SO! Finally, after an inordinate amount of time, the next chapter. I don't think it's long enough to justify the wait but some things got in the way. Transitioning to a new place and one huge event in my family's life that delayed the story. I'll get to that in the post-chapter A/N.
For this part of the story though, I spent a lot of time just making sure it made sense. Getting further in the story makes it a bit harder to keep everything together and coherent for an inexperienced writer such as myself. The big battle of Earth is the next chapter so, YAY!
There's more I was thinking of putting here but I'm just gonna post the damn story rather than rant on.
Acep Dredsess looked over the capital city, the view from the former Hegemony leader's office was impressive. She sighed as she looked over to where the bastard had made his final stand. The bloated and arrogant bastard was the perfect symbol for the government that they had finally overthrown. Now there was only a stain on the floor and wall where she had shot him. Much more than was probably necessary, in fact definitively so. She had started at his knees and worked her way up.
She looked out towards the sky, putting that dark and angry hour behind her. Smiling slightly, she was thinking of the day it had all started. 'All those years and all the lies. I don't know who you are but whoever showed us the truth, Thank you.'
She remembered the day, weeks ago, that had started all it all. Every single device on the planet had started running through every lie that the Hegemony told. It had taken three days before they finished and by the fourth the Hegemony was on full damage control. There was no reliable lead on exactly who had done it but for billions of Batarians and millions of slaves, it had been enough that it had been done.
The Hegemony's response hadn't done any good, once the population saw through the lies, the weight of the lower classes had overcome them. There had been losses of course, millions died before she and her followers had begun organizing things. Looking down at the stains throughout the office she felt the same relief that she had felt a week and a half ago. It was over.
There were still a lot of damage from the rebellion but her people had finally kicked off the shackles that had held them all so long. There was so much to do, the communications had been reestablished, pockets of the Hegemony were still being dealt with, and they had started coming up with a government. That part would be the hardest.
Almost no one in the lower castes knew about government, they had been kept in the dark so totally that there was almost no information on anything other than, as the Hegemony put it, "Our glorious society". Acep sighed, 'Well, now that we are no longer cut off, we can reach out for help. Maybe the Asari will be willing to help us rebuild.'
Her thoughts were cut off as one of her friends ran in, "Acep! All planetary connections to the Extranet have been cut!"
"What?! We cleared the communications centers of the Hegemony, how?" She turned to him, one of her old friends in her life before the revolution. Her mind raced, they needed to be able to contact the outside, this comms blackout was unacceptable. She grabbed her radio from her belt and keyed it, finding only static. Her face twisted in confusion, local comms should still work...
"The communications centers are secure, this is an external blackout! They might have taken out the comm buoys near the relay and whoever is doing it is blocking local comms too!." He looked into her eyes intensely, almost pleading for answers, "What do we do?!"
She took a breath, he had always been quick to panic, she nervously told herself that she was sure it wasn't anything serious, "Look, we have contact with a few ships of the old Navy that joined our forces. I don't know how far I trust them but we can-"
She stopped as the color drained from his face, he was no longer focused on her, his gaze seemed fixed on the window behind her. A small mewling sound escaped his throat as she quickly turned to see what he was looking at. Her mind reeled for a moment as she processed what she was seeing. She walked up to the window and stood for a moment, dumbstruck. Her friend watched as her silhouette was framed by the light of the day bathing the city below. The city, no the planet they had freed had been blemished but had still been beautiful to them.
Now they watched as dark shapes fell on the city. Ships that defied reason lowered themselves onto the city and began destroying everything they came across. Angry red beams shot from the ships as they trampled through the city on what looked like legs. Swarms of small dots that were no doubt fighters flew close to them, small pulses flitting from them and setting fires.
Acep whipped around, "Get everyone underground! Call any ship that will listen! They're destroying everything!"
For all her yelling, her friend stood, rooted to the spot with his eyes wide in fear. A deep rumbling note shook the building and was punctuated by a sudden shift as the building they were standing in shook with the force greater than anything felt since they had revolted. The two cowered back from the window as another of the dark ships fell on the city. Recovering her balance, Acep looked to the window only to be greeted by a red orb.
Everything seemed to freeze for a moment, the two Batarian forms frozen as they felt a shiver run down their spines. The red orb regarded them without pity or anger, they knew that they looked into the eye of an unfeeling intelligence.
The powerful rumbling note broke their stupor as the red orb began to glow more intensely accompanied by a rising whine. Her friend turned and ran, fear ousting any rational thought. Acep Dredsess' last act however, was to stand. The impromptu leader of the resistance that had helped free the Batarian people on their homeworld stood against the force that now moved against her people. She knew she was going to die.
Her final thought as the Reaper weapon tore her form apart was this: 'I will die standing and I will die free.'
On board the Europa, the Commander of the small prowler watched as the Reaper ships descended on the Batarian planet. He had watched as the population of the planet had thrown off the despots that ruled them and they had begun moving towards a better life. Now that was all being torn apart. The Reapers landed and immediately began either killing and destroying everything or somehow corralling Batarians into the larger Reaper forms.
His connection with the Assembly streamed everything in real time. He knew that the NSSC's ships were more than a match for anything the Citadel races had, not that he ever saw a war with them as a possibility, but the Reapers were an unknown. He had nothing against the Batarian population he had watched, they had been ruled by a totalitarian government which meant the face showed the galaxy was unsavory. The recently displaced government had been the real issue. Now though, the Reapers moved to start whatever extinction process they seemed obsessed with. It seemed supremely cruel to start with those who had only just fought for a better life.
Snapping back to the moment, he reflected that the Reapers were a point of much debate amongst the military and scientists of the NSSC. Some argued that a race that had been destroying advanced sentient life in the galaxy for the hundreds of millions, if billion years, would be far beyond anyone. Others pointed to the continued use of the Relays as well as the Reaper that had been destroyed by the Council races. Either way their fleet was here and now would be the time to test who was right.
The Commander waited, eager to help but until something else happened, he had to wait.
New Ark - Assembly Conference Room
The twelve members of the Assembly watched as the footage from the Europa played. They used their neural lance implants to coordinate a response but they were stalled. They were in a debate as to what the response would be.
Admiral Hood stood before them, the footage playing to his left as he stated his case, "It is a tragedy but they have arrived in that system in force. We have far too few ships to deal with anything of this magnitude right now. As much as it pains me to say this to the members of the Assembly, I must. I believe the Batarians may very well be doomed."
The Unggoy Assembly member, Lasaw, was the most outwardly shocked at this statement. Her voice came out with the Unggoy trademark squeak but the words were not to be taken lightly.
"We cannot abandon them to this fate. Their government was just recently disposed and the civilians were organizing. To leave them now would doom their civilization."
Vune 'Dratamae cut in, "We cannot allow the machines to advance. We are capable of ending them where they have gathered. The Reapers cannot be as great a foe as they are made out to be. If they are, they have no manner of travel that can reach this Ark."
Turning so she could gesture to the window showcasing the view of the Ark, she continued, "Even if they push our fleet from that system, the weapons we can unleash would cripple their forces. A single NOVA bomb would be enough."
Now pacing, she picked up the tempo of her speech, "Our fleet, led by the Pride of the SSC, we could-"
Admiral Hood cut in, "I cannot support the deployment of our flagship against the forces in that system. Even with our fleet, we can not know what unexpected surprises they may have. Throwing our forces against the Reapers without knowledge of their capabilities is a mistake. We can use our stealth capabilities to observe. The more intel we have on this enemy the better."
'Dratamae's eyes narrowed but before she could answer, the AI Minerva interjected, "We may not have to bother with either option."
Everyone's eyes turned to the avatar of the AI, "We simply need to evacuate the planet, we can track the Reaper forces easily enough. Right now our concern is the Batarians."
Admiral Hood turned to the avatar, "Evacuating that many would put us in that system for a long time. Even with slip space drives, we would be tied down in that system for days. I don't think the Reapers would allow us peace for that time."
"You misunderstand me Admiral Hood, I don't mean evacuate the people from the planet. I mean evacuating the planet." The room fell quiet, it was true, the NSSC had pulled planet-sized bodies through slip space. Just never in combat or when the planet in question was a homeworld to a sentient species.
"Just how are we to accomplish that in the middle of a hostile invasion Member Minerva?" Admiral Hood was sceptical but on the same token, this move would be able to keep his fleet intact, barring any surprise from the ancient Reapers.
"I've run the simulations, if we get coverage over the planet with twenty four of the Galaxy-class ships stationed at Shangri La, we would be able to accomplish this." The room went quiet for a moment. They looked as the AI's simulation ran it's course. A sphere of ships converging on the planet before it was pulled through into slip space.
The Human Assembly member, Vigard Ivars broke the silence, "Even for us, that is a bold move in this short of time. We had years to prepare the other instances-"
He was cut off by the Kig-Yar, Boc Nath, "And now we have experience in doing such things. I am in support of this." His speech was short and to the point, if raspy. There was a deluge of data available to each of them as they attempted to come to a decision. While no one spoke, there was a huge volume of data going amongst those assembled. Admiral Hood being the only exception, he stood silently waiting while he answered the sporadic ping for advice on a tactical solution. None seemed to end well.
The others around the table either considered the courses of action, or in the AI's and the Kig-Yar's case, waited for the answer.
After nearly ten minutes, the aged military officer began to feel restless.
"Members? What are your orders?" Their eyes turned to Admiral Hood before each of them sent their decision wordlessly through their neural lance. Each Member of the Assembly cast their vote and then teleported to their prospective species' area to prepare.
Admiral Hood had his orders, Khar'Shan was to be evacuated.
Slip Space - Bridge of the Celtic
Admiral Hyatt stood on the bridge of the Galaxy-class ship as his battlegroup traveled through slipspace. His orders had been strange but not out of the realm of possibility. Khar'Shan would be pulled out of the middle of a Reaper invasion and brought to Shangri La.
Personally, Admiral Hyatt thought it was a bad idea. There was no telling if these Reapers could counteract their slip space drives. Opening up the possibility of bringing an invading force to Shangri La without knowing their capabilities made him mighty uncomfortable. But he had his orders and he would see them done. If analysis of the first contact with the Turians was any indication, his battle group would survive an encounter with a limited number of Reapers. Just not the hundreds of thousands or more that were staged in the Batarian home system.
"Admiral, we will be exiting slipspace in a few moments." He nodded and brought up the tactical screen, the information supplied by the prowler that had stayed in system for intel streamed across the display.
Looking at where they would arrive at a point perpendicular to the Reaper's arrival point and the relay on the distant side of the system. He felt confident that they would be undetected for the few minutes it took to position themselves into the formation they needed.
"Exiting slipspace Admiral." The view on the main screens of the bridge changed from the empty black of slip space to a vista of stars, one shining brightly in the center of the view. If you didn't know what was happening in this system you could almost convince yourself that it was peaceful and that millions of sentient beings weren't being murdered. Almost.
"Ensure we are in formation, we are spending as little time as possible in this system. With any luck we'll be kicking the feet out from under these Reaper bastards. Now let's move everyone!" The bridge activity picked up as everyone moved to their duties.
One of the tactical officers walked up to the Admiral moments later, "Sir, scans of the system indicate that they have not yet detected us. This confirms our belief that they are limited to light speed sensors like the Citadel races are."
The Admiral huffed at that, the report pinged his lance and he began looking it over, "Well, either way, I'll not risk it." He made it to the section on disposition of enemy forces.
Even after the hour or so since the Reapers had arrived, they were still hundreds of thousands in the system and it looked to still be increasing. If this kept up the number would hit over half a million by the end of the next day. The largest group seemed to be concentrated around relay. For the Admiral it seemed that those things were going to be a huge bottleneck for them. Good for them at large although reports did mention that the relay was a secondary relay and they may have very well built the damn things. There was no single point that the relay would be sending the damn things. He was almost done with the report when the fleet AI, Lucien, took shape next to him.
"Admiral, despite the overwhelming presence of Reapers in this system, there are only roughly five hundred actively engaged in Khar'Shan's invasion." The Admiral looked up and considered this.
A ping sounded, catching the attention of the Admiral. Seeing it was a message, he opened it and considered what it said. The Citadel Council had been notified. 'For all the good that will do, I doubt anyone is on any serious footing to deal with this. Not even us. Stilll…" He cleared his head, he had work to do.
"The reports from the prowler mentioned that they were landing, I assume that's where most of them are? What orbital forces do they have?" The tactical display zoomed on to focus on the planet itself.
Lucien continued, "Actually, all that is left in orbit is wreckage. I'm pretty sure that they feel they have little to worry about from orbit Admiral. They control this system."
"They can have the system, we'll clean that out later. We're not letting them wipe the Batarians out though." He shook his head as he looked at the numbers. The Mantle had more or less been a one-liner up to now. He hadn't been sure how much he believed it, never really having been called to act upon it. Looking at the data flooding into his fleet though, he knew genocide of any race didn't sit right - Mantle or not. Turning to address the crew, "We have our orders, let's go pull a planet out of a hat."
There were murmurs of amusement that passed over the bridge as the reports came in that the formation was ready. Without wasting any time, Admiral Hyatt gave the command and his battle group jumped into the teeth of the Reaper invasion.
To any outside observer native to the Citadel races, the efforts of the NSSC at Khar'Shan would have been confusing, if not outright insane. The battlegroup of Galaxy-class ships were assumed to have much more offensive and defensive power than the ships employed by the Council but they now faced hundreds of Reapers with hundreds of thousands more a short jump away. The same ships that individually had taken a concerted effort of a large Citadel fleet to even begin to harm.
The immediate effect of the arrival of the ships in position outside the atmosphere of the planet was to call the attention of the dreadnought-class Reapers. Making up two fifths of the invading force, they began to rise from the surface to engage the ships. Within seconds the purpose of the strange formation became clear.
Every Reaper on the planet began detecting huge amounts of cherenkov radiation as the concentrated effort of twenty four slipspace drives speared through normal space and time into the strangeness of slipspace with surgical precision. Red lances lanced up from the surface and the rapidly rising Reapers as they began to engage the ships. By the time the first of them broke the atmosphere the slipspace portal had expanded to the size of the planet's moon.
When the Reapers launched the oculus fighters to harass the Galaxy-class fleet, the portal was ten thousand kilometers across. When the Reapers understood what was happening and summoned the others, the portal had expanded far enough that the planet was being drawn in. Before the ancient machines could flee, the planet and the fleet disappeared into slipspace.
When the bulk of the Reaper fleet arrived at where the planet should have been they were greeted with the final burst of radiation as the immense portal slammed closed, cutting off any chance of pursuit. The oldest of them, Harbinger, floundered for a moment as the Reapers scanned the space of the absent planet.
For the first time in tens of millions of years the Reapers had encountered something unexpected. For the first time since the cycles began, a flutter of doubt crossed Harbinger's vast mind.
Surface of Khar'Shan
Cranin pushed his family further into the storm drain they had been hiding in. The past day had been the single most terrifying and confusing of his entire life. In all honesty, the past months had been strange. Everything had been in flux. No one knew who was in charge and the police and military who had for so long been indifferent with his class, if heavy handed if they felt like it, were now as likely to shoot you on sight as they were to help. Then the ships came.
'Those damn things just showed up and started shooting everything. It is a good time to be of a lower caste though.' He looked back at his wife and daughter, 'They're safe here for now….I hope.' He turned his gaze back to the opening a few feet away. He could see the sky but he was confused. It was dark, it hadn't been dark until a few minutes ago.
Looking back to his family he leaned close to tell his wife he was going to look, she clutched his shoulder hard, not wanting him to go but he reassured her. Whispering to her in case there were others nearby, "Stay here, I'm just going to look up. I won't leave your sight." She shivered in the dirty water they sat in, her four eyes wide with fear but her grip loosened. He would see if it was safe to find shelter, too much had happened to stay in one place for long.
As he stepped cautiously to the edge of the drain, he looked up at a sight he had never seen before. The sky was a hauntingly deep black, as if light had never existed at all in this place. The only thing breaking up the velvet dome above him was strange silver-grey shapes. There were only a few he could see but they seemed to be there for a reason. Had they saved themselves? Did the Council come to their aid? Or was there something else going on….Cranin had no clue.
The shapes were hard to gauge for size or distance, there was no point of reference on or above the horizon. The strangest thing was that the city seemed to glow, orange or deep red where the city burned with a strange almost blue color that stuck to the horizon. The longer he looked around him the more he began to notice. The next thing that caught his attention was what appeared to be embers floating on the wind. Strange, crumpled balls of dark...something with pieces glowing red and parts sticking out haphazardly.
At first glance they seemed to be small until one of them crashed into one of the towers of the city. The piece of debris was huge! It slammed into the tower and immediately changed from floating on the wind like a leaf to having all the mass something that size demanded. The oddly shaped thing smashed through the height of the tower, the shock of it hitting the surface suddenly shaking dust, trash, and water through the drain.
He heard his wife and daughter cry out as he darted back into the supposed safety of the drain. He hugged up to them, he didn't want to let go as much as they wanted him to stay and the sudden change of whatever he had seen had startled him again. He made up his mind, him and his family would stay here, at least until whatever darkness that had suddenly fallen left. He wouldn't risk him or his family again.
All around the city, many were confused, scared, hurt. Much more hurt than simply scared and confused although fear didn't have a monopoly over pain on the city at the moment. The Reapers had made sure of that. Now though, the ravaged forms of the would-be conquerors were, for lack of a better term, dead.
Years later, much would be learned from the crumpled hulls, now though, they seemed to wander or otherwise move around the planet. The strange laws that governed slipspace did not suffer the presence of element zero easily. The volatile nature that was so well understood by the Citadel races and even more so by the Reapers became something unknowable and quickly fatal outside the normal three dimensions. Mass fluctuated up and down wildly with the slightest variations in voltages in the eezo.
The Reaper ships with their massive cores were at the mercy of having their most important resource act in truly random ways. Some ships imploded into microscopic singularities of such mass that even the radiation they emitted as they evaporated folded back into the singularity. Others seemed to suddenly fly apart as each particle in the mass effect field was given negative mass and the same charge. Those ships simply evaporated into nothing. Many of the destroyers saw various effects such as this. A few simply collapsed into clumps of rapidly cooling reaper alloy, like a wadded up ball of black tinfoil which then fell to the surface and cooled slowly.
The dreadnoughts at least seemed to have the most consistent effect however, after their cores buckled the hulls into a tenth of the size, the mass effects seemed to rob them of nearly all mass, the large wrecks floated on the wind as if they were a piece of paper. a few of them could be seen floating up on the rising air as parts of the city burned.
That is until they touched something solid. The mass effect field seemed to discharge like static on contact with solid material. The wrecks would smash into the surface much more violently than what would normally be expected, leaving a crater. No one from either universe knew what to think. Scared Batarians did their best to hide and keep themselves and each other safe from the chaos while the NSSC ships could only collect data.
The AIs of the fleets were, for the first time in many of their existences, overtaxed. The monumental task of ensuring the slipspace drives stayed in sync took much of their attention. Regardless of the situation on the ground, they did not pull Khar'Shan out only to lose it to the endless drifts of slipspace. Whatever they had left over, they spent trying to figure out how element zero acted in slipspace. None of them had much luck. The ones that had dealt with the Forerunner archives knew the feeling. They were out of their depth.
Huge swaths of the planet that had been decimated in the Reapers invasion had begun to suffer more damaged as the strange happenings brought on by the Reaper tech played out. There were craters, hyper dense layers of ejecta compressing bedrock, even part of the ocean seemed to float and wander aimlessly as if in zero gravity. The planet bore little resemblance to the old seat of Hegemony power. Now, the planet was the playground for inconsistent laws of physics.
Khar'Shan was saved, stolen from the Reaper forces. The planet and its people however, would bear the scars for centuries to come.
Bridge of the Celtic
Standing up from his chair in his quarters, Admiral Hyatt terminated his link to the computer. After going over the abridged notes on what the AI throughout the fleet had gathered, he knew there would be a huge amount of research to be done in the next decades if they were ever to understand what had happened because of his fleet's actions. The first paragraph of the report had been simple, they had succeeded for the most part. An estimated 83.6% of the post-invasion population of Batarians had been saved. In no small part due to the destruction of the invading Reapers after their entrance into slipspace.
Then the report had gotten weird, the data being collected didn't seem to give any more insight into how to fight their enemy. Just that if they could be lured into slipspace they would fail in a spectacular and, in some instances, fundamentally impossible ways. Admiral Hyatt and the rest of the Captains in his fleet didn't feel the need to question it however. He had ordered a squadron of frigates to gather any of the wrecks still floating across the planet into specific areas that would cause the least amount of damage upon exiting slipspace. As an extra precaution, various generators were deployed to cover the Reaper wreckage. Hard Light shielding would be used to mitigate any damage should the effects on the mass effect cores proved unstable upon returning to normal space.
The last part of the report he had gone over had prompted him to inform the rest of the fleet. The process of transporting the planet had slowed them significantly. What should have taken a single day would now take them almost a week. The Assembly had informed him that the Reapers still pressed in through the Relays. The data on their effectiveness against his ships had been very beneficial to their planning. It seemed that if there were no surprises to be had, it would take overwhelming numbers for the Reapers to be victorious in an engagement with NSSC ships. Each Galaxy-class ship was being weighed against upwards of dozens of Reapers.
Although the long-term survival of said ships was unknown in an engagement with so many. His fleet had only been in contact with the Reapers for less than a five minutes before they had entered slipspace. It was only a matter of time however, until the NSSC threw it's might against the Reapers.
He received a message from Shangri La, orders for the placement of Khar'Shan within the system that Shangri La resided in. It would still be days until they arrived and until they did, his people had work to do. For now though, they would get a reprieve. A thought crossed Admiral Hyatt's mind as he began to issue orders, 'It is good that the New Ark is so far out of reach from the galaxy at large. We certainly have the high ground.'
Earth, System Alliance Command
Shepard kept count as she lifted the olympic-weight bar for the seventieth time, the four hundred pounds moving up and down as she kept a steady rhythm. Her opponent watched with a small smirk of amusement as her count increased. Her little bet with him prompted her to push as hard as she could, further than she had ever gone before while in the gym. Her time with the NSSC had been beneficial in many ways, a few gene mods and 'upgrades' that she only now was beginning to test to any real extreme. She knew that they had undoubtedly been useful before but in the heat of battle, sometimes you don't notice how strong you were.
Now though, after spending weeks attempting to convince the SA leadership of the seriousness of the Reaper threat, she was frustrated. They told her that yes, the Reapers were a threat but no, they were not an immediate threat. That had gotten her and Nick rather angry, especially since that seemed to be the canned answer they received now when they brought it up. Her involvement at the Alpha relay had been more or less swept under the rug after the Batarians had dissolved into a revolution. No galactic political backlash meant that everyone just wanted to pretend it didn't happen. Even though it literally meant the Reapers were on their doorstep.
Her leaders didn't want to listen though, the negotiations with the NSSC had taken precedence. She could understand that to a point but it was frustrating. SO, her and Nick had taken to a bit of leave, not as relaxing as it could be, but leave none the less. She had begun to calm down before today, she had almost accepted that they wouldn't listen at all until the talks with the NSSC were over. Nick had even gotten much the same from his leadership. Of course, there was more going on under the surface of their governments but not being able to do anything was trying for them both.
Earlier in the day it, their relative attitude towards it all had been kicked in the ass when the SA wanted more specifics on the Reapers. Out of the blue they started asking some of the same questions they had asked before, this time with more intensity. The questions she asked were deflected. She had tried to impress the importance of being ready only to be brushed off again. So her and Nick decided to have a competition, she couldn't remember how they had gotten to the the subject of the gym but now they were there lifting heavy things over and over. She had beaten him in running, sprinting faster and farther than him by a good measure. He was better at the bench press although she gave him a run for his money on that.
"You know, you're almost at a hundred. If your file wasn't classified, I'm pretty sure you would be setting all sorts of records today." Nick joked even though he had stopped his count after the mid-eighties.
Setting the bar on the rack, she sat up, "I don't really want to set records, I'm just trying to beat you. Besides, no fair losing count after I beat your set. I stopped at 105 by the way."
He barked a laugh, "Well, can't blame a guy for trying right? Besides, while you were going I got a message." his stance changed, all business now, "Something happened."
Sensing the sudden change in his attitude, Shepard stood up. Switching to into a more serious mindset, "What? Did the NSSC find something out about where the damn Reapers are?"
She grabbed her towel and began wiping sweat away, they both knew they were done in the gym if something new came up with the Reapers.
A monitor construct came gliding into the room and Hades' form took shape around it, standing next to the two. Their attention moved to the AI immediately. While the Alliance understood the role of AI in the NSSC, the prevailing prejudice against AI in Citadel space meant he really only came to them in emergencies.
"Good, you're both here. Nick I assume you've received word that the NSSC had something new?" The AI form stood wrapped in a dark purple, almost black, suit with the ancient greek symbol for the underworld on his lapel while lines of code skimmed across the surface of his form.
"Yeah I did. What the hell was it about? It was marked Urgent. What the hell is going on Hades?"
The AI's form shifted on its feet, "The Reapers have attacked. Their forces hit Batarian space hours ago. Khar'Shan was the first to be invaded."
Shepard immediately felt the need to jump into action, "WHAT?! Hours ago? Why in the hell are we only now learning about this! Does the Council know?" Thought of finally making progress against the Reapers crossed her mind although tempered by the knowledge that the enemy had finally made its play.
"Well, they..uh, well. They were busy. A plan had to be drafted quickly, Khar'Shan was evacuated. A warning was sent out to the Council races."
Nick and Shepard looked in disbelief, Shepard cut in before Nick could get a word in, "You mean that the Alliance knew? Explains why in the hell they were so curious about the Reapers again. They really should have told me!" She punched the wall they were standing near before shaking her head and switching gears, "You said they were being evacuated? What, like while they were being invaded? How? The Reaper force is huge if Sovereign was to be believed. Evacuating billions of Batarians has to take time even with NSSC ships."
Hades smirked, "No, the planet was evacuated. A fleet of ships pulled it into slipspace. The invading fleet on the planet was small, roughly five hundred from the reports and they were….disabled once they entered slipspace. Khar'Shan should be in orbit next to Shangri La in a week."
Nick looked at Shepard, he knew the NSSC could move planets. He had seen it but seeing Shepard's reaction to it was a bit of a bright spot in the otherwise terrible news of the Reaper invasion.
While Shepard processed the magnitude of what Hades had said, Nick spoke up, "Good thing we got the planet out of there. Now maybe the we can make some headway with the Alliance leaders. They've been too complacent recently." After a moment he added, "Especially if they've not done anything after getting word they Reapers have started their invasion."
"You moved. The planet." Hades and Nick looked at Shepard, "Damn, we've got a lot to learn don't we? You're right though, we need to talk to the Alliance."
Hades chuckled, "We all do Shepard. Since the planet was evacuated the Assembly has began dispatching ships to Shangri La. It will serve as our staging system for the time being but it will take days for them to travel there. There are hundreds of thousands of Reapers moving against us. We don't have that sort of volume of ships as of yet, or the crew for them."
"Hundreds of thousands." Shepard wasn't surprised at the number, just disheartened to have her worst fears confirmed. "I am glad the NSSC is willing to help us here. A single reaper was bad enough, now we find out there are hundreds of thousands….damn."
Hades thought for a second, "We are more advanced at first glance but they have numbers. With the way the Council has been reacting to us so far, I doubt we'll have the necessary level of cooperation to deal with this effectively."
Suddenly their conversation was interrupted, someone was running up, shouting for Shepard and Nick. An Alliance Marine Lieutenant ran up to the small group, his eyes locking on Hades form for a moment before turning to Shepard and Nickolas.
"Commanders, the brass sent me to find you. They want you up in the conference hall now." Shepard and Nick glanced at each other for a moment before heading out at a brisk pace, the Lieutenant falling in behind them.
Nickolas glanced at his AI friend, "Hades, I need you to get a message to the Assembly. We may very well need ships here as soon as possible. I have no doubt the Reapers will be moving quickly through the relay system."
"It would seem that way Nick, I'll send the message and get back to the ship. We may need the firepower and stealth systems sooner rather than later." Hades' Hard Light form dissolved, the small sphere of the monitor construct floating roughly eye-level before he turned and accelerated away at high speed.
Shepard glanced over, watching the AI leave before she gathered her thoughts again, "Do you think the Reapers have made it this close already? The Alliance isn't ready for something like the Reapers yet, will the NSSC be able to help?"
The pair saw Captain Anderson waiting at an intersection they were approaching, "I think they will. Whether they get here soon enough is another thing. We're fast and I'm hoping we're fast enough. Time will tell."
Captain Anderson looked tired but still happy to greet them, "Shepard, Commander Austra, this way." He motioned towards the large room the leaders of the Alliance were waiting in.
"Anderson, what's going on? How close have they gotten?" They all turned to enter the room.
"We don't know yet but listening posts have been going quiet and they're going quiet closer and closer. We may not have much time. If they've hit the Batarians then we're probably next." Anderson held the door open for them as Shepard nodded, Anderson was right. They would be next.
Shepard and Nick moved into the room to stand in the center, facing the panel of Alliance military leaders. Scanning left to right, Shepard looked at them all. The atmosphere of the room was the highest of professionalism although tinged with an undercurrent of fear. She suddenly felt like their time was much too short.
'At least it seems they'll take my damn advice seriously now.' Her thoughts were interrupted as the center member of the panel spoke.
"Commanders, we have a problem. The Reapers are coming."
Destiny Ascension - Citadel Defense Fleet - Private Council Chambers
None of the four Councilors were sitting, each of them were reading reports coming in one after the other after the warning had come from the NSSC. They had just gotten back from the diplomatic meeting on Virmire days ago and now, sure enough, the Reapers attack.
Councilor Sparatus closed his Omni-tool and sighed, "At least it was the Batarians first, we've got warning now and haven't lost any naval assets."
Councilor Tevos looked up, shocked, "Sparatus! Regardless of how their government treated the galaxy, there's billions of lives being lost for your precious 'warning'!"
"Dammit! I know that but that is the only good that has come from this. The NSSC seemed to have been keeping an eye on the Batarians and because of that have gotten a warning to us. That's more than what any of us have been able to do." He leaned against the table, hands spread out as he emphasized his point.
"I'm not happy about any of this Tevos. We've only just sent representatives to the NSSC "Ark", we've been robbed of any time we'd have spent preparing for these spirits-damned machines, and their numbers are far beyond anything anyone has ever seen! The Batarians being hit first is the only thing positive in that it means we preserve our ships before having to deal with an invasion."
The two Councilors stared daggers at each other for a number of seconds before Tevos broke eye contact, slamming down the small datapad she had been reading, "Fine. What do we do now? Valern, does the STG have any idea of their movements?"
The Salarians eyes darted up and between his two peers, "Some what, the reports from the NSSC are confirmed and more detailed. Best we can do is track when and where we lose contact with stealth assets."
His Omni-tool chimed, quickly pulling his attention for the moment it took for him to memorize the message and delete the message. Old habits.
"Their advance seems to have slowed after Reaper forces took Batarian space. Their movements are rapid. Must be planning an attack on the Systems Alliance. Batarians put up only token resistance, possible humans present an obstacle."
Councilor Udina glared at Councilor Valern, "Yes...well I'd usually agree but this time I think it may have been the NSSC. The last report mentioned they would 'evacuate the planet'. They might have the Reapers tied up while they do so. If that is the case we may have days to plan. Billions of people take a while to move."
He turned looked to the other Councilors, "I hope we can get support from the other races if we do come under attack."
There was a moment of silence before Councilor Valern spoke up, "The Salarian Union will be unable to assist. Our forces are ill-equipped to fight the Reapers face to face and our stealth technologies seem useless against them."
Udina was about to speak when Valern held up his hand, "We can support but not without time to prepare, I will not martyr the Union's ships for Humanity. Or the Turians and Asari for that matter."
Councilor Tevos and Sparatus glared at the Salarian, "I did not say we would not fight Councilors. We will just only do so if there is a chance to do something worthwhile."
Councilor Udina crossed his arms, "I won't waste time arguing with you Councilor but I do want you to know that Humanity won't forget that helping defend us if we are attacked isn't seen as 'worthwhile' to the Salarians."
Councilor Tevos held up her hands, "We don't need to fight amongst ourselves Councilors, the Reapers haven't attacked outside of Batarian spac-" The chime of their Omni-tools interrupted her mid sentence.
Her patience broke for a moment, the events of the last few weeks having finally overcome her composure learned over centuries as she threw up her hands and exclaimed, "Goddess! WHAT. NOW?!" She glared at her Omnitool as if it were an unruly underling before punching the keys to bring up the new message.
The other Councilors shuffled on their feet at their most experienced peer losing her composure for a moment before they too keyed up the message they had received.
Tevos finished hers quickly, her eyes widening at the end of the message. She shut off the interface and looked up at the others as they processed the news. Each of their reactions mirroring her own as they finished reading.
Councilor Sparatus was the first to speak, "They evacuated the whole planet! That could be why the Reapers aren't moving as aggressively. I know I would have no idea how to react to that."
Councilor Valern muttered to himself, reactivating his Omni-tool and began to type furiously into it. Tevos had seen that behaviour from the Salarians before, he wouldn't have much to add to the conversation until he was done. Taking a moment to compose herself, she thought of what was happening in the galaxy. Then she thought of how they had been bickering lately. The four of them were stressed of course but in light of the threat they were facing Tevos felt a flush of embarrassment for a moment. The recent finds concerning the Reapers, the NSSC from another universe, and the Council's reactions to it all struck her as odd. The more the seasoned Asari Councilor thought of it, the more ridiculous it all seemed.
Suddenly, a thought cut through her racing thoughts, 'We've been acting like brats.'
The other three Councilors continued on in a discussion, Udina was digging more into the Salarian position on the Reapers, Sparatus was supportive of Valern but cautious, Valern was elbows deep in his Omnitool while speaking to the two. Suddenly, it all seemed fairly amusing to her, more so each second she watched the others.
Finally a small laugh escaped her lips and the other three froze. She hadn't been really paying attention to what they were saying at that point but seeing their eyes on her, she decided to explain.
"This is all so silly, I didn't meant to interrupt but look at us. What are we doing?" She looked at each other Councilor in turn.
Councilor Sparatus was the first to speak, "What do you mean 'silly' Tevos? This is the fate of the galaxy we are talking about, that is hardly silly."
She choked her amusement at his comment, in the larger context yes, they did effect the galaxy but the three of them seemed to only be interested in their own race, "Yes, it is the galaxy at stake here Sparatus, that is why this all seems so….well, silly. We are arguing about trite, little things when we should be working together. At this rate we will be arguing over who pays for lunch!"
Councilor Valern shut off his Omnitool and stood straight, "Councilor Tevos, your hyperbole is not necessary. We would not become so petty, it seems that the stress of recent events has gotten the better of you. Perhaps-"
"NO. It has not gotten the better of me Valern." Her humor disappeared as she cut off the Salarian, her centuries of experience returning to her demeanor.
"We have become so petty, we are working so damn hard at maintaining a status quo that was broken the moment the NSSC arrived in this universe. The days of us standing on high and dictating to the other races needs to end. There is the galaxy resting in the balance right now. We would be irresponsibly negligent if the best we can do is argue over who will come to whose aid." Her piercing gaze caused Councilor Valern to falter as he glanced to the other two present.
"There should be no argument, that is one of the stated purposes of the Council is it not?" She stood for a moment before Sparatus stepped forward.
"It is but the Turians cannot be expected to fall on the sword alone Tevos. We are military might of the Council but you saw what a single Reaper did years ago." His case was not lost on Tevos.
"It was a battle, but we worked together to destroy it and have since used what we learned to advance ourselves. I will call half the fleets from Thessia to join the push Sparatus, I expect the same support from the Salarians." Her attention returned to Valern who stood stock still, considering his options.
"The Dalatrass will not forget this demand Councilor."
"Then the Dalatrass can be damned, this isn't a fight in the shadows Councilor. We don't need the Salarians as a dagger in the dark. We need them to stand and fight with us."
Councilor Udina was quiet through the proceedings. He recognized that she, the oldest member of the Council representing the oldest Council races was fighting for the very thing he had hoped for.
Councilor Valern held up his hands, "I did not say I would not commit our forces Councilor, if the Asari commit their fleets then so too will the Salarians. There will no doubt be political fallout however. The Union has gotten accustomed to not being dictated to."
Councilor Tevos nodded, "As have the Matriarchs but I am not concerned with that right now. We know how powerful the Reaper ships are, I will happily answer the political fallout for this if we can do everything we can to ensure we are here for it."
Tevos mentally switched her frame of mind and stepped up to the table in the center of the room, the others following her lead, "We are still the Council and as such I will ask each of you to support this. Will each race and their clients support a Council fleet to defend against the Reapers."
A small smile made its way onto her face as the other Councilors voiced their support. It was unanimous, they would fight the Reapers.
Sparatus clasped his hands behind his back, his experience as the Turian Councilor and a military leader evident as he began, "I am glad we have that settled Councilors, things are much simpler with strong leadership." He nodded to Tevos, "Now however, we should focus on our next move. Once we have the fleet together we need to decide where to deploy it first."
Councilor Udina spoke up at this, "From Batarian space there are two places they could logically go. Palaven or Earth." He left it at that for now, he struggled to not yell that they deploy to Earth first but after Tevos' change of heart, that would be counter productive.
Sparatus freed him from that burden however, "Palaven will be well defended even without the ships from the Council's fleet. Earth will need the support before Palaven does."
Councilor Udina nodded, he had hoped that would be the decision but was surprised Sparatus would voice it. Another thought crossed Udina's mind, "What of the NSSC? What part will we expect them to play in all of this?"
Councilor Tevos spoke up once again, "If they are sincere in their desire to help then we will fold them into our strategies but this is our space, these are our homes. We will fight for them regardless."
Finally, that was this chapter. There's a good reason for it to be delayed, real life can deal some supremely shitty hands at times. (On that note, if you have small children, make damn good sure that they are supervised around water.) So I had other things to deal with besides the story. It will probably slow down the story overall although I do have some of the next chapter already written so there won't be another two-month delay. Sorry about that by the way.
I hope the story is still entertaining even with the delays. *raises glass* cheers!