Chapter V : Abominable intelligence Part 1 Ghosts of the Past.
Months have yet again passed, and imperial expedition was gripped with paranoia, they have openly invaded one of the planets of the Asari Republics, dug in, and waited for the enemy fleets to come.
They never did.
Aurelian primaris was well on its way of becoming a fortress world, countless trenches, anti-space batteries, myriads of gun emplacements and makeshift vessels were constructed in anticipation of the coming battle. Asteroids were weaponized and crude engines attached to them enabling them to fly against the enemy fleet should such an action be required.
Its Asari population suffered greatly under the hands of their new overlords, extensive genetic experimentation took place as mechanicus sought to better understand its enemies, realizing with time, much to the horror of the techpriests present, that the asari species were capable of reproducing with other races in such a way that any offspring with an asari would yield an asari.
It took much convincing, shouting, and threats of violence in order to calm down more terrified priests who insisted on exterminating the asari lest human genome be defiled in such a manner.
Some techpriests suggested destroying the mass relay and isolating themselves further. These radical ideas were swiftly swept aside by the more aggressive members of the cult mechanicus, for destroying the mass relay would no doubt cause an immense energy explosion on the scale they still couldn't fathom, potentially destroying the entire system in the process.
Romeluss had his agents spread in the nearby systems posing as refugees; they would collect information and hopefully discover what the Asari republics were intent on doing after the loss of their colony.
Much to his surprise, the fragmented nature of the asari republics accused each other of corporative plots and sabotage; they were more focused on speculation rather than action.
Citing that the colony itself broke various citadel as well as Republican regulations, and that sending fleet or any other ship into that unexplored part of space was madness without further information as to what happened. Once again, the bureaucracy made any sort of action impossible until various republics agreed on the further course of action. This was a blessing to the rising imperium, the long lived asari gave them what they most sorely needed.
Time.
They could not sit idly by, the imperium was still surrounded by massive area of space that they knew nothing about, and so the mechanicus explorator fleets were created, they were swift, agile little ships, designed for speed and maneuverability. And they would be sent to the relays in the uncharted regions of space, finding out what laid beyond, bringing back what could benefit the Imperium, mechanicus was ecstatic for the opportunity to hoard new technology and discoveries, and they most eagerly began crafting the ships and sending crews through the relay. Secrecy was paramount, citadel species needed not know about the imperium at this stage, and mechanicus was well known to hide what they didn't want the galaxy at large to know about.
What these eager ships discovered could fill a library on its own, for this galaxy is old and held many wonders, some for the benefit of mankind, others too horrible to even record.
One of these ships named Felix Romuliana came upon a system where the mass relay was not activated, worse yet, some attempts to destroy it were made, and scorch marks from various laser and plasma weapons scared its surface. This did not deter the eager explorers that used stolen techniques of activating the dormant relays. After litanies of the machine, and binary prayers to sooth its machine spirit before bringing it to life, tech priests used holy incense and sang litanies to the Omnisiah, before simply pressing the button and activating the prehistoric structure.
At first nothing happened, perhaps the relay was to damaged, then the ancient energies began flowing through it, viciously moving its length before the main part of the relay glowed with the strength of a super nova, blinding one of the adepts too eager to gaze directly into it as it happened, his brothers helping him and and placing him on the table in order to graft bionic eyes onto him, his duty not yet done.
The mass effect relay was alive.
Wasting no time, the ship Felix Romuliana engaged its engine and began the course of warping through the relay and onto another system.
The travel was quick and upon exist they were met with a stunning view. The entire star system was one giant ship graveyard from before young races of the current galaxy walked its stars. A huge battle once happened here as evident by the destroyed ships of all sizes.
Ships numbered in their thousands as they all circled around a grey planet composed of one giant megacity encompassing it wholly.
Engineseer Kalmador was first to speak, his cold voice breaking the silent atmosphere inside the main bridge.
"Initiate scanning procedures, I want information about these ships, the planet and why is this system abandoned after so many millennia."
"Yes enginseer.",spoke his second in command, Agrippa. "The preliminary scans indicated this battle occurred some 50 thousand years ago, the preservation of the hulls is uncommon, meaning there were no trespassers and tech thieves coming here. We might be the first ones after a long time"
"What made this system so isolated?", Kalmador turned around and his bionic eyes met those of Agrippa.
Agrippa's gaze mate his and in calm voice typical to the mechanicus he said. " We are in the center of the galaxy, all around us are black holes, if anybody or anything attempted to use impulse engines and crawl to this system, they would be destroyed. As for why the relay was offline, at this moment, we do not know"
His gaze returning to the great void, Kalmador gesticulated towards what was the biggest ruin of a ship. "I would see this ship explored and information gathered, drive us to it" there was a binary response from the pilot and his crew, as the ship began speeding to what was near 2 kilometer war vessel. it had 3 laser scars along the vertical lines of it hull, to the trained eye of the Enginseers, such damage would cause critical system failure and atmosphere loss, killing the crew in the process"
"Approaching unidentified vessel, engaging docking clamps in 3…2…1…engaged" one of the servitors uttered.
There were tremors reverberating across the exploratory vessels as it attached to the unknown ship. And without second of waiting Enginseers Kalmador and Agrippa stood from their seats and went towards the docking bay, followed by their personal expedition comrades of ten scitarii, thrity lobotomized human and asari servitors and near 50 of imperial guardsmen, their orders received in binary from the Enginseers.
As they neared the exit they noticed several servitors attempting to open the aged door by chanting binary litanies and prayers.
"My lord" one of the servitors said. "The Machine spirit is unwilling, this door would not open."
"I can see." Said Kalmador. "Cut it through"
His orders were received with great shock, for to disturb the machine spirit in such a way…
"It is an alien object, I would see no respect shown to the machine made by the inferior beings" he shifted towards one of the passive servitors and repeated "Cut it through."
Servitors huddled around the door and like Ionius IV's leeches who could devour a grown man in under a minute began carving the door of alien vessel. Old age and disrepair have done half of the work and the door collapsed venting foul and corrupted oxygen out of the ship, even though their void masks several guardsmen recoiled from the stench.
" We advance ." was the only thing said by Kalmador as he steped into the darkness, his tech flashlight flaring to life and cutting through the shadows.
He was followed by his companions and they started moving into the ship.
"Release C.A.T. and servo skull Units. Nothing will be hidden what can be shown." Spoke Agrippa. "They will chart this vessel for us"
Small mechanical beings resembling animals and skulls of fallen comrades went in all directions they could as the ever unrelenting Kalmador proceeded to what his mechanical senses told him was a bridge.
The ship was silent, but yet, even in its dead hull, there was air, stale and polluted from centuries upon centuries of being unfiltered, but it was air.
"how fare the inner hull scans brother? " Agrippa asked one of the techpriests accompanying them.
"Ill brother, the machine spirit is unwilling, something is preventing the scans, I have lost contact with several CAT units, this ship is dangerous, it is a miracle it is keeping together after all this time. "
"Regardless, we must press onwards" Kalmador interceded.
Agrippa uttered under his breath." Omnisiah preserve us"
The tension was high, as guardsmen felt watched, the cramped and darkened corridors felt weird and from the corner of their eyes, something was moving.
"My lord, here!" one of the guardsmen accompanying the expedition shouted.
"What madness grabs hold of you to shout this loud in an unexplored place? "
"I..uh.. apologies noble lord,forgive me.. I have found skeletal remains of something."
Giving him one quick glance, Kalmador moved him with his hand to the side before kneeling and gazing at the skeleton.
His metallic appendages grasping the skull of the being in front of him, he studied for a while before speaking.
"This Xeno has two pairs of eyes, its skull also has three pairs of nostrils" "he twisted the skull to the right and with a sickening crack the skull detached, Kalmador kept observing it " it has a thick layered carapace skull, shielding its brain, if it has it in the same place. I conclude this being an bipedal insect."
With that he stood still grasping the skull before releasing it to the ground, the skull fell and broke into dozens of pieces.
"This skeleton is not old, a couple centuries at least, it is young compared to the age of this graveyard."
"What does that mean?" asked Agrippa.
"It means…" Kalmador's bionic eyes switched to bio sign vision "that we might not be alone in this vessel."
"We march onwards, with zealous purpose…and with a loaded gun" with those words the companions of enginseer kept marching, tightly clutching their guns gazing into the shadows their eyes open as they could be, only the cold servitors showed no response to what was going on.
After minutes of walking down the ship they have reached great double automatic doors, they have been broken into, the metal bending inwards into the room. They have reached the main bridge.
In it, a horrifying sight met them, skeletal remains and old gore and blood everywhere. To the surprise of techpriests the terminals still had power, Kalmador started moving towards the central one, stepping on top of alien remains his steel boots supported by his near three hundred kilo weight due to augmentation cracked them like eggs as he approached.
He stood over the central terminal, raising his hands began incanting thousand prayers from thousand books of mechanicus in binary in such a speed that human mind could not comprehend.
He then exposed a needle like metallic object from his hand and injected into the main terminal, backlash shaking the two meter tall priest like a doll, but he was adamant in his desire to learn the secrets of the machine.
The entire ship reverberated, and howls erupted inside the vessel, carried by steel empty corridors all the way to the main bridge. The inhabitants of this damned coffin were angry.
"By the Emperor…" one of the guardsmen said as he gazed at the long corridor leading outside the main bridge.
Climbing on top of one another, sprinting directly at them were hundreds if not thousands of mutated, degenerate offspring of the race that once controlled this ship. They resembled nothing like the proud race that once ruled this galaxy before the great culling.
Screeching, their mouths drooling greenish liquid, mad with rage and hunger they rushed against the dumbstruck soldiers who kept looking at the unreal sight before them.
They were brought to reality as servitors opened fire against the oncoming horde, their heavy stubbers spewing fiery death cracking the shells of the insectoid mutants, as their ever cold faces kept calculating the amount of ammunition compared to the amount of the enemies. Calculating servitors deemed their chances of survival at 7%.
Agrippa began shouting orders.
"To arms you sons of paleo dogs! To arms!" vox enhancing his voice tenfold. "Guard Kalmador with your very lives!"
It was at this moment that the companions opened combined fire of lasgun and stubber against the increasing tide of grey aliens.
The chances of survival increased to 25%
While the cacophony of firing and screams grew ever louder, Kalmador was drifting far away from this place, his mind merging with the ancient computer, information was partial as the old machine was damaged from old age and trauma damage from the enemy weapons, he swam in its data seas and saw its creators, the race of beings called Protheans. He saw their rise from primitive race to rulers of this galaxy. He saw the sunset of their rule as the war turned against them by the enemy even the computer could not comprehend. He tried to dig deeper but any attempt to learn what enemy destroyed the Protheans was met with firewalls or deleted data. Shifting his gaze, he saw the battle that occurred in this system, hundreds of ships on the prothean side fighting orderly and drone like black ships of their enemies both fleets destroying each other in orgy of violence.
The mad computer he was communing with was driven insane from fifty thousand years of isolation and solitude and it began corrupting itself and ejecting the leechlike priest who was acting like the parasite stealing top secret military information, not realizing his masters and creators were long dead. Last bits of information he could syphon out of it were those that the Protheans attempted to destroy relays from both sides of the system, but for what reason, it was unknown.
The second bit of information he could get before the prothean compter died from stress of the invasive procedure of the Enginseer was, that whatever the protheans fought was on the planet bellow, and denying it the possibility of going to the stars was paramount, sealing it in the system, ideal.
Before he could learn what was on the planet, the computer fried itself as a last resort and Enginseer swam to the top of the ocean of data escaping the whirlwind of the dead machine trying to drag him with it.
He came to his senses to the sounds of war, soldiers were ripped apart by the hungry monstrosities who heeded not the fact that they were fired upon by the companions, but instead began eating their screaming victims alive, only concentrated fire and flamethrowers kept the horde from overrunning them and slaughtering them all.
Kalmador approached the final working terminal, connecting with it and with a single command from his mind, the far end of the corridor was slamed shut by a huge steel door. Isolated from their reinforcements the horde was culled, only dull thudding and grinding nails could be heard from the other side. This wouldn't hold them for long.
"Follow me, we are leaving." Was what Kalmador said before taking the other hallway in a hurry and began walking faster. What remained of his companions hot on his trail as the doors began breaking under the sheer pressure.
The ducts and empty rooms were filled with bones and carcasses of the aliens that assailed them, it would assume that millennia on board of this vessel rend them cannibalistic and utterly mad. The escape was harried by the creatures attacking from the hidden places before being killed or dragging their unfortunate victims back with them into the darkness, their ungodly screams only evidence of their fate.
They have begun trailing down the road they came from, only to find the passage blocked with debris, either from the catastrophic shipquake moments ago or the xenos were purposefully slowing them down. "unfortunate" was the only word Kalmador said before taking the longer path around it, in quick binary command he ordered the last of his servitors to guard their retreat, as the hallway was getting filled with the xenos who by this point broke through the old steel door.
Without emotion the servitors began firing against the horde yet again, as the companions pressed onwards, swallowed by the darkness.
The corridor was now enlightened only by the glow of the autoguns firing and the red hot barrels from overuse as the servitors counted their ammo.
"320 rounds remaining. Xenos incoming, defend the retreat."
"Unit lost. 185 rounds remaining defend the retreat."
"Unit lost, unit lost, unit lost. 98 rounds remaining. Defend the retreat."
"Unit lost, unit lost, unit lost, unit lost, unit lost. 20 rounds remaining. Warning, low ammo, defend the retreat."
"Unit lost, ammo depleted, Unit lost, Error"….unit lost.
The companions and their leader were nearing the shuttle pod, xenos laid dead in the corridor the sentry turrets of the shuttle caused a bloody harvest among the mad creatures that sought to breach into it.
At that moment one of the xenos grabbed one of the techpriest initiates dragging him backwards, he cried for help
"Help me! By the Omnisiah save me!" his cries for help increased in volume as the ravenous creature was joined by few others of his kind lurking in the darkness, the initiate lost a leg as the xenos tore it from his body.
"Arrrgh, by all that is holy in the machine, help me brother enginseer! Aaarrggh!" his voice cords were strained and broken by the screaming, as the xenos carved into his other leg, devouring the helpless priest to the horror of many.
Kalmador turned around ,and from his robe grasped his relic plasma pistol, firing the charged plasma round into the suffering techpriest the hot gas slammed onto the downed priest and exploded melting both him and the xenos attacking it.
His companions looked on in shock. As he calmly executed one of his own.
His response was simple "I expect anyone to do the same to any other servant of the Omnisiah, lest xenos taint our perfection.
Returning his pistol back into his robes, he issues an order "Climb into the ship, damned be this place. We are leaving."
They boarded the ship just in time as the main horde was near, shutting their doors tightly and detaching violently, the ensuing vacuum dragged the nearest monsters into the black void, freezing them.
They were speeding away now and towards their main vessel.
"Brother Kalmador, do we fire at the ship, destroy it and its damned crew?" Agrippa inquired.
"No." Kalmador responded. "who knows that lives in this damned void, and explosion of the main engines would attract whatever still persists here towards us. This ship was abandoned for fifty thousand years, let it remain abandoned for fifty thousand more."
"Our quest is on the planet bellow us, we rest for an hour, restock the ammunition, and pray to the Omnisiah, for we descend into the dead heart of a forgotten empire, with its secrets laid bare before us"
Nobody said anything after that as the small vessel reached Felix Romuliana.
They are now committed, until the end.