HUZZAH! Finally, another chapter. First off, sorry for the delay. As soon as I promised a schedule of updates, BAM! Real life thought it was funny and interjected. I was going to expand this chapter quite a bit but to get the ball rolling on this story again I decided to bring what I had to a stopping point and put it up so everyone could stop thinking I was done and had left a half-finished story littering like some authors have done.
I digress, let me know any questions or comments that any of you have. I always welcome reviews of course. Reviews and messages have already worked to make this story much...more gooder. I would like to thank Imoneoldfart for beta'ing for me for a good bit. Sorry that I just remembered to put you in here. Also, VoidNemesisGOF2 for some help most recently.
The poll is up although the mythic Spartan in all his Chiefiness will not be in the story for some chapters still, I'm glad that I'm getting feedback on how to write him and his Spartans up.
To all those who reviewed, thanks! I'll put in answers to a few of the guest reviewers as well.
Guest : Why u do dis - It's a story about reptile space aliens, slipspace, black-hole powered ships crossing over with an equally fantastic game world with mechanical beings bent on a cycle of destruction who use telepathic space magic to make everyone do what they want. It's all ridiculous, I'm trying to make it ridiculous and entertaining.
Haywire Eagle, I don't have an answer for everything you put in your review but the Genesong isn't the only reason humans have Slipspace, they were a Tier 1 before the war with the Forerunners. Sure, we've got good genes, but slipspace is just something we figured out, good genes aside.
And finally, the guest named Mr D. - My advice? Just start writing, there was a quote somewhere that had some advice that made sense and was all inspirational but my advice is this: just write things. Let people read it and remember how the stories that you enjoyed were written and try to take what you liked from the writing and make it your own. If you want to get better at writing though, just start.
Far from any star or prying eyes, a team of NSSC scientists worked. Their efforts had resulted in the device they now prepared to activate. An observer would see resemblances to the structures thought to have been left behind by the Protheans although much was different.
The asymmetrical design of the relays was abandoned in favor of an omni-directional design centered on the rings. The design most closely resembled the Citadel, what would have been the presidium ring was the structure that the core of the device resided in and was centered along the 15 km length. There were eight arms instead of the Citadel's five and they were articulated at the ring in the center of the four km diameter core.
The team looked out at the device as it initiated a start-up procedure. The rings spinning slowly as the energy core in the center began to dimly glow. The usual process took minutes for an inactive relay, with what they were planning however, it would take much longer for the power-on tests to complete. Everyone held their breath as they approached the first milestone.
After waiting for nearly half an hour, in the center of the device the light flared in a sudden burst of unstable energy and a few gasps were heard from around the command center. A ripple of relief passed over the crowd as the light settled into a strong but steady light with the ring spinning lazily around it. The first milestone was passed, the element zero core was prepared.
"Pseudo-singularity core has reached the optimal output gradient, energy flow is increasing at the planned rate. No abnormalities."
The read outs helped to re-assure the crew of the science vessel. The group had been assigned to study and reverse-engineer the Omega relay. They had taken it apart and put it back together again and knew most of the secrets it contained. A few still eluded them but not enough to hinder the construction of what lie before them. Or to be more accurate, on the view screen of the device five light years distant.
They had discovered that tests involving the relay technology was rather difficult to stabilize when the slip space variables were added. The first four devices had ended up reduced to their constituent particles when the containment had become unstable. Their official goal was to meld a slipspace portal into the relays in hopes to facilitate much larger range and utility. This also meant that they would be able to prevent anyone they didn't want using them from using the relay.
At first the power generation had been an issue so they had applied what they knew of the mass effect and created a pseudo-singularity power core. For all intents and purposes it was the same drive that powered the 'Reclaimed Mantle' but different in that instead of the mass of a gas giant fueling the original creation, they had used element zero to compress a much smaller amount of mass into a singularity. A planet had been stripped of a moon but once the core was stabilized that gas giant had added its gaseous mass to the core, allowing for a much faster production of the cores using the process. Instead of years, it had taken days with the combined utility of element zero and their understanding of gravity.
From the test site the science crew could look down at the galaxy, they were just far enough above the galactic plane that they could make out some of the structure of the galaxy. 10,000 light years sounds like a lot but is really a small distance when considering a galaxy. It is there that the team had finally stabilized the device although only in an idle mode. Much like a relay waiting to be used, the tests for actually stabilizing the mass-less tunnel of space the relays created within a portal in tandem was theoretical. Until today that is.
The second hour passed as the power core poured more energy into the device, the capacitors that were installed on the slip space relay were holding a prodigious amount of energy, waiting to be released. The next milestone was approaching and now there was a very good chance of catastrophic failure. Or in layman's terms – it might explode at any given moment and obliterate anything within roughly 375 AU in every direction.
The rings started to glow with bluish-white energy appearing as a misty tendrils of energy around the inside perimeter of the rings, appearing to fall into the element zero core. What happened in the core of the new relay was a completely new phenomenon, although predicted by an AI who had spent the better part of a week doing nothing but inventing a new branch of mathematics theoretically explaining how mass effect fields operated within slip space. Now the scientists saw it actually working, the last time they had approached this milestone, it had ended badly. A few of the scientists working on it called it an "unscheduled rapid disassembly event." That had earned a few chuckles around the table.
It seemed this time around however, it would hold together and they stared in awe at the strange anomaly in the center. Something that had no right existing in either slip space or normal space had formed. A sphere of light, bent and distorted in such a strange way that it seemed to pulse and move gently around the 'edge'.
"Mass Effect enhanced slip space portal seems stable, readings indicate a roving, unfocused end point. Proceeding to next milestone – establishing the distant end."
The idea behind this was to anchor two ends of a slip space portal to the relays, only one end needed to be of the new design which allowed for huge amounts of flexibility in deploying the portals. Due to the use of element zero, the portal was able to 'latch on' to the distant end relay's core. This would allow for the use of the mass-less corridor the relays use to send things through slip space at the incredible speeds. So much so that it was estimated that within the galaxy, an AI wouldn't even have time to log the travel time. It had opened the possibility of near-instantaneous travel to a different galaxy. At least if there was a significant deposit of Element Zero they could reliably hone in on. Astrophysicists had some work cut out for them if the Assembly ever decided to go inter-galactic.
For now however, the Assembly had decided the best use of this technology would be to allow for faster, secure travel to and from the New Ark. Cutting the time from five days to an instant would allow a larger range of tactical options.
The command center was currently in a state of high alertness, each of the scientists waited for an explosion but hoped for a much less spontaneously energetic event. The rings started spinning quickly and the entire structure thrummed with power as the mass-less tunnel was projected through. Then they were rewarded when the portal suddenly seemed to change from the dark nothingness of slip space to a strangely distorted pinpoint of light. The rings abruptly stopped, saturated by the field that held the portal open, both sets of rings lining up with flat plane of the device allowing unobstructed access to the portal from both sides.
"Analysis of the portal indicates that the light is the view of the galaxy at the distant end, only distorted by the various gravimetric forces acting on it. It seems stable, 150,000 light years in an instant. All data indicates that you could throw a rock into that portal and hit someone standing on the other side."
Cheers rose up throughout the command center, they had succeeded. There were high fives and various other celebrations. Now they would test shutdown procedures before restarting the test to send increasingly complex matter through. They were cautious with the amounts of energy contained and were requiring that they were able to shut it down before even attempting to send more than light through.
"Initiate the power-down sequence. We need to ensure that we can shut this down."
The scientists began sending the sequence to the device which responded as expected. The rings began spinning and glowing in the gamma ray band, imparted with their momentum again in an effort to bleed the portal of energy through an exotic form of hawking radiation. The first indications there was trouble started then, the portal seemed to blink dark before a different image came through. The colors and warped image suggesting the endpoint was in a star system now before blinking out again. As the rings passed over the portal the instances of this increased in frequency, a different distorted image each time until after minutes of scrambling and analyzing the sensor data, it all continued to go downhill.
"We've lost connection with the distant end, it has reverted to an unfocused roving end-point and it is moving rapidly! We are unable to predict the outcome."
The device appeared to vibrate in tune with the fluctuations on the edge of the portal, hinting at another "unscheduled rapid dissassembly event".
"Gravimetric sheer detected throughout the device, the structure is weakening due to violently fluctuating gravity field. A number of new forces and particles are being observed at this time." The calm in the scientist's voice covered the curiosity and panic.
The device began to vibrate violently before it buckled as the rings and portal seemed to have become entangled in a stranger field than before. Sections began moving independently of the larger structure as they were separated from the bulk of the device through a novel interaction of fundamental forces. Pieces of the device were drawn into the portal as the flashes of light coming from the portal were recorded. The scientists scrambled madly for answers, not understanding what was happening.
"The device has been damaged beyond operational ability! The portal is not stable, I repeat, it is destabilizing!"
The portal quickly drew in enough of the device that the structure was no longer enough to prevent its own collapse. The portal was now fluctuating wildly, the space around it seeming to bend towards it as the light and distortions swam wildly around it. The last piece of the device disappeared into the portal which was now just a grey blur of images as the endpoint blinked in and out of existence throughout space. The rings, having been caught in whatever field was keeping the portal intact now were moving in the field that negated the normal laws of physics.
The strangeness of slip space did not react well to a mass-less tunnel it seemed. The rings, having had their mass stripped from them, were now travelling at many times the speed of light. The lack of mass and inertia seemed to have caused whatever strange forces emanating from the portal to accelerate them at a literally impossible rate.
In the last moments the portal existed, it seemed to draw into itself, pulling space to a point before it blinked out of existence while space seemed to snap back to it's original, untwisted state. The rings that had been connected to the portal and the strange warping of physics were suddenly subject to the laws of physics again. The only indication of this was their sudden conversion into energy as their mass was subjected to their effectively infinite momentum crashing against the laws of physics. The bright flash of high-energy radiation announced the final failure of the device, moments later the monitoring system was obliterated by the energy wave.
The command center was quiet. The screen displayed nothing. A number of feelings going through the crew ranging from disbelief at what had happened, silent awe at the event, to even more intense study as the scientists did their best to decipher what they had seen. Things had just become very interesting for them all.
"Inform the Science Advisor, Cortana will want to know about this."
Asari Cruiser 'Resolute'
Matriarch Diara had been furious that the Asari councilor had cut off the summit so quickly. There had been so much more to be discovered! What bothered her most was that after the trip to the NSSC's Shangri La, they were now effectively going to be cut out of the negotiations. She would still have a say in what happened, nothing moved too quickly in this galaxy for the Asari Matriarchs to not be involved, she was mostly annoyed that she had been forced to make the trip in the first place.
She paced in her ample quarters as the ship oriented itself after the trip through "slipspace". She would admit a sense of curiosity about that but for now it was less of a concern than the political implications this meeting had for them all. She had invited the Salarian Dalatrass Narra onboard after they were a small distance away to discuss some of the proceedings. The idea of a Krogan nation free of the genophage had sparked quite a discussion upon leaving before they had boarded their ships.
Her restless pacing was interrupted by the door chiming, her personal VI spoke up at the intrusion, "Matriarch, the Dalatrass has boarded and is waiting to speak to you. Shall I allow her in?"
Diara ignored her VI as she walked up to the door, the VI more often than not did her no good. She didn't hate machines or VI but she had no special interest in them. The door slid open and she greeted the Dalatrass although neither of them were in a particularly cheery mood, old habits were hard to break.
"Dalatrass Narra, I'm glad you decided to accept my invitation. We have almost half a day to discuss what has happened. I want to hear your thoughts on all of this. I know the Krogan cure is of special interest to you." Her calm demeanor in contrast to the Salarian's fast paced movements.
The Dalatrass was agitated at hearing that, the very idea that the Salarian's solution to the Krogan mistake would be undone had concerned her greatly. It had dominated her thoughts since they had left the summit.
"Yes, it is alarming! The Krogan were uplifted as weapons and they've done nothing to improve since we were forced to release the genophage. That Urdnot Wrex talks as if the Krogan can become civil but he is naive." She had immediately began pacing,speaking in the iconic breakneck speed the Salarians were famous for.
"If that wasn't enough, it would seem that they are intent on taking every single problem that this Council has dealt with since formed and throwing it in our faces at the same time! Quarians, Geth, AI, Krogan, Batarians! Batarians…they haven't been a major issue in the larger scheme of things but the Batarians have been reduced to anarchy!" She threw up her arms to punctuate the point.
"STG teams report some areas on Khar'Shan have stabilized but not enough. Not nearly enough." The Salarian had pointed out almost everything Diara had been wondering about as well and all of it was true. The Batarians weren't their main concern however, if anything the Asari was thankful they had been forced to rebel and been reduced to anarchy. Diara wouldn't tell anyone that though.
"Regardless of what they've done, our races will have to react much faster than we've had to since the Rachni wars."
Dalatrass Narra paused, yelling, "RACHNI! When do you think they are going to be tossed at us?"
She began pacing, thinking for a few moments, "If we had not seen much of what they've shown us recently I'd think it was all a ploy to destabilize the Council and take over! As it stands…I don't know. No one has enough information on them and yet they seem to have all of the information they want on us."
Diara began preparing some tea to help calm her nerves, "The Matriarchs have a plan that could at least help us close the technology gap fairly quickly. That they can travel where they want independent of the relays is our largest concern as of yet. If we can force them to use the relays, or even figure out a way around them ourselves, we will be in a better position."
She was referring to the Prothean VI they controlled on Thessia but no one outside of the group of Matriarchs knew of that. She doubted the Salarians would appreciate finding out the Asari had been keeping something of that magnitude from them as long as they had.
The Dalatrass picked up a small decorative bowl that Diara had on a table, fidgeting with it as she shook her head, "I have already signaled our scientists to begin research on that method of transportation. I do not harbor much hope however, their codex stated it took them hundreds of years and inventing new branches of mathematics to achieve such a drive."
She threw the bowl across the room, shattering it on the wall, "We are too far behind!"
Diara was surprised by the outburst, moving to calm the Dalatrass, "Calm yourself Narra! Anger such as that will do no good against them. You are better than throwing bowls at the wall."
The Salarian looked at the shards scattered on the floor against the wall, shaking her head, "I apologize Diara, we just want our wars won before we have to fight and yet we are on the other end of that this time it seems. It is not a pleasant idea for me or any Salarian."
"We are not at war right now Dalatrass. We know little while they know much but they haven't shot at us even after the Turians did."
"They are curing the Krogan, bringing AI into Council space, allying with the Quarians, making peace with the Geth, destabilizing the Batarians, and they know almost everything about us. War is inevitable." She breathed the last words with a finality she felt, deflating in a dejected manner. Diara sat, drinking her tea and taking in what the Salarian had to say.
The Salarian stood in Diara's quarters looking almost pathetic. Diara almost moved to comfort her but held back, they were both leaders of their peoples. If this Dalatrass couldn't hold it together through this then she would need to be removed. She briefly reflected that it was good that the Narra family did not lead the Union.
Diara put her tea down and watched for a moment as the Dalatrass seemed to collect herself. Turning towards the door abruptly, she went to leave. Diara began to call her back before the Salarian turned to her.
"I have plans to make and changes to put into place. There is much to do Matriarch Diara, I will return to my ship for now. I will inform you and the other Matriarchs of any major changes."
With that, the Salarian Dalatrass left and Diara was at a loss for what to do for a moment. She had really expected there would have been a more productive meeting between the two. In reality, Diara couldn't blame the Salarian. There was much expected of them in their positions and outbursts of emotions were not one of them. If used correctly they could gain a lot in the right situation but simple raw emotion was rare at the level they existed at. Diara had been near a small outburst herself when Tevos had started rambling about continuing at a different location. She had, of course, restrained herself but Tevos had still known she was going to meet resistance from the Matriarchs over what she had done.
For now however, there was another matter to be looked into. With the other obvious issues out in the open after the Dalatrass' visit, she turned to the last bit of data. The focus the NSSC had tried to force was this data concerning the "Reapers", as they called them. While the tech they had found in the Geth dreadnought that had attacked the Citadel was more advanced than they expected, it still seemed cut and dry that it was simply that. A Geth ship. She activated the terminal she had in her quarters and transferred the data from her Omni-tool.
She began in a severely skeptical mindset, almost convinced it was all a hoax, giving much of the data nothing more than a cursory once-over to catch the main points of it. She stopped however when it began mentioning the planetary data. The charts that were included matched the edges of some of Citadel space well enough that she was willing to accept the rest was correct as well.
The geological data outlined in the report had fascinated her. The idea of some systematic scouring of planets was horrifying if taken to heart but hugely interesting from an academic standpoint. She was taking this to heart however. If what this pointed to was true, she needed to contact other leaders.
She went over the data a few more times, cross-referencing things with points of interest that she wanted to have checked. After no more than three hours, she sat back and looked at the table she had been at. Not realizing it, she had covered the table in a disorderly layer of datapads and four different terminals displaying various information. The biggest thing that had intrigued her were the designs of the "Reapers". It closely matched the design of the ancient ship the Batarians had uncovered years ago. The data on that was displayed next to a screenshot of the ship that had attacked the Citadel. The comparison of the Geth ship and the estimated reconstructed version of the ancient ruins found were very closely matched. A few of the tests on the ancient ship showed many similarities with the Geth ship as well. The data was fairly current, the Batarians hadn't had security as tight as they thought.
Leaning forward after a few minutes of thought, she activated her Omni-tool, connecting to the QED on board, and placed a call. The Turian Primarch no doubt was going over every military scenario he could after seeing this data. She wanted to know what his thoughts were on this.
The terminal on the center of the table flickered form a screen to a small hologram of the Primarch. He looked up from the datapad he had to address the Asari Matriarch.
Turian Dreadnought – Palaven's Pride
"Matriarch Diara, I'm glad you called. If I'm not mistaken, you've had time to look over the data the NSSC sent? I admit, it is actually quite alarming if it is confirmed as genuine."
The hologram of the Asari Matriarch stood full sized the corner of his quarters although she was sitting in her room on the Asari cruiser. He had been expecting the Salarian Dalatrass to contact him first but he had heard nothing from her. As it stood, he had been in conference with the Volus, Elcor, as well as the Hanar representative, their holograms displayed along the wall he had been facing.
"Yes, I'm glad you've come to the same conclusion and were not as dismissive as Councilor Sparatus."
The Primarch had thought the Councilor's reaction was not entirely out of line, Turians had a hard time facing the kind of change these NSSC suggested. He himself had begun looking into the Reaper data simply out of hypothetical necessity. He had found that more and more had lined up in the short amount of time he had been looking. Quickly his attention had been caught. It was no longer simply hypothetical.
"He had his reasons I'm sure, I hardly believe it all but I still have to consider it all to ensure the Hierarchy is prepared for anything."
Diana nodded, "Yes, I imagined you would be doing that, I had expected Dalatrass Narra to be doing the same but she seemed more flustered than I had expected."
The Primarch didn't realize that the Asari couldn't see his connection to the Turian Client races, not wanting to embarrass the Salarians he turned to his terminal and patched them into the QED connection.
"Matriarch Diara, I have also been speaking with these representatives to ascertain the amount of support we can expect from them. The Volus have already agreed to fund an exploratory group to check the validity of some of the more remote locations. One of which we believe the NSSC wouldn't expect us to reach." The volus representative nodded to the Asari's hologram on his end.
"This way we can be sure *gasp* that they have not faked the evidence, as hard *gasp* as that would be to do.*gasp*"
The Hanar hologram flashed as it added the Hanar perspective, "This one will work with its government to find the NSSC'S place among the Enkindlers. They seem outside this one's experience."
The Primarch and the Matriarch shook their head slightly, that had equated to no real support besides a group of Hanar sitting around and talking around out it.
Diara looked at the Elcor representative, expecting his answer next. The gesture was not lost on the Elcor as his monotone voice filled the air.
"With conviction: I will order the units under my control to the efforts. Hesitantly: I cannot pledge any further support as I do not have that authority."
Diara nodded, that will have to work for now, "We thank you all for your support."
She looked at each of the client races in turn, pausing on the Hanar for a moment before sending the command to cut the connection.
The holograms dissolved as the Primarch turned towards Diara's hologram, "I was still coordinating with them you know."
"You can do that later, I need to know your honest opinion on this Reaper data. If it is genuine then we are most likely already at a huge disadvantage should they return."
The Turian brought up his datapad, "Yes, I had been going over it all just to see what was in an the data packet but what I found was enough to catch my attention."
"So you agree?"
"At the very least I will be sending a patrol to look into three of these planets."
Diara punched punched command in to send another packet to the Primarch as she noted the planets he spoke of.
"Before we continue, there is something that I wanted to bring to your attention..."
The Primarch looked at the data on the Batarian-recovered ancient ship, "Spirits, a billion years old and it's the same as the ship that attacked the citadel..."
He looked at Diara through the hologram, "We have a lot to do."
Council Chambers, Destiny Ascension En route to the Citadel
Councilor Valern was pacing, he had gone over the data packet that the Ambassador had sent him and now he was pacing. For the twelfth time, he cross examined the evidence, data points that coincided with various unexplained findings the races had made through the years. The planets aligned so it speak, one piece of data was interesting in its own right, a record the NSSC had of a few planets where there weren't any. The blue gas giant in particular with the note 'Processed for New Ark' tagged on it. He was curious enough that he was tempted to bring it up next time they spoke with the NSSC.
While it had afforded a moment's distraction, he was drawn back to the bulk of the data revealing the Reapers that Spectre Shepard had been insisting were real. All of the data showed what him and the other Councilors had tried so hard to deny, the Reapers were real and they were on their way.
He made a connection with his STG operative and began giving him orders unceremoniously, "Need you to check the locations I am transmitting to you. Data to be analyzed is included. Report back immediately upon result."
The operative simply nodded and confirmed the receipt of the transmission, cutting the connection to begin. Valern preferred the STG due to their lack of ceremony in most situations. A Spectre might ask questions or waste time, not by much, but he was in no mood for that. His operatives would move quicker.
It was then that he noticed the other Councilors discussing the data in low tones. He decided he would join them.
"In a few hours we should have an answer from the STG either supporting or denying this data." Sparatus and Tevos nodded.
"The Hierarchy has sent Cabal assistance for the Spectre we just assigned to this. I imagine we will either rest easy after we arrive at the Citadel having refuted this information or we will be forced into a flurry of motion to react to it." Councilor Udina nodded at hearing this, glad that the words of a human would be taken seriously, even if it did take the evidence gathered by an extra-universal entity.
Councilor Sparatus felt oddly prophetic speaking like that but he believed it to be true. Once they heard word back from their operatives, they would know for sure if change had to be made.
Councilor Tevos had the same changes on her mind, although hers were more immediate. If this data proved true as it seemed to, they would need to reach out to the NSSC, as much as she didn't want to. The ships and capabilities they hinted at suggested a distinct advantage over these Reapers. She looked at her fellow Councilors, opening her mouth as if to speak, searching for something to say but falling short. Instead, she turned and she decided to read. The descriptions of the Husks found on the Collector ships as well as New Eden had intrigued her. Reading about them would make for a decent distraction for now.
Chronos Station - Experimental Ship Dock
The ship had taken shape through the effort of the hundreds of Cerberus operatives working on the Chronos station. Takashi and Hades were now reviewing the specifications as they wandered the small space assigned for the crew in the ship, 'Vanguard'. Having been dubbed so because it would be the first of many that Cerberus would produce. Or so the Illusive Man thought.
He reflected on the message he had received earlier from Admiral Hood,.
"I've new orders for you Commander Takashi, with the ship set to fly soon, the there is still a lot we can accomplish based on what we've seen with this ship. "
Takashi stood straighter, advising with the construction of this ship had been a small distraction but he wanted something more than answering a few questions occasionally.
"What would you have us do Admiral? With what I've seen of this group, they'll be tripping over themselves to help us out. They want every advantage we can give them."
"Yes, I noticed, that may cause issues later on but for now there is something brewing with the Council. I want that ship ready to provide security if necessary, the location will be Virmire."
"Virmire Sir? I think the ship can make it there in about a day. Once Cerberus is relieved of it or course. Will they be willing to let the ship go or should I expect resistance? I can't imagine that they'll be thrilled that we had them build this ship just to take it from them."
Admiral Hood shook his head, "I will inform them, I doubt they'll try anything. As long as we are still working with them I imagine they'll bide their time. The Illusive Man knows we're doing him a favor regardless of what he thinks of it."
Takashi reached the bridge after his musings, there were no other crew on board but the consoles displayed the readouts the VIs that had been installed read all systems were normal.
The shape of the bridge was actually quite strange, being situated near the center of the ship , it was designed as a sphere with the crew occupying seats along three clear pathways that connected to the walls. The floor faced the rear of the ship so the direction of normal travel was actually towards the ceiling. The consoles were positioned in a full circle around the holographic projector. The entire inner surface of the bridge was designed to display the surrounding space, allowing an unobstructed view enhanced with computer generated identifiers as needed.
"Hades, why don't you upload into the 'Vanguard' and we will get this live test started. The sooner we get through this, the faster we can get to our location."
Hades' code slid from Takashi's armor computer to the more spacious accommodations on board the ship. He shunted the VI out of the critical systems he would monitor and took digital control of the ones that the crew would have normally staffed. The setup wasn't ideal but he would be able to manage.
"I am integrated into the ship now Commander, everything is prepped." His avatar appeared next to the Captain's chair as Takashi sat down in it. The bridge seemed to disappear as they were shown the space around them, the view dominated by the hangar bay they were in at the moment.
"Alright then, take us out, it's time we tried out this ship. I'm actually curious as to how using gravity wells to move will work out."
The view on the bridge changed as the ship moved out of the dock, the illusion that Takashi was the only thing actually there moving through space was causing him a small amount of vertigo at first. Once the ship cleared the dock, he felt a strange sensation as a relatively mild gravity well popped into existence, leading the direction of travel to assist the engines.
"All systems are good, inertial dampeners are prepped, artificial gravity wells primed, and the hybrid propulsion is ready. Taking us to the test course."
The ship seemed to glide through space with an unwarranted grace as the pull of gravity moved them away from the station. Once at a safe distance, Hades engaged the hybrid engines flared, pushing the ship at near-suicidal acceleration as the gravity well in front pulled it along it's path. Inside the ship, Takashi felt nothing. The gravity well acted as an inertial engine, pulling every atom in his body simultaneously towards their destination.
The Illusive Man watched the event from his station, impressed that the ship his organization had made could do such a thing but still annoyed that his crew had been barred. In all honesty, he had been expecting something like this. As altruistic as the NSSC seemed to the rest of the galaxy, the fact that they were willing to work with Cerberus told him enough about them to be cautious.
He called up his link to Kai Leng, "Get a ship ready, it's time I go check on some of my other investments in person."
While there were things he wanted to check on, he had an ulterior motive in leaving the station. The NSSC had everything invested in the ship that just left. He wouldn't be on that station if they decided to clean up their loose ends.
"We have a cruiser ready to go now, what's the destination?"
"You'll know when we get out of system, meet me on the ship."
With that, he tied up the last few connections he had in his office and left for the ship.
Bridge of 'Vanguard'
Takashi was impressed, the ship had handled beautifully through the course. The gravity wells it created meant that he could pull maneuvers more suited to a fighter than a cruiser. The mock up ships had been dispatched quite quickly. One of the more surprising things that him and Hades had found had been purely by chance. When pulling a turn around an asteroid, they had pulled in too close, the singularity that had been facilitating the turn dipped into the surface of the asteroid, ripping huge chunks of the surface off as they fell into the artificial black hole. Takashi had been surprised at the sudden destruction and flare of light before Hades corrected their path. The possibilities that a directly weaponized singularity sparked in his mind and were very interesting indeed.
Hades interrupted his thoughts, "We're receiving a communication from the New Ark, it's tagged with command codes."
"Admiral Hood? His communications usually come directly to our link."
"Negative, this is coming through the ship's secure channels." An area of the bridge in front of Takashi sectioned off and the display came up.
Takashi immediately recognized the individual on the screen, piercing blue eyes, squared jaw, and the hardened look of a veteran.
Commander 117 spoke, his gravely voice filling the bridge, "Commander Takashi, I hadn't expected you to not be on your ship."
Takashi hadn't expected any communications from the living legend, although he had been put in charge of the NAI, all of his interactions with the New Ark had been through Admiral Hood.
He saluted before speaking, "Sir, I was under the impression that I and my ship were under the command of Admiral Hood. I am currently working to see the limits of the Citadel race's technology. They seem curiously stagnant and I was assigned to ascertain why."
The Spartan said nothing for a moment, no emotion betrayed on his face, "Admiral Hood assigned you to this?"
"Yes sir." Takashi was beginning to wonder if the Spartan and Admiral Hood had ever spoken about this project.
After a few moments Takashi had wondered, Commander 117 responded.
"You are to return to the Shangri La with your findings. That's an order Commander. Effective immediately." With that being said, he cut the link, allowing no time for argument or questions.
Takashi sighed and sat back before plotting a course back to Shangri La, the cruiser would need to take the long way around while his ship would follow along while Hades piloted it back it under stealth. He began to wonder what this new development meant. Admiral Hood had set him on this mission although Commander 117 was technically his direct supervisor. His days in ONI swam ominously in his head.
As the new ship swung around at a rather sedate pace, Takashi pushed his worries aside and brought up a few of the connections to the various failsafe he had installed in the Illusive Man's base. While they had been working with him, Takashi didn't like leaving loose ends, his coding would wipe the systems of the tech he had helped with.
When he entered the command it took Cerberus operatives a few moments to realize what was happening but by the time they had the good sense to panic, the data was gone. Before Takashi could get the all clear notification, his comms chimed.
Hades spoke up, "We have an incoming communication, this time it is actually the Admiral."
'Well, that didn't take long.'
The screen changed again and Admiral Hood face filled part of the bridge.
"I see that Commander 117 contacted you a few moments ago, I had hoped to keep this under wraps for a while longer but it seems that won't happen. What did he want to know?"
"Sir, he didn't seem to know what we were doing out here, when I told him he ordered us to go back to Shangri La with our findings. I just finished wiping Cerberus computers and was about to leave."
Admiral Hood nodded, "Very well, unfortunately simply wiping the systems won't do. I want you to destroy the base you were working at, leave nothing behind they could use to reproduce the technology there."
"Are you sure Sir? Without the schematics and technical data, it would take them years to reproduce anything we did here?" Takashi could see where this was going.
"That may be true but it would secure a longer length of time if they had to reproduce the scientists here as well, destroy the station and make sure no ships leave that system."
Takashi prepared himself internally, at least there were no families on that station, "Understood Sir, is there anything else?"
Admiral Hood shook his head, "Negative, complete your mission and then proceed as Commander 117 ordered. He will take the lead from here on out."
For the second time in five minutes, Takashi saw the connection cut. Staring at the area of space that Admiral Hood's face had taken up moments ago Takashi reflected, 'Why do I feel like I'm back in ONI? Why is Admiral Hood keeping this operation a secret from Commander 117?'
In the end, it didn't matter. Takashi changed his course while signaling Hades as to what needed to happen as the ship entered FTL.
While traveling, Hades established a connection from the 'Cerberus', appearing as a static hologram next to the chair Takashi was sitting in.
"So now we have to destroy the entire base? A few centuries ago that would have sat just fine with both of us but I think we know better now. How is this upholding the Mantle?" Even being a static image, Takashi felt his AI companion looking at him doubtfully.
Keeping his eyes locked forward he responded, "I don't know but our orders are pretty clear-cut. Besides, you've seen their files, I imagine we may very well be heading off a lot of atrocities if we allowed them to continue their operations."
"You can try to use that to justify this, sure, I'm not against mitigating a problem with force." His image flickered as his avatar smiled viciously, Takashi shook his head. There was a reason he took the name Hades.
His avatar flickered back to his normal face, "I've just come to expect a little more restraint from my fleshy companion. This all just seems out of character for the Assembly, do you think they know?"
As the ship dropped out of FTL Takashi responded, "Hades, that my friend, is far above my paygrade."
The Cerberus station sent out the normal docking acknowledgement codes, citing the bay they were to dock in. Takashi barely heard Hades mumble something about pay.
Inside Chronos station, the docking crew watched as the most advanced ship ever created by any Citadel race slid through space towards the docking bay. Everything seemed to go by perfectly until they saw the 'Cerberus' uncloak a scant few meters above the ship and the signature orange of the NSSC's hard light shielding extend over the bow of the 'Vanguard'.
That is when everything seemed to go sideways, literally. The 'Vanguard' had kept the forward singularity on and the station's artificial gravity couldn't compete with the artificial singularity. Anything not strapped down began to shake and slide before the strain became too much. Before the singularity had even entered the station, all hell broke loose as the docking bay was torn apart and crushed by gravity.
The singularity quickly formed an accretion disk, tearing through the station as the 'Vanguard' flew through the Cerberus station. Consoles, equipment, people, even pieces of the station were drawn in and compressed as they rushed to fall into the gravity well. Explosions rocked through the structure as the ship accelerated through it, protected from the flood of high-energy radiation by the hard light shields of the 'Cerberus'. In a moment, the ships were through, the gaping wound on the station and the localized pull of gravity destabilizing its orbit.
The ships that Cerberus had positioned to guard the Chronos station, consisting of 10 cruisers and 30 frigates stood guard, on alert as the advanced ship careened into the hundred-billion credit station.
As the ships exited the other side, Takashi signaled to the station a mayday, hoping to fool the small fleet around it as he maneuvered the ships for a second pass through the station. The small Cerberus fleet began moving towards the station but allowed a wide berth for the ship they assumed was malfunctioning.
Before they could react, the ships swung around again and tore another path through the now mortally wounded station. Hundreds died as they were either torn apart in the chaos as they passed through or were burned as the huge amounts of radiation destroyed the organic matter throughout the structure. The fleet would not be fooled a second time, many of the frigates and cruisers trained their main guns at where the ship would be.
Seeing that their ruse was up, Takashi and Hades broke the impromptu formation they had and began engaging the fleet. Hades made short work of three the cruisers immediately while Takashi had the pleasure of putting the 'Vanguard' in action, the six gravity drivers firing in succession as quickly as possible.
For all their training, the ships in the Cerberus fleet couldn't hold against the two smaller ships. The NSSC prowler was making use of the DEWs and Slipspace drives to devastating effect. Jumping around the area of space and delivering crippling blows to another cruiser and eviscerating a handful of the frigates.
The 'Vanguard' was a completely different monster on the battlefield. With the unique assist by the artificial singularities, it was running circles around any of the ships around it. Firing the six gravity drivers in rapid succession to devastating effect, Takashi was able to destroy two of the cruisers with overwhelming fire as he went to pull a tight maneuver around one of the last four. Normally the path he was on would be classified as a ramming trajectory but in a split second, the ship moved the singularity within a few meters of the cruiser, slinging the 'Vanguard' around it in a tight turn. The stress of the gravity well on the cruiser was horrendous, pinching and superheating the bow of the Cerberus cruiser before the torque of the 'Vanguard's' turn twisted it into an irradiated slagheap.
A Cerberus cruiser positioned on the far edge of the formation prior to the attack, now zeroed in on the 'Vanguard' as it started to come out of the turn, firing their main gun in an attempt to land a hit. In the few moments the two ships had begun tearing into the Cerberus fleet, a few hits had landed ineffectively on the NSSC prowler but nothing had so far touched the 'Vanguard' in the moments they had began their attack.
On the bridge of the 'Vanguard', Takashi was notified of the slug flying towards the ship and signaled a new flight path that would pivot the ship around where the slug would be when it arrived and allowing for three of the six weapons to zero in on the offending ship.
In the midst of the maneuver, the crew on board the Cerberus cruiser were surprised for a moment as the slug was pulled away from the 'Vanguard'. Having passed directly through the singularity the ship had used to turn, it had been stressed by the gravity of the ship's turn into a glowing arch of metal floating away and tumbling into the field of wreckage.
The small instance of surprise was cut short as three of the same slugs bored into their ship at 10% the speed of light, converting the entire mass of the slugs into energy, and turning the entire ship into an incandescent cloud of expanding plasma.
Scanning the battlefield, Takashi saw that Hades had made short work of the remaining two cruisers as well as a few more frigates to boot.
With the fleet in disarray and only frigates left after the fierce destruction, Hades signaled Takashi, "We have destroyed the bulk of the fleet here and as interesting it is to destroy the station with the 'Vanguard', I have a much more succinct solution."
Takashi, knowing the armament on the 'Cerberus' could guess what Hades had in mind, "You're going to nuke it?"
"A few bombs in key positions should erase the station and the remnant forces here. I'm moving into position to deploy the three bombs now."
The remaining frigates moved away from the two NSSC ships, forming up in the shadow of the station as the two advanced frigates seemed to have lost interest in their slaughter.
Takashi signaled his ship onto the original course to Shangri La, "I'll meet you at Shangri La Hades, good luck."
The AI scoffed goodnaturedly, "Luck? I have the full processing power as an eighth-generation NSSC AI. If I'm relying on luck then we're all screwed."
Takashi chuckled to himself as his ship entered FTL, around Chronos station the remaining ships were attempting to plan a counterattack after the attacks of the two ships, thinking it was over. The 'Cerberus' laid the final bomb before sliding into slipspace. As the portal closed behind the small ship, the synchronized detonation of the three nuclear bombs briefly outshone the star they had orbited.
Once the light cleared, only dust and echoes remained.
There it is, the short chapter that seemed to have taken me more than a month to write lol. Seriously though, I hope it kept you all entertained. As a side note, the portal that the hybrid mass relay the NSSC was working on created looked like the wormholes from Eve Online in my mind. A bit of a rip-off I know but I enjoy that game a lot and thought those portals would work for what I was thinking. If you don't know what they look like, feel free to youtube it.
I don't own the two games Halo and Mass Effect, more legal stuff, don't sue, they belong to their respective owners.
Let me know what you all think and I hope I'm keeping ya entertained!