency executive order to give parts of the HSA Intelligence Service, namely Section 13 (See Entry 'Human Systems Alliance Intelligence Service') autonomy of action in face of extreme danger or short notice deployments. Said standing order, considered by many as a complete violation of the balance of power, remains active as of today.
The most quoted part of the speech, largely considered the reason for the parliament voting in favor of a bigger military offensive being, 'If we do not act now, if we do not show resolve in face of rebellion, terrorism and outright injustice, can we really claim to represent humanity's best interest? Can we simply sit in the safety of Arcturus's walls while our soldiers wait for us to decide? I ask only one thing of you. Give our troops, give my comrades the opportunity to fight these traitors. Give humanity something it needs right now. Strength, hope. Let's show these Iffy bastards what's coming for them."
Followed by the change of office, the HSA's military began to draw up plans, moving from counter insurgency operations to all out war in a matter of five weeks. The early months of 2378 were dominated by IFS units being routed as the HSA Navy and Marine Corps began to decimate them with the help of orbital supremacy.
The series of victories was interrupted on April 13th 2378 in brutal fashion, called the Dark Thursday by naval veterans, the 27 missing warships returned in a surprise attack on a rally point of HSA naval assets, destroying 19 ships docking in port above Bekenstein, one being the dreadnought 'HSASV Broad Peak' waiting for troops to board it before bombarding the colonial world targeting civilian and military installations alike, killing a total of 610.231 people, only some 20.000 being military personal.
Shaken by the attack, the HSA government gave a massive order to the military industrial complex, beginning the construction of the Sun Tzu Assault Carriers, while mobilizing the resources of every world to expand the navy and replace losses, the Fringe Wars escalating to be an all out stellar war between two human governments.
Followed by the Dark Thursday, the HSA, fuelled by a desire for vengeance, began 'Operation Back Breaker', starting the all out invasion of Mindoir, Port Bigby and Camelot. The fighting on three of the original Separatist Seven worlds would last well into 2379.
The year ended with several naval skirmishes as IFS forces began the construction of several naval vessels using the industrial base of the Fringe to supply their armed forces. By December 2378 the casualty count of the Fringe Wars had climbed to 20.8 million people, 17.5 of which had died during the last twelve months.
A/N: So I know this one's a little shorter than usual but I just felt like its good like it is right now so this is all you're getting today. :)
A bit longer codex today, second part of the Fringe Wars finally revealed and other details about Harper' past surfacing. Truly an exciting chapter.
I tried to portrait Desolas as the kind of leader that would make anyone follow them, I don't know if he actually is like this in the comics since I never read them but right here he is so yeah.
Review and let me know what you think guys, right now we're at 233 favorites and 290 follows. 91 reviews. Can we crack 100 reviews and 300 follows with this chapter? Would be really nice. Other than that I don't have much to say besides thanks for everyone reading this, really appreciate you guys and your feedback. Keep the review coming guys.
Seriously, I am addicted to them. Give me my fix.
See you around next time.
