Flesh and Metal:
Book One:
The Saren Incident:
Interlude 1
It was almost funny how easily these humans died, Saren though to himself as he watched the human female on the ground choke on her own blood, a massive hole where her throat should have been. Her blood also dripped from his talons, splattering against the cool metal of the spaceport dock. The stupid woman had tried to attack him while he had been blasting holes into one of synthetics that helped unload heavy cargo from the ships that landed here and had been defending the port when it came under attack.
The woman had tried to attack him with a plasma torch, it had been easy for him to side step her attack and tear her throat out. "You died for a machine." He adressed the primative on the ground as her body finally stopped moving, dead at last. "And it wasn't even worth it." He said with a hum as he looked over to where the synthetic law, utterly non-functional.
The sound of several pairs of footsteps approaching made him look to the side, Benezia was dressed more like she was expecting to attend a political function on Thessia rather than standing in the middle of a warzone and yet she looked utterly calm, but then she was hardly defenceless with her custom heavy pistol at her hip, her own formidable biotics and her commando bodyguards.
She only had four with her at the moment, two dark purple Asari, one that almost look to verse on being green and on being a very light blue. They wore the traditional commando leathers and two held Asari made shotguns, another was armed with an SMG and the last carried no weapon but Saren knew better than to assume that a Commando was harmless simply because she was unarmed.
Benezia sighed as she glanced down at the primative's body, Saren would never understand how a being of such grace and wisdom and power would ever be able to find it in herself to find compassion for a being that was so clearly beneath her Saren would never understood. "I have never wavered in my devotion to you, or to our cause, Saren and I never will but moments like this make it...difficult."
"It must be done Benezia, you came to me because you understood that and we can not falter now." Saren sighed as he looked down at the woman's body. "There will be more deaths before this done, perhaps millions more, and we can not falter at even a single one of them no matter how much we might wish to do so. You will pay a heavier price than me, than anyone, can you do this?"
Benezia held herself high, not many people were taller than Saren but Benezia was and as she stood there with her head up and her shoulders back Saren truly did understand why tens of millions of Asari revered her so highly. "I told you that I will not falter, and I meant it. The entire galaxy is at stake, compared to that the blood of tens of millions is nothing."
"Saren, Benezia." The slightly synthesized sounding voice of their newest ally drew their attention to the other side of the spaceport where the admiral was striding towards them, his Omni-Tool alight. "My men have found the beacon and secured it, it seems to have been moved by a team of Aliance marines in order to protect it but my men have dealt with them."
"Excellent," Saren hummed and then turned to focus his attention fully on Benezia. "Lady Benezia, go and extract yourself now with your commandos. I will extract myself with the Admiral and his team and rejoin with Sovereign at a later time."
"Of course, be well gentlemen." The Matriarch inclined her head to the both of them and turned, walking back in the direction of her ship, an Asari frigate with her Commandos leaving Saren alone with the Admiral.
Before Saren could say anything else there was a beep from the Admiral's Omni Tool and if Saren could see his face he would guess there would be a frown on it as the other man his a control on his Omni-Tool and a screen flickered in front of him.
"I put up some recon drones around the air, not armed but hard for them to be noticed so we could have some early warning." The other man was silent then as he examined the footage before he turned so Saren could see the screen. "I thought only humans, asari and Geth called this planet home so what is one of your people doing here?"
"Nihlus." Saren sighed as he lets his eyes fall shut and his talons clenched, he had known that there would be sacrifices but he had practically raised Nihlus, had made him the solider he was today. He had few friends, even fewer people he could honestly came to care about in anyway, but Nihlus was one of those people who could claim to be both. Could he truly do this?
But even as he questioned, Sovereign was there to keep him from doubting. Even with the Reaper miles away, raining hell down as the mutated Batarians butchered their way through the streets to keep eyes away from the dig site and the beacon, the ship could still touch his mind, could still help him to see that this was the only way forward, that if they wanted anything from their galaxy to endure then this was the only way for them to do so.
Saren would not falter.
"Go and join with your men, Admiral. I will be there in a moment." Just as the other man nodded and moved to turn away Saren surged forward and clamped his talons around the other man's wrist, their was something about the knowledge that if he wasn't careful enough with his talons that he could rip through the suit that protected the other man from the world that made the gesture that much more powerful. "Let me be clear, you are not to interact with the beacon, that is my honor. Do you understand me, Quarian?"
Rael'Zorah cursed and pulled his arm away, but he did not speak until after he had looked down to make sure his suit was still in one piece Saren was pleased to not. "I understand perfectly bosh'tet, don't keep me waiting." And with those charming parting words, he was gone. Saren sighed, he knew saving the galaxy wasn't always glamorous work but honestly, did it have to include so much working with vermin? If he had to start working with Vorch he might start to complain.
Saren leaned against a shipping crate and waited.
And as he waited, Sovereign continued to whisper in his ear.
End of Interlude 1
DUN DUN DUN!
Welp, there's another change that Geth siding with the humans and having an alliance with them cause and I am certain this is not going to be a controversial choice at all.
But anywho, next time we get back to the proper chapters. Also, I am going to announce here that I am going to start working on a Codex fic for this AU so keep an eye out for that.
With a great deal of respect and warmest regards,
DiscordantSymphony
