AN: Some feedback will be appreciated. I ended up rewriting this part a few times and I still can't get it up to a standard I really like.
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or the various X-COM games. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not written for profit. I make no money from it. It is not for sale or rent.
Chapter 6: A different perspective
=SF=
Part 1: Fallout
01:33, 15 September 2176
Secure room A1
Arcturus station
"That's an unfortunate turn of events, Commander." Prime Minister Yamada stated blandly. Finally hearing the high points of X-COM's of the events at Marnloow, made Kelly feel much older. "We expected a better outcome if our forces encountered the Enemy again."
"We hoped for a better outcome, madam Prime Minister." The Commander answered calmly. "While our forces performed in a less stellar manner than some of the more optimistic projections called for, what happened was much better than our worse case scenarios. To put it bluntly, this is the first time we encountered proper Ethereal naval forces. We could have lost the whole fleet with nothing to show for it and that wouldn't have come as a complete surprise. We've come a long way in reverse engineering and improving the Enemy's own technology we captured during the war. However, we're very far from actually mastering it. We all know what happened during the war the few times the actual Ethereal military was deployed."
That reminder brought back nightmarish videos and AARs from the war. XCOM won exactly two of those eight engagements. It was good thing too, because the first was on the Temple Ship itself. The second was when an Ethereal platoon got their transport shot down on its way to XCOM's base in Ural, then ran afoul of a whole Russian army group without air support to even the odds. Still, they took out a whole mechanized division and two tank battalions before finally being pinned down and plastered.
"You are saying that we should be grateful for only losing two thirds of Third Fleet and having a dreadnought that would spent at least a year being repaired." Councilor Mi summarized. "Then there are the personnel losses..." Which were significant and as unpleasant as those in ships. Trained crews weren't cheap nor easy to train.
"Yes. Further, there are few details that the reports didn't mention. One of our ground teams encountered an Elder Ethereal." The Commander paused.
"We lost them I presume." Anita Goyle sighed.
"Not all of them. The survivors were let go to carry a message. The space battle might have been a test." The Commander reluctantly admitted.
"That again?" Howard Stanton growled. "What did they say, that the whole war was a test?" The European representative snorted.
"The only mention of the war was an indicated surprise that sergeant Veil survived it. We don't know if the 'message' was piece of psychological warfare, genuine or just the Ethereal's sense of humor."The Commander admitted.
"With the Enemy? It could be all of the above." The Martian Councilor grumbled. "Or none." Anita grumbled in frustration.
"What is the message?" The Prime Minister asked.
"That we're out of time. That the Ethereal's ancient enemy, the one they tried to prepare us for with the War would be coming soon. They will be testing us to determine if we're ready or not. Beside that? Sergeant Veil was given a vision of a war on a scale that makes our first encounter with the Ethereals seem like a children's spat." The Commander explained.
"Isn't that a cheerful thought. Is he compromised?" Mi asked."
"Unknown at this time. We've got some of our best people scanning him along with the other survivors." The Commander admitted. "They'll be in lock-down until we're damn sure they're clean."
"Recommendations?" Yamada asked.
"Further expand the navy. Devise counter-measures for observed Ethereal weapons and tactics. Create an actual alliance with the Citadel Council, failing that a separate one with the Turian Hierarchy. Eliminate possible distractions." The Commander stated.
"The Batarians you mean." Mi sniped.
"We can't have them causing trouble at the worst possible moment." Fitzgerald said. "However, we can't afford to engage into a full scale war when the Ethereals can be waiting for us to lower our defenses."
"I'll speak with the Appropriations Committee." The Prime Minister said. "I want options for neutralizing the Batarian Hegemony – both military and otherwise. What can we give the Council to bring them on our side?"
"Without being voted out of office?" Anita chuckled. "Probably not enough."
"We'll have to improvise then. I might have the beginning of an idea..." The Commander said.
=SF=
14:21, 16 September 2176
Communications Room C
XSV Kursk
"Thank you for your report, Spectre Vasir." The Turian Councilor gave Tela a small nod. "What are your impressions?"
Tela Vasir gave Kiril Lorn a pointed look. They all knew that the conversation wasn't secure – not when she was on board a human ship and using their equipment for the transmission.
"We're aware of the implications. Speak." The new Salarian Councilor ordered without looking up from his omni-tool.
"The Ethereal ground forces are… formidable." Vasir grudgingly admitted. Her unit encountered only a single squad of their soldiers – all other resistance came from their Advent collaborators, which were manageable even if not something she would like facing when they were not caught by surprise. However those heavily armored Muttons as the humans called them…
A shiver ran up her spine and Tela was back underground in that Goddess forsaken lab.
The lithe feline woman leading the scratch squad Tela attached herself to was suddenly torn in two by an invisible assailant. Her blood splashed over a towering mountain of armor, rage and muscle that made the worst Krogan warlords the Spectre has ever seen puny by comparison. Such a beast should have never been able to sneak up to them unnoticed, much less close enough to kill their point woman in melee.
The sensors didn't notice it. None heard or saw a thing. They didn't sense its approach. One moment they were advancing after taking out another Advent strong point, then they were under attack. Only the tight quarters of the corridor saved them, because that beast had a lot of big, heavy armed friends. That and their likely belief that the monster in front would be enough.
It butchered five Claws while the rest ran. The sixth, a demolitions expert blew himself up along his killer, collapsed the corridor and gave Tela and the two survivors with her time to meet with another team. Just in time too, because the rest of the aliens simply blasted their way through and gave chase.
Vasir couldn't remember properly the firefight that followed. She had to push her biotics to their limits in order to keep herself away from fiery death. None of the people with her survived that encounter and they were able to bring down just one of the enemies – only after the damned thing absorbed enough punishment to slag a tank or three.
Tela had to run for her life again. Only a liberal use of biotic charges kept her away from the Muttons as the humans called those behemoths. She was a Council Spectre. One of the best the Citadel had. Among the most experienced too.
Yet, she had been totally outclassed by the Ethereal front-line soldiers.
Vasir shook her head in annoyance. This wasn't the time for PTSD, damn it!
"Can you repeat that, Ma'am?" Tela asked.
"More so than the humans?" Tevos did so and the subtle shift in her tone indicated her own annoyance.
Well, fuck you too, Vasir thought.
"From what I saw? Superior before taking psionics under consideration. The Ethereal soldiers had more advanced equipment, they were tougher. Much tougher. I can't stress that enough. We can't practically take them down with small arms." Vasir answered once she shook off the flashback.
It was left unsaid that as a matter of course the human ground troops had better weapons and armor, something that extended to their vehicles too. Even if the last point was so far merely an extrapolation based on the quality of their infantry equipment. The general consensus was that the Citadel armed forces could still prevail if only thanks to their superior numbers.
A potential war was going to be a pure bloodbath that would put the Krogan Rebellions to shame and no one in their right minds wanted something like that. The Ethereals on the other hand… They were much, much worse and that was before taking into account the horror show Tela found in the lower levels of the lab after human reinforcements from the fleet finally secured that cursed place. In her centuries as a Spectre, Tela hasn't seen anything that bad, though the handiwork of a few particularly deranged madmen came somewhat close.
"I should stress that I encountered only the Mutton – their heavy troopers. What else they have in reserve is speculation at this point. I recommend we revise our worst case scenarios about the humans and Ethereals alike up. Way up." Vasir grudgingly reported.
=SF=
Part 2: Picking up the pieces
=SF=
12:11, 17 September, 2176
Site Gamma
Location Classified
"...enhanced sub-dermal armor. Huh. That's neat way to graft it to the muscles..." Dr. Vahlen thought aloud, while an auto surgeon was busy dissecting a mauled Mutton corpse. The alien brute had half its torso missing with most of the rest turned into a cooked and charred mess – not an ideal specimen. She had to impress to the troops that she needed more or less intact subjects, not some that were used for target practice.
Oh, how she missed the good old days! There were so many subjects and new toys to play with! It's been more than a century since she was in her element! It wasn't fair!
Moira smiled at the body being cut apart by the auto-surgeon. The Ethereals were back and that meant they were going to make up for all those years spent studying and refining boring science! She just needed a few fresh, intact specimens to study. A few captives too! It wasn't too much to ask for, surely?
"I believe you will find this interesting, Doctor." Sophia, the science AI slotted to aid Vahlen brought an anomaly to her attention. An area at the back of the Mutton's neck lit up on a hologram floating next to the operating table. It was of a standard alien heavy trooper and it was constantly being updated as the corpse was scanned and dissected with any new additions and anomalies being noted for further study.
"Huh. What do we have here?" Moira smiled impishly.
The auto-surgeon went to work around the anomaly. It was in one of the vertebra of the spine and the preliminary scans missed it, designating it as merely another part of the cybernetics that had replaced over fifty percent of the bones in the body. The rest were coated with some weird ceramic alloy making them incredibly durable – they were at least forty percent stronger than any similar treatment available to X-COM.
"Sophia, designate another high priority project. I want that bone coating replicated along with ways to use it." Vahlen ordered.
"Already done, Doctor." The AI chirped happily.
"Of course it is." Moira sighed. Sophia was terribly useful, though too often she was an irritating little bitch with delusions of grandeur. She had no passion for proper science!
The auto-surgeon whined as Vahlenite blades and a laser scalpel went to work cutting into the alloy spine of the dead Mutton. Gore flew and splashed over the containment shield surrounding the operating table, robotic arms moved in and carefully pulled out the odd metal vertebrae. They carefully washed it and brought it up so Moira could examine the oddity.
Whatever it was, it was fried, but it didn't look like it was from combat damage. Self destruct?
"Scan it and everything it was attached to." Moira ordered. "Get nanobot probes into the spine before cutting in further."
"On it, Doctor." Sophia promptly responded. "There are connections all the way into the brain pan and throughout the primary nervous system. I believe it is a redundant optical system guaranteeing faster reaction times as well as at least limited resistance against nerve agents."
"That won't help them when anything nasty reaches the brain." Moira frowned. "Ah. It's fully protected, isn't it? That's why we couldn't properly scan it through the skull?"
"The brain-pan is reinforced." Sophia nodded. "I can't be sure before we cut through the protection but I can confirm that the brain is isolated from the skull itself with a thin layer of shock gel and it has its own armored mesh"
"Why didn't they go for a complete cyborg treatment then?" Moira wondered.
"Not enough data."
Vahlen huffed. "Let's see what else is new."
=SF=
21:15, 17 September, 2176
Detention center
The Hive – X-COM facility
Australia
Jack Harper steeled himself when he reached the interrogation room where one of his oldest and closest friends was held. Figuring that Henry Lawson was one of the engineers behind the Elysium attack was a heavy blow. Jack hoped beyond hope that there would be inconsistencies in the evidence proving that Henry was merely a patsy. All that time Harper was keenly aware that he was not only being investigated himself but command gave him enough rope to hang himself in case he had anything to do with that debacle. It all culminated in a seventy-two hours long interrogation using all the toys that X-COM had in order to clean him of any wrongdoing. The only silver lining was that for some arcane reason the Commander saw fit to let him continue lead the investigation once he was in the clear.
Jack still wasn't sure if that was a gesture of a good faith, a punishment detail for daring have a traitor for a friend or a test. Possibly all the above and more along with the hope that Henry might be more forthcoming with a friendly face... not that it was strictly necessary. As a traitor, X-COM's Counter-Intelligence division would be draining him of any and all knowledge he had about anything before he was sent to trial – if he survived the interrogation.
Harper sighed. There was no use of wasting any more time. He went to the control panel next to the door of the interrogation room and let the built in sensors scan him and confirm his credentials. The red light shining above the panel turned green once the scans were complete and the door unlocked with a series of loud clicks then slid into the floor.
Jack walked in after examining the room for a moment. There was a small metal table and Henry was chained to it. A pair of armed Mechs stood behind Lawson watching his every move – not that he could wiggle much as he was sat and bolted to an uncomfortable chair.
"Henry." Harper glared at his friend. "Just... what the fuck?!"
"Jack." The bastard had the temerity to actually smile. "I did what I had to."
"Really? You had to become traitor to Humanity?" Harper didn't bother to hide his incredulity.
"We got too soft and trusting of the Xenos, Jack. The Citadel species might not be the Ethereals but that's just because they lack psionics and the technological edge. Look me in the eyes and tell me we would be anything but an associate species under the Council thumb if it wasn't for our vast military and technological lead." Henry spoke earnestly.
"That's kinda obvious. What does that have to do with you selling out one of our colonies to slavers?!" Jack snapped.
"A reminder of how hostile the galaxy is to us, Jack. We can't hide and hope the aliens would leave us alone. We can't allow them to influence us either!" Lawson exclaimed. "We need to rise up and get our proper place among the stars of we will all suffer for it! What I did, I did it for Humanity! For our future!"
Harper looked in disbelief at his friend. He knew where Lawson's political views laid but this... Jack shook his head. Did he really know his friend? Not liking aliens, nor trusting them was one thing. That was why X-COM existed, to protect Humanity from any and all alien threats. That however was quite a bit different from the bullshit Henry was spouting. How the hell helping aliens kill humans served Humanity's interests?! What twisted logic...
Jack sat down and glared at his friend. This was going to be one long and frustrating interview, he just knew it.
=SF=
09:03, 21 September 2176
Detention center
Arcturus Station
Cooling my heels for days in the brig, with only a short transfer between ships and endless test breaking the boredom got old fast. Apparently, there were orders from the Brass to keep me in the dark until a specialist could be spared to go rifle through my mind to check how much that bloody Ethereal messed up my head.
The waiting and uncertainty sucked balls. At least the MREs the security fed me was edible – more than could be said than some of what we had to eat during the war. However, given my situation, it wasn't enough of a morale booster.
I was ready to begin climbing the walls by the time an obscene group of fully kitted out guards came knocking.
"Sergeant, face the wall opposite the door." A modulated voice ordered. I did as instructed, the door opened and a pair of heavy armored guards secured me as if I was a Berzerker high on combat drugs. A whole squad escorted me to an interrogation room where they proceeded to secure me to a table bolted to the floor and then planted my rear in the most uncomfortable chair this side of history.
Then they just left me to stew. Fun it was not.
A few minutes later the door opened and a slip of a girl walked in. She looked no older than sixteen, though her uniform told another tale – she had oak leaves on her shoulders and a patch designating her as a high level Psionic.
"Ma'am." I greeted, straightened in my seat and glanced at my hands. "Unfortunately I can't properly salute, sir."
"I'll let it slide this time, Sergeant. Tell me all about your latest encounter with the Ethereals." There was a hint of amusement in her voice that was drowned by the sense of power it resonated with.
The room grew darker and all I could see were her eyes – they were beacons shining with unrestrained Psionic energy.
Without thinking I began telling the Captain everything she wanted to know. Purple flames danced all around me and I felt like falling into an endless vortex all the while her eyes shone with power and looked straight into my soul.
I blinked in confusion. I was back in the interrogation room staring blankly at the Captain.
"That would be all, Sergeant." She gave me a sharp nod and simply left.
The hell just happened?