Standard disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor any other content that you recognise. Some characters and systems are original creations. I am receiving no money for my work.
London – Earth
2018.01.28
Apologies for my long absence. I was badly injured at work before Christmas with damage to my left side, spine and left knee. Being in severe pain is not conductive to writing. Especially not when the painkillers give you a stomach ulcer and you end up sleeping in 3hr shifts due to the pain. But I'm slowly getting better, and I have enough energy to start writing again. So, you guys get a new chapter
Brussels – Earth
2112.10.24
The glittering new De Gasperi skyscraper that had replaced the old Berlaymont building thrust into the sky in the centre of Brussels. The only building to be granted an exemption to the 50 story height limit, it stood indomitable at 100 stories high, visible across the city, a physical two fingered salute to the rabid nationalists that had been predicting the inevitable collapse of the European Union ever since it was created by the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 CE. Much like Armageddon, that 'inevitable' collapse still hadn't happened yet, but facts never stopped the preachers.
Fortunately the sound from their megaphones was blocked by the buildings glass, otherwise the workers on the lower floors would have gone mad from the constant prophecies of collapse being belted out around the perimeter every day that something went even mildly wrong.
At the top of the building was the council chamber, but it was in one of the smaller crisis meeting rooms below it that the President of the European Commission, Cecilia Vestager, had assembled the core powerbrokers of the European Union.
The Chancellor of Germany, President of France, and the Prime Ministers of England, Italy, Spain, Poland, Ukraine, and Romania all sat around the table with her.
Although she was President of the executive branch of the European Union, controlling the civil and diplomatic services, and acting as commander in chief of the Combined Military Command that all of the member states militaries operated under in the event of an external attack on the Union, the restrictions on her power were more stringent than those on the President of the United States.
Unlike the US Senate, the European Council, the upper house of the EU legislature made up of the head of government of all member states, had to approve her diplomatic actions in advance, rather than just voting yes or no on the results of them as the Senate did. They also had to approve her use of the emergency military response clause of the constitution, which the US Senate did not.
In addition, the results of her diplomatic actions had to be approved in a yes/no vote by the European Parliament, the lower house of the EU legislature made up of members directly elected by the voters of the Union. A power not shared by the US House, though like the US Congress as a whole, the combined legislature was the sole body that could declare war on behalf of the Union.
Fortunately, the leaders of the 8 countries present represented the majority of the European Union's population and economic power. If they were unanimous, enough of the other 24 member nations would follow their lead to ensure a qualified majority and authorise the actions that President Vestager wanted to take.
"I take it, as we're all here, that the Americans are still refusing to go all out on overturning the blocking minority the Chinese have managed to assemble in the Alliance Executive Council?" President Marais started the ball rolling.
"Unfortunately that's the case" President Vestager replied. "I know we all hoped they would change course given the data and call for help that the SSV Cardiff managed to get out, but the vote to deploy the Alliance military today failed as usual, and there has been no change in the silence of the US State Department."
"Is there any chance we can break the blocking minority without them?" Prime Minister Garicano asked.
"Of course, but we don't have the military prestige to do it in time." Chancellor Lindner responded. "Our power is economic, and in that sphere we're easily the equals of the USA and China. But humanity is under attack, and that means people are seeking safely, running to the two superpowers who bind up so much of their national identity in their military. Of course the Combined Military Command is more than sufficient to protect the Union, people know that, but we haven't poured practically unlimited resources into it like the Chinses and Americans have. People don't think of us as military protectors, and that means it will take time to peel them away from China without the reputation of the American military backing our efforts. Time we don't have if the reports of the situation on Shanxi are accurate.
"You'd have thought that news of the ease with which the dinobirds blasted the navy out of the stars, and the cries for help from the Shanxi and Zapala garrisons, would have lit a fire under them and the Chinese." Prime Minister Skoropadskyi noted. More than any of the other leaders, he knew that when a more powerful neighbour invaded, if you were paralysed with internal squabbling you were doomed. There had been no Miracle of the Vistula for Ukraine.
"We have no idea whether the American joint chiefs have changed their advice in light of that information." Charles Davey, the Prime Minister of England noted. "They may well have done, but their political leadership clearly isn't listening if they have, and the same goes for China. A nation's irrational belief in its own superiority can lead to catastrophe, and I think we have to recognise that that is exactly what is happening in Washington and Beijing. They simply can't conceive of a power that they can't defeat, and the lesson that you're not exceptional just because you believe you are isn't one you can learn overnight. It has to be hammered into a nation's collective consciousness with the brick of bitter reality; England found that out the hard way, and Scotland subsequently proved it to be a psychological rule after they had to learn it the hard way as well, despite having had a front row seat to England's meltdown. No; if we're going to act we're going to have to do it without the USA and China, which given the feelers that have been coming my way from India, and Alistair's presence here, I think you already knew, Cecilia.
Cecilia Vestager simply inclined her head before turning to the 9th national leader there, the only one present who wasn't part of the usual list summoned to the emergency crisis response meetings'.
Alistair Chamberlin, First Minister of the Republic of Scotland, sat coolly under their collective gaze. "You're right Charles. I'm sure all of you know that Fleet Admiral Carmichael is from the Shetland Islands, and Holyrood has been receiving unofficial feelers from his closest associates that confirm the ones coming from India. It seems the situation has passed the point of no return for him and Anaya Khatri, if the feelers are to be believed, they've committed themselves to attempting a military coup so that they can send the Grand Fleet and Army to save Shanxi, no matter what the Executive Council says."
The other national leaders showed various degrees of shock. All of them had suspected something was afoot with the actions of the Fleet Admiral and Field Marshal, but all of their intelligence agencies had been sure that it was political manoeuvring to destroy China's blocking minority. None of their analysts had been predicting anything like this.
"How can they possibly think they can get away with it?" Prime Minister Renzi gasped.
"Amon Din Station." Prime Minister Szlapka pointed out, quick to grasp the power of the communications hub. "They aren't launching a full military coup; they're not trying to overthrow the government and rule the Alliance directly, which means they don't need a prohibitively large number of conspirators. They don't need to seize or co-opt political, military, judicial, and law enforcement leaders, or to take and maintain control of the civilian infrastructure required to control the economy, media, and civil administration."
The national leaders all regarded the Polish Prime Minister with rapt attention, as the plan of Thomas Carmichael and Anaya Khatri began to take form.
"All they're trying to do is deploy an already assembled and supplied military force without authorisation. Which means they only have to sever the chain of command between that force and the political leadership of the Systems Alliance for a few days, a few weeks if they want to be certain of it, and thanks to the little matter of interstellar distances, that only requires the seizure of two key locations."
The Polish Prime Minister simply grinned at the disbelief on open display.
"The entire comm buoy network that allows for real time interstellar communications is controlled from Amon Din Station, and it's already under Alliance military command. If they switch out its commanding officer with some who's loyalty they can be sure of, then suddenly no video call, email, or any form of message leaves Sol without their authorisation. If they allow the bulk of civilian traffic through it could be weeks before anyone beyond the intelligence agencys notice, and even if the agencys notice right away they'll still need time to get evidence to confirm their suspicions to their political masters, time the Grand Fleet will spend racing towards Shanxi."
Prime Minister Renzi was still incredulous. "Surely commercial traffic will blow up that plan! Even if they don't have any CIA or MSS spyships slipping through, the hundreds of commercial freighters that come through every day are going to mention that the largest fleet humanity has ever assembled has gone missing!"
"That leads to the second location they need to secure." Prime Minister Szlapka explained. "The relay garrison on the Arcturus side of the Charon-Arcturus relay. If they replace the commanding officer there and close the relay to all traffic, then no one will be coming through to give the game away. The Chinese and Americans will complain, but ultimately they'll just think that Carmichael is flexing his muscles in an attempt to blackmail the blocking minority into voting into allow him to launch, exactly as we would have if we didn't have the unofficial feelers telegraphing his intentions, and they'll likely just decide to wait him out."
"There's the supposedly secret emergency comm station designed to replace Amon Din if it's destroyed, and undoubtably at least one actually secret backup to that one as well." Prime Minister Barna mentioned dubiously.
"None of which matter if you don't realise you need to activate them." President Vestager noted.
"My God." Barna muttered in awe as the simplicity of what needed to be achieved compared to a full military coup came into view. "They can actually do it."
"The question is; what do we do about it?" Charles Davey stated, looking around the table. "The Second Space Lord is Welsh, the Second Sky Marshal German, and the commander of Amon Din is Polish. If any of them balk at this they're going to come to us, their national governments, to express their doubts. Do we cut Carmichael and Khatri off at the knees by going to their key juniors first and slamming the brakes on this? Or do we wait, and if those officers come to us, tell them its full steam ahead?"
Zodiac System – Zodiac Group
2112.10.24
SSV Trafalgar slowly detached from the asteroid she had latched onto as a hiding place and began to feed power to her engines, careful to keep either this asteroid or one of its neighbours between her and the ship that her probes had detected. The little cluster of 12 asteroids caught in the gas giants orbit had proved to be the perfect hiding place for her and her companion vessel, SSV Hastings, as they raided the alien supply convoys heading for Shanxi after being cut off when the aliens first appeared.
Only Trafalgar was left now. Hastings had been destroyed a fortnight prior, trying to fight the enemy escorts rather than blow through them and hit the convoy. Trafalgar herself had only survived so long due to the skill and cunning of her Captain, but now she was close to following her sister ship. There wasn't a single part of her hull that wasn't dented or scratched, whole sections of armour were simply gone, and the hull beneath was a twisted wreck opening entire compartments to space.
Her torpedo banks were long since exhausted, her supplies were running low due to a direct hit on one of the food storage compartments, and the slow water loss from dozens of stress fractures and breaches in her battered water recycling system had forced the showers to be shut down a week ago.
Lieutenant Sirikit Walailak of the Systems Alliance marines strode confidently into the entry bay behind the main airlock to find the remaining five marines under her command ready and waiting for her. She took a moment to remember the other two who had been killed helping the crew with damage control.
"Aren't we helping with damage control this time Lieutenant?" her Sergeant asked. It was a fair question as they had been wearing their combat armour while helping, so as to allow the maximum number of naval crew to use the damage control team armour.
"Not this time Sergeant. The Captain has decided he wants to capture this target, if he can do so with minimal risk." Sirikit replied, tying up her long dark hair and putting on her helmet.
"Like Lt. Commander Bordey has ever been put off by risk."
Sirikit couldn't tell who had muttered that as she hadn't got her helmet fully on, so she made her reply general. "Stow it marines! Edouard Bordey has pulled us out of the fire so many times since we've been stuck here I've lost count. Any other CO and we would be dead by now, so just be grateful that the Captain's gambles have paid off and that we're still breathing."
There was an awkward silence as they remembered the fate of the Hastings. Her Captain had been a solid, competent, naval officer. But he had been a poor commerce raider. Captain Bordey had destroyed more alien supply ships, evaded more alien patrols, and kept them all alive and in the fight for far longer than any of them had ever thought possible when they saw the size of the alien fleet heading for Zapala and Shanxi.
"Sorry Lieutenant." It was her Corporal that spoke up and Sirikit stared at him with enough force that she was certain that he felt it through their armoured helmets. Her gaze was broken when they staggered for a moment, the damaged inertial dampeners lagging behind Trafalgar's combat manoeuvres as she closed in on her prey.
"The target apparently has a totally different design to any ships that we have encountered so far, and it has a giant oval hole in its centre. As such, the Captain doesn't think it's a military ship or a transport. It's most likely to be a civilian liner and so it should be a soft target. We're going to take advantage of that and raid it for water, food, and information. As it's a civilian ship we'll be trying to avoid killing anyone who isn't armed, but don't take any chances. If you think someone's a danger to you, put them down."
They all nodded in response and checked their weapons.
"Just bear in mind that this may be a passenger liner full of people on a cruise, but it could also be a requisitioned liner taking a high-ranking politician to inspect the invasion force, so anything from crowd control to live target capture may be required." Sirikit looked at all her marines standing to attention and absorbing every word. "Now, let's get ready to go hunting."
The marines checked their armaments and readied themselves by the airlock with the breaching charges Sirikit had brought from the armoury, ready to make a forced entry into the enemy ship. They knew what the enemy looked like, a sort of metal plated bird had sent unintelligible messages to them more than once during their convoy raids.
Probably either demanding their surrender or promising to kill them in a variety of painful and messy ways, no one knew. The point, for Lieutenant Walailak, was that the messages let her know that the aliens were human sized and shaped but much thinner. Centre mass of the upper chest shots would be both easiest to make, and probably the most effective, so she had been drilling her marines relentlessly to do exactly that between raids.
"Lieutenant Walailak, we are activating the tractor beams and docking with the enemy vessel now. Proceed at….confirm that! " The Captain's sudden conversation course change and the concern in his voice was a clear warning to the marines, as was the sudden violent shaking of Trafalgar. They immediately dropped into combat crouches and pointed their weapons at the airlock.
"Lieutenant, it appears I have led us into a trap. The enemy vessel has engaged its own tractor beams and has a solid hold of us, the engines can't break us free without tearing Trafalgar to pieces, and they're dragging us towards their airlock. The crafty fuckers are also keeping us angled so we can't bring the guns to bear on any part of their ship, let alone their tractor emitters. I've activated the Cole Protocol. Prepare to repel borders." The anger in the Captain's voice was clear, and it was also clear to them all that it was directed solely at himself.
Sirikit didn't share it, she'd fallen for the same trap as the Captain. She activated the ships anti-boarding measures and panels providing the defenders of the entry bay with solid cover and clear fields of fire to the airlock deployed from the floor, walls, and ceiling.
"Our luck was always going to run out eventually sir, it can't be helped. We stand ready to repel boarders sir." She replied, speaking as calmly as if she were discussing the weather in Bangkok. The last anti-boarding measure, the kinetic barrier, cut the room in half protecting the defenders from the shockwave and possible vacuum of the airlock being forcibly breached.
"Perhaps Lieutenant. Should I deploy armed crew in the damage control teams armour to your position? Or should I hold them back to defend engineering? I defer to your judgement in this matter." Sirikit took her place in cover as the Captain gave her options, still collected and in command even though they both knew the chances of them escaping this situation were virtually nil. She nodded in approval at her Sergeant's decision to place the unused breaching charges in front of their cover where they would function as makeshift claymores.
"Damage control suits are only armoured against flying debris, plasma and vacuum sir, they're not designed for combat. I suggest sending them to engineering, but they won't be needed. This alien scum will soon learn that no one passes an Alliance marine." Sirikit added the 'while they're still alive' silently in her head. Captain Bordey wasn't the only one who could project confidence despite realising that eventual defeat was a virtual certainty.
"Understood. Good hunting Lieutenant." Captain Bordey signed off as clunks came from the airlock indicating that Trafalgar was now docked with the enemy ship, or as close to docked as they could get with different airlock designs. Rather than the expected blast, the display panel besides the airlock lit up.
"They're trying to hack the airlock? Isn't that pretty much impossible if they don't know our systems? She directed her question at her Sergeant, who was also her tech specialist.
"Possibly ma'am. It depends how used they are to interfacing with completely unknown systems, what the raw computing power available is for working out the access codes, and sheer dumb luck. If they have the computing power to brute force it they could find the correct code on their third try or their thirty billionth try."
Sirikit looked at the emergency seal system which would melt the airlock hydraulics and keep it permanently closed, regretting she hadn't used it. It was unlikely the aliens were unable to breach the airlock another way though, so she refocused her sights and remained calm. "Be ready for grenades and remember your firing positions. I want a wall of fire as soon as the first one appears, don't give away our positions by firing before you see them."
The airlock doors sprang open and the marines tensed, ready to fire. No one was visible, no grenades came flying towards them. In fact, nothing happened.
At all.
There was a couple of minutes of silence before her Sergeant dared to whisper the question. "Where are they ma'am?"
Sirikit was concerned as well, more than she cared to admit. "Watch your flanks, they may have tactical cloaks." Her order calmed her marines, but not her. Even with tactical cloaks, they should have seen a disturbance in the kinetic barrier when the aliens passed through it, which they would have had to do if they were attempting to close to melee range under cloak.
CLANG!
"Grenade!" The response from her youngest marine was instinctive as he ducked behind his cover and the others prepared to fire on the enemy charge that would surely follow the explosion.
"Hold!" Sirikit didn't know what the alien's grenades looked like, but she did know what a gun looked like. And it looked suspiciously like someone had just thrown a pistol through the airlock.
Confused and tense, the marines waited thirty seconds before there was another clang and an assault rifle landed beside the pistol.
"What's going on ma'am?" her Corporal spoke up.
"I don't know, but don't lose focus." As Sirikit was speaking, what she was fairly certain was an armour leg and boot piece joined the pistol and assault rifle. She activated her comms system.
"Captain, something strange is going on down here." A second leg piece joined the first, closely followed by an arm piece whilst she was speaking.
"Do you need those crewmembers Lieutenant? I can have them to your position in moments." The Captains voice was tense, clearly unhappy with being unable to help in what he assumed was a battle for his ship's survival.
"The aliens have thrown a pistol, an assault rifle, and are in the process of throwing an entire set of body armour through the airlock sir." Another arm piece and a lower torso piece joined the set as she made her report.
"I think, I think they might be trying to negotiate."
"Negotiate." Captain Bordey's voice clearly conveyed his disbelief as an upper torso piece came flying through the airlock.
"Yes sir." A helmet came flying through and completed the set. "I think that they're trying to show us that whoever is about to appear in the airlock is unarmed and unarmoured. Marines: Return fire only."
The marines tensed as a figure now slowly entered the airlock, their hands behind their back.
"Lieutenant." Her Sergeants voice was clearly filled with worry as Sirikit left cover and took a step forward. It was too easy to conceal grenades or other offensive weapons with your hands in that position. There was a reason why the surrender position for humans involved open hands held well above your head.
"Easy Sergeant, that may be their versions of hands in the air." Sirikit took another step forward, trying to get a good look at the alien as they left their own ships airlock and entered Trafalgar's.
"Lieutenant, Sirikit! Don't take unnecessary risks!" Captain Bordey's fear that his friend was about to get herself killed in an alien trap was obvious, but Sirikit barely heard it. She was too busy focusing on what was in front of her.
"Captain, it's a different species." Dead silence met her words, both from her marines and from the Captain.
"Say again Lieutenant?"
"Confirmed Captain, the alien in front of me is not the same species as the ones who attacked us and have been sending us the messages as we raided their convoys." Sirikit knew that that didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, they were still in the enemy system after all.
These aliens could be an overseer race, a client race, an ally of their enemy, or an enemy of their enemy. All she knew for sure is that they weren't the aliens that had attacked them. That didn't tell her what they were.
"You have my complete confidence Lieutenant Walailak, proceed as you see fit." Captain Bordey's trust in her gave Sirikit a confidence boost as the blue, tentacle headed, alien slowly and deliberately picked up the discarded helmet, placing it on their head before taking it off and placing it on the floor again.
Then they gestured at Sirikit, but strangely they used their elbow to do so, always keeping their hands pointed away from Sirikit and her marines.
"Don't fire unless I'm dead." Sirikit gave the order after a moment's thought, deciding that her life was worth less than the possibility of gaining an ally against the bird like invaders. Or at least not causing the Alliance to fight a two-front war by accident.
"Lieutenant!"
Sirikit didn't have time to explain herself. "Do not fire unless I am dead. Confirm command."
"Command confirmed ma'am." The response was slow and steeped with frustration and anger, but it came.
Sirikit released her helmet clamps and slowly placed her helmet on the floor with the aliens.
The alien stretched its lips in what would be a toothless smile on a human, but Sirikit had no idea what it meant on them. The alien moved slowly towards her, finally allowing its hands to face her as it brought them up to either side of her head. Touching her hair, seemingly fascinated by it.
"Ma'am!"
"You have your orders!" Sirikit replied harshly, partially due to her own fear at the situation, and partially because she could see this situation going south very quickly and degenerating into another war for the Alliance. She refused to be the officer responsible for doing that to humanity.
The alien seemingly lost interest in her hair and instead cupped her face with their hands, if they were human Sirikit would expect a slow, romantic kiss from the alien with their hands in this position. Instead the alien moved their forehead towards hers until they were touching. Then, they looked into her eyes and whispered two words that Sirikit couldn't understand.
"Embrace Eternity"
Lieutenant Sirikit Walailak felt a pressure suddenly appear in her mind, deciding she hand come to far to back out now, she stopped resisting and let it in.
Her world went black.
The Citadel – Serpent Nebula
2112.10.26
Corinthus Oraka was trying desperately to control his anger and not start throwing all of the fantastically expensive – and delicate – ornaments in the Council's private meeting chambers at the wall display. "What on Palaven did Arturius and Sparatus think they were doing?!"
His flanged voice echoed off the walls of the highly secure and soundproofed chamber. "Didn't they stop to think?! At any point?!"
Matriarch Tevos Calis had served as the asari's Citadel Councillor for the last twenty years, and in all of that time she had never once been flustered, unless it suited her purposes to appear so. Uncontrolled emotion was an anathema to her style of negotiation and governance, which gave some indication of how angry she had to be to be glowing violently blue while ornaments near her shuddered and rattled ominously.
"I take it that means that you are denying that the Hierarchy had any knowledge of this warmongering travesty then?" Despite her appearance, Councillor Tevos's voice was as calm and honeyed as it had always been.
"I know absolutely nothing, and neither does the Primarch or I would have been informed. This is not an action that we would have attempted to hide from the Citadel if we had had a valid reason for undertaking it in the first place." The fury burned brightly in Councillor Oraka's voice; his fellow councillors weren't sure which was worse for him.
The fact that a turian fleet had disobeyed orders so blatantly, or the fact that they had bolloxed up their disobedience so profoundly that even the STG couldn't figure out what their actual war goals were at this point.
The report had come in from the Special Task Group headquarters on Sur'Kesh, flagged maximum priority with endorsement of the most senior salarian and asari admirals attached to the Council Krogan DMZ Fleet. It had required the personal authorisation codes of the asari and salarian councillors to open, and it was recommended that the turian councillor not be present.
Tevos and Tolan had ignored that recommendation and had invited Oraka to be present with them, believing that they should at least appear to be a unified team at all times. Even if that appearance had been merely polite theatre at several points since the creation of the Citadel Council.
The summary that had been revealed to them had prompted Oraka's outburst.
Turian Third Patrol Fleet (Citadel Fleet - Krogan DMZ) is engaged in hostile action against an unknown species. Turian casualties reportedly heavy. Goals: unknown. Logistic expenditure suggests possible genocide/war of extermination. Unable to obtain primary source data. Investigation continues. Suggest immediate action to halt attack. Unknown race casualties estimated to be catastrophic.
Councillor Tevos let out a little huff of disbelief at her turian counterpart's denial, and completely ignored Oraka's angry growl as she turned to the third councillor present. "I didn't get past the first paragraph Tolen, the one that explains that – as usual – a turian fleet's first reaction to an unknown problem is to shoot it, shoot it again, shoot it some more, and then finally considering asking a question. Before deciding to go back to shooting."
The salarian councillor, Sur'Kesh Ledra Inoste Heranon Jarun Tolan, was a male specifically hatched to imprint on all of the Salarian Union's clans dalatrass' and be equally loyal to all of them. He was currently ploughing through the data in the report at a rate neither of his colleagues could match.
"Very bad. New race fleet totally destroyed. Army being ground down but exacting heavy toll. Turian artillery targeting everything, including all civilian buildings on secondary colony. Possible genocidal motives? Tactical motives? Unknown. Need more data." Councillor Tolan muttered a response as he continued through the STG projections and theories based on the data available to them.
"This is a political nightmare." Tevos Calis groaned, for an asari, twenty years in the job was like being in your first week for a turian, or first few hours for a salarian. As soon as the news got out that on her watch as councillor, a fleet from a fellow Council race – operating under Council authority and in an area under direct Citadel administration no less, had gone rogue and attacked a newly discovered species before a peaceful first contact could be made, the Asari Republics were going to go into a collective meltdown.
The fact that the fleet smashing dozens of Citadel laws to pieces was from the race primarily charged with enforcing those laws was just going to be the icing on the cake.
The maidens were going to riot at the unfairness of the turian attack, and the hostility it was going to create in an exciting new area of space to explore. The matrons were going to resent both that and the fallout from the economic shock that was sure to ensue, once the markets learned what had happened. The matriarchs were going to resent all of those things and be furious at the failure of the asari divide and rule strategy when it came to the other two Council races.
All of them were going to be enraged by the loss of face from an asari headed Citadel Council losing control of a Citadel Fleet and attacking an innocent new race before they could add them to their millennia long cultural domination program. After the immediate shock to the markets, the asari economy as a whole was going to go into meltdown from the protests and counter protests. Several influential matriarchs and Republics that had lobbied hard for Tevos's election were going to get severe blowback from this, as her opponents tried to lay this at her door.
Personally surviving this mess and keeping her position as councillor was going to cost Tevos a lot of favours, and the sacrifice of several of her allies. On a galactic scale, once the dust had settled, the asari were going to demand blood from the turians and the turians were going to refuse. Claiming that as they disobeyed orders, the offending officers weren't true turians. While they were both at loggerheads the initiative and bargaining power would land squarely in the salarians lap and they had always worried the asari more than the turians had.
Oblivious to the most senior councillors internal wargaming and damage control checklist – trying to anticipate enough of both their and the galaxies reactions to ensure that the asari came out of this mess as well as could be expected, the other two councillors continued to analyse the report.
"Why? Why are they doing this!?" Oraka muttered incredulously.
"Power gone to heads perhaps? Engaged in empire building? Subjugate new race and rule from orbit with absolute power?" Tolan didn't even look up as he franticly ran simulations on his omnitool.
"No turian banner officer would do that!" Oraka responded hotly.
"Alternative explanation for third patrol fleets actions?"
"Perhaps the one given by this Captain Sidonis? It seems to match with the reports from the asari commando team that boarded this…SSV Trafalgar." Tevos muttered taking a long drink of soothing, and very expensive, tea from Thessia as she re-entered the conversation. The aroma of the tea spread throughout the room, bringing a sense of normality back to the proceedings, even if the reality was far from normal.
"Best case scenario. Agreed." Tolan responded, giving his full attention to his fellow councillors for the first time.
"And isn't that a depressing statement." Oraka muttered rubbing his aching mandibles from the litany of horrors that was the STG report.
"Can't rely on it however." Tolan continued. "Must show strength and action. Potential consequences for Citadel dire if command to halt and retreat sent, ignored, and are left unable to respond to mutiny for days. Diplomatic consequences with new race in this scenario also, problematic."
"You want to send another fleet. One powerful enough to make them back down and submit to us for judgement if Arterius and Sparatus really have gone rogue and refuse to obey direct orders from the Council and the Primarch." Corinthus Oraka sounded physically pained at the idea of an entire turian fleet and army legion disobeying the orders of the Council and their Primarch. The fact that he wasn't incandescent with rage at such a suggestion was an indication of how badly Third Patrol Fleet had messed up if they actually were still loyal to the Citadel.
"How long will that take to assemble?" Tevos was frustrated and angry. "The longer this drags on the worse domestic opinion is going to get when it comes out, to say nothing of our relations with this new race. We can take the prestige hit of them refusing to join. Though it would be painful, disappointing, and a tragic loss to the galaxy if it occurred that's not the issue. The new race being left with a deep, unshakable hatred of us and a dedication to undermine the Citadel and get revenge is."
"If they decide to embark on that course, whatever the cost, it will be a nightmare that will haunt our successors for centuries, especially with their territory so close to the Krogan DMZ. The batarians are bad enough and they are actually an associate race! A non-associate race, giving every possible support to every tin pot terminus government, pirate gang, mercenary company and slaver ring that promises to make life miserable for us will be an utter nightmare."
The asari matriarch swept up and down the small room, as she spoke. Again, the sudden anger visible in her usually unreadable body language let the other two councillors know just how badly she was taking this.
"We have to stop this now. We need to order the Third Patrol Fleet to stand down and retreat as fast as possible and then send our unreserved apologies to this new race. Then we need to begin an extensive diplomatic damage control programme, an economic reparations package, and a species-specific charm offensive to try and see what we can salvage from this debacle."
Councillor Tevos's secondary calculation was – as always – both true and perfectly tailored to the situation. Her primary motivation, that the faster this situation was resolved the less damage would occur to her in particular, the asari's diplomatic standing among the associate races in general, and the Asari Republics galactic reputation, never passed her lips.
"Better a slower response that is certain to succeed than a fast response with a high probability of failure." Tolan repeated. "Failure will multiply problems exponentially. MUST have sufficient force to destroy Third Patrol Fleet if they have actually gone rogue."
Tevos looked from one of her colleagues to the other before sighing and giving in to the unified front her fellow councillors were presenting. It was clear to her that neither of them would countenance sending the withdrawal order until they had a military force in place that was capable of enforcing it, if it became necessary. She decided to extract what concessions she could.
"I do not agree, but if the two of you are set on this course then we should assemble the fleet as fast as possible. But the fleet will be under the overall command of an asari ambassador, and we will recall Matriarch Lidanya from the Krogan DMZ to take tactical command. I will not have another military officer making this situation worse because all they see are nails to be hammered down as they fail to understand the benefit of talking."
Councillor Tolan blinked several times, running probabilities. "Agreed, if we give her the new Citadel Council bannership. It does not yet have a commanding officer, but it has completed its space trials. If we are going to make a statement it should be as overwhelming and dramatic as possible. Incompetent or mutinous, these officers must be brought to heel. Everyone must see them crushed or else risk other ambitious officers taking unacceptable actions, hoping we will approve if they present a fait accompli."
Councillor Tevos bristled internally at the Salarian Union effectively assigning the commanding officer of the most powerful asari ship in the galaxy, but she simply adopted as serene smile. "As you wish Tolan, I'll contact Thessia and let them know that Density Ascension will be beginning her duties a little ahead of schedule.
Neptune – Sol System
2112.10.27
Brigadier General Anna Kempa stood proudly in the centre of the command centre of Amon Din Station, a massive Alliance complex on the surface of Neptune's moon Triton. As the heart of the FTL comm buoy network, this was where every FTL message entered or left Sol. Along of course with the 'secret' backup facilitiy that every government knew about, and the two ultra-secret facilities that nobody knew about.
Regardless, baring its destruction and the activation of any of the backup facilities, any message that entered of left Sol, from the highest priority military order to the most meaningless Instagram update, either came through Amon Din as the lynchpin of the FTL network, or it went via courier boat direct to its destination.
General Kempa sweated as the Second Sky Martial, General Erwin Schmitz strode into her command centre with his own command staff.
"General Kempa, at this time I am authorised to take command of Amon Din from you." The Second Sky Martial was direct and to the point.
"Sir, at this time I am authorised to surrender command of Amon Din to you." General Kempa responded professionally, before lowering her voice. "Though if I may ask sir, what brings you out here in person?" Her voice didn't crack as she watched her loyal command staff replaced by the officers that General Schmitz had brought with him, but it came close.
The Second Sky Marshal gestured to the commanding officer's office, the one that until moments ago had been hers. He explained as soon as the door closed behind them. "We're instituting a total communications blackout General Kempa. Nothing enters the Sol System, and nothing leaves. At least, nothing that's not specifically authorised by us. We've been broadcasting our intentions, and enough information to give the enemies intelligence agencies wet dreams, clear across this sector of the galaxy, and it has to stop if we're to preserve any advantage that we might still have in this war."
"Things like government orders of teabags are a threat sir?" Genera Kempa's voice practically dripped with scepticism, knowing exactly how unimportant the vast majority of the government communications that came through Amon Din every day were. And that was before she even started on Tick Tock.
"Yes. From government worker tea consumption you can determine the size of the colonial government, and thus roughly determine the population of the colony. From that, you can make a decent guess at the military forces assigned to guard the location, take into account other factors that might affect the garrison forces, such as positioning relative to the front lines or industrial output, and suddenly you have a plan of attack that allows you to dispatch only the forces you reasonably expect to need. Allowing you to conduct more attacks with the additional forces you have available, that you would likely have had to commit to that first attack if you were facing a completely unknown garrison force."
General Kempa swallowed as she was forcibly reminded that the Second Sky Martial and the Second Space Lord controlled the two wings of military intelligence. "Understood sir. How can we help?"
"You've run this station exceptionally well in peacetime General." General Schmitz replied in a much more conciliatory tone. "I need your help determining what is the absolute minimum of messages we can allow through to keep the Alliance functioning while still keeping the volume down to something that our censors here on Amon Din can deal with."
"Get settled in sir. I will have a preliminary report ready for you in two hours." General Kempa saluted and retreated from the office.
General Erwin Schmitz sighed in relief once the person that had been one of the biggest wildcards in this entire mad scheme had left the office. Once he was certain he would not be disturbed for a few moments he activated his comm implant. "Anaya? Its done."
Vancouver – Earth
2112.10.27
The First Space Lord stood at his window, watching as the riots exploded across Vancouver. The continued lack of movement from the Alliance Executive Council was causing riots around the globe, both in support of holding back the Alliance military from counter attacking, and against it. The analysis sat on his desk, telling him that the riots in favour of action got larger every day, but the intransigence of the China meant that they would have no effect until it was far too late.
The door to his office opened and Admiral Carmichael used the reflection in the glass of the window to see who had entered.
"Do you know why we are called the Space Lords?" he asked his visitor.
"Actually, I never looked into it." First Sky Marshal Khatri looked as grateful as he did for the distraction.
"England, Scotland, Wales and Japan lobbied very hard for it, they spent a lot more political capital than they should have done getting it agreed as well. But three are constitutional monarchies, and all of them have a an intensely proud naval tradition. They wanted the highest naval offices in the Alliance to reflect their culture, their own little mark on an Alliance that was shaping up to be overwhelmingly Chinese and American."
"India did the same." Anaya responded with a smile. "Getting us called the Sky Marshals. Not because it had any special significance for us, but because we wanted to piss off the Americans and using starship troopers to mock what was their little puppet force at the time was a good way to do that."
They watched the city in silence, lit up by the flickering light of fires set by the rioters. It was several minutes before Thomas spoke again. "Do you want to know something else Anaya? Britain was so stable for most of the 18th and 19th centuries because they didn't have a standing army kept at home. The small army they did have was always somewhere else in the Empire. While other nations fell to revolution and civil war, Britain didn't. Because there was no army at home for the government to use, or for revolutionaries to co-opt. They were defended by the Royal Navy, and with their guns unable to reach more than a few miles inland, well, there's no such thing as a naval dictatorship."
Admiral Carmichael shook his head ruefully, self-loathing shining through. "How ironic that it's a 'British' Admiral that finally proves that statement wrong."
"It's not entirely your fault. My army has just taken control of Amon Din Station after all, not your navy." Anaya placed her hand on her friend's shoulder in a gesture of support.
Thomas looked down at the report that had been in his hand before his army counterpart had even entered the room. He knew what it said, and despite the vital nature of her mission, he still secretly wished that the blunt Welsh battleaxe that was Admiral Kirsty Dodds, the Second Space Lord, had failed her assignment.
If she had then this terrible decision, forced on both of them by squabbling superpowers, would be out of their hands. "Admiral Dodds has just taken command of the garrison forces in Arcturus, she's closed the Arcturus-Charon Relay to everything except her own courier boats. We've done it Anaya. No message enters or leaves Sol without our permission. Everything human, be it colony, station or ship beyond that relay knows only what we want them to, and Sol only knows what we chose to tell them."
Anaya Khatri grimaced as she looked at the report from Kirsty Dodds. "The Executive Council didn't leave us any choice Thomas. If we don't act then the Systems Alliance is going to fall apart into the squabbling nation states that they're acting like while alien, alien, forces try to kick in our front door. We have to act, and we have to act now. If we don't, then Vishnu only knows what will happen to us, maybe it will be a peace with honour. But maybe we will be a client race, be slaves, or be exterminated."
The Field Marshal swallowed, the enormity of the moment suddenly bearing down on her as well. "The only thing that I'm certain of is that we can only win this together. My ancestors didn't unite when yours arrived and India spent the next two centuries under British rule. We can't make the same mistake. Win or lose, we have go to Shanxi now. Together. Or accept that the dream of a unified human front against the aliens is dead; because it will be if the fleet sits here while those colonies fall."
Admiral Carmichael stood straighter at the impassioned plea from his counterpart and friend and activated his comm implant. "Amon Din Station, this is Fleet Admiral Carmichael, First Space Lord. Connect me to Admiral Drescher.
Arcturus – Arcturus Stream
2112.10.27
Admiral Katrine Drescher, commanding officer of the Alliance 2nd Fleet, looked at the deactivated comms terminal in her ready room, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before leaping off the proverbial cliff. Many would have expected her to take longer, but she'd known this was coming ever since the unmistakable Welsh accent of Kirsty Dodds had come over the comms hours ago, announcing that she was taking personal command of the Arcturus-Charon relay garrison and closing the relay to all traffic.
There was no reason to do that unless something was about to happen that Sol wasn't supposed to see, and if it was legitimate it wouldn't have needed the Second Space Lord to enforce the blockade personally. Katrine Drescher wasn't an experienced political operator, but she could still add 2 + 2.
She turned to her Flag Lieutenant. As the only person available to her who had engaged the aliens in person, and for showing superb judgment and command ability in a crisis while never giving up, she had promoted First Lieutenant Stephen Hackett, formerly of the SSV Cardiff, to the position of her flag lieutenant.
In that position he would organise her reports, take her messages, and be a glorified secretary. But he would also learn how to command a fleet, how to manage people, and now, it seemed, how to disobey orders.
"Permission to speak freely is given Lieutenant." It was better to get this out in the open now before it had time to fester.
"I have no objections Admiral." Stephen Hackett's response was sincere. Which was both surprising and worrying to Admiral Drescher.
"None?"
"None. The SA academy tried to put us through as many moral conflicts as possible as part of our training, they wanted to teach us that soldiers are not machines, that they have to decide whether an order is moral or not, and whether to obey or to refuse and arrest the officer giving it on charges of war crimes. The order to leave the civilians on Shanxi to die so that the Peoples Republic of China can deal with its internal unrest is not a moral one, and it has no military justification. Now that the First Space Lord and First Sky Marshal have given us this chance it is incumbent on us to take it."
Admiral Drescher smiled, pleasantly surprised and ranking Stephen Hackett even higher in her personal estimation. Officers who disobeyed orders at the drop of a hat were even more dangerous than those who obeyed orders to carry out war crimes.
"I'm glad that you see it that way Lieutenant. And that you understand that sometimes military necessity will require us to carry out orders we don't like, and we don't understand, immediately and without question. This time however, the military necessity is on the other side of the coin. I don't think I have to explain to you how rarely that will occur."
Flag Lieutenant Hackett stood straighter as Admiral Drescher's warning was received and understood. "I understand ma'am."
"Good."
Admiral Drescher strode confidently out of her ready room into the flag CIC of the Everest class dreadnought SSV Cotopaxi, flagship of the Alliance 2nd Fleet. She took a moment to take in the display in the central holo tank.
There, in all their glory, were the three dreadnoughts the Alliance had, SSV Everest, SSV Cotopaxi and SSV Kilimanjaro. Though Everest was without her attendant 1st Fleet, which had been left behind to guard Sol System and Earth, the entire combined might of the Alliance 2nd and 3rd Fleets hung in space around the dreadnoughts. Arcturus sector and Hades Gamma sector had been stripped bare, across the entire Alliance only Sol had any guard forces larger than a cruiser detachment left. But it was all worth it, to see 1,635 Systems Alliance warships in formation, ready to unleash the wrath of humanity on the dinobirds that had dared to invade their space.
"Comms: Put me on fleetwide."
"Y-yes ma'am." Comms stuttered a moment, as they realised the only order the Admiral was likely to broadcast fleetwide. "You're on fleetwide Admiral."
"Attention 2nd and 3rd Fleets of the Systems Alliance. This is your Admiral. I know many of you have been frustrated by the wait, first for the army to be ready to leave, and then by the Executive Council's bickering. Well I can now inform you that the Council has finally gotten its head out of its arse and we have finally been authorised to prosecute this war."
Cheering could be heard reverberating through the hull of the entire dreadnought. It appeared that the only thing worse than being sent into battle was waiting to be sent you were certain was going to happen.
"From now on, we are the Grand Fleet of the Systems Alliance, and our orders are to first liberate Shanxi and Zapala, and then chase these aliens back to where they came from! I expect all ships to be ready to sail within the hour. It's four days to the Theta system and I want to give these dinobirds a Halloween horror story that they will never forget!"
Codex Entry: Species Naming Conventions – The Council Races
(Citadel Codex, First Human SPECTRE Collector's Edition, 2183)
Asari: The asari have two names, a personal name which comes first, followed by a family name. An asari is referred to by their personal name in all but formal circumstances. Upon bonding, the asari parent keeps their family name and passes it on to their daughters. Their bondmate may also take the asari's family name, but an asari will almost never take the name of their bondmate, a custom that has developed due to the drastically shorter lifespan of an asari's bondmate since they became spacefaring, with only Krogan able to live even close to as long. For an asari to take their bondmate's name is viewed with the same level of contempt as that attached as bonding with another asari, as these 'pureblood' couples are where the practice most commonly occurs.
Members of the Council of Matriarchs are only ever referred to by their personal names unless you are specifically commenting on the matriarch's family. To refer to a matriarch with both names, or worse by their family name alone, even if combining it with their profession as is proper for maidens and matrons, is to insinuate that the matriarch is not powerful or influential enough to be recognised by only their given name.
Several powerful aliens have made lifelong enemies of asari matriarchs by never bothering to learn this fact before meeting them. They then accidentally insulted the matriarch in the worst possible way, declaring with their opening words that they believe the matriarch to be powerless and irrelevant.
Turians: Turians also have two names, a given name first, followed by a clan name. Reflecting on the turian mindset that the whole is more important than the individual, turians are almost always referred to by their given names.
Only high ranked turians are referred to by their clan names, a reflection that with such a high level of power and responsibility on their shoulders, they are representing their clan at all times.
Salarians: The Salarian naming conventions are the most complicated in the galaxy, exceeding even the quarians. A salarians full name will contain at least six names, in order these are the salarians homeworld, nation, city, district, clan name, and given name.
Except on formal documents a salarian will be referred to by their given name. As their naming conventions are the reverse order of most species, those salarians who have extensive contact with other species regularly tell them their given and clan names the wrong way around when introducing themselves. This prevents the salarian having to spend valuable time explaining to the aliens that they are using the wrong name when addressing them though the aliens own naming conventions.
A classic example are the humans who address people by profession and clan name, or just by given name, though this species has its own problems given that several of its cultures follow the salarian convention of clan name followed by given name, but the majority follow the asari and turian conventions of given name followed by clan name.
This contradiction has many Citadel diplomats and businessmen screaming in frustration, as they cannot tell the humans that follow the salarian conventions apart by sight from those that don't.
Timeline changes so far
First colony on mars: 27 years earlier than cannon
Discovery of Prothean ruins: 64 years earlier than cannon
Founding of the Systems Alliance (council of nations version): 63 years earlier than cannon
First Contact War: 45 years earlier than cannon