Teaser
Personal Log: Robert Dale; 8 June 2643 AST. We're in our fourth week in the search for the rogue Spectre Saren Arterius. So far, our leads have all turned up empty. As things stand, we may have to wait until he makes a move, as much as I hate giving him any initiative. Maybe we or the others will get lucky and find something relevant before he strikes again.
Robert looked up from his digital pad and considered his surroundings. The lighting on the Normandy seemed dull compared to the Aurora. The low lighting made the walls navy blue in color. The surface of the floor was metallic hull plate, no carpeting or padding, so the blue meditation pad that Mastrash Kilaba had gifted him when he left Umintamil was kept rolled up along the wall. He would meditate later, but right now he wanted to continue his log.
Adjusting to life on the Normandy is a continuing process for me. It's a small ship, with a lot of space reserved for the ship's operating machinery. Doctor Chakwas continues to let me have access to her lab storage unit for personal space and meditation. I find the privacy necessary for the process.
Over the last month I've spent whatever available time I've found between missions to get to know some of the others on the team and crew. Due to my use of her lab, I have often conversed with Doctor Chakwas, for whom the Normandy is just the latest in a long series of postings in the Systems Alliance Navy. Her only time in a planetside posting these past few years was at New Brittany in S4W8 after its first liberation. Her stories of her experiences there match up with those Leo shared.
Robert stopped for a moment. New Brittany, and the Retzoff concentration camp the Nazi SS had run near the planetary capital, was a particularly dark memory from his time as Aurora's captain. After several moments of considering that, he continued.
The ship's main helmsman, Joker, is a wit for certain, and he reminds me of Tom at times. I have to admit I did get tired of his mockery over my need to meditation. Not that I have to put up with it anymore. I seem to have convinced him that I am something of a living reactor and will explode if I don't meditate regularly, and since then I have not heard one mocking 'Ommmmm' from him.
The rest of the team are an interesting set of individuals. Garrus Vakarian, the C-Sec officer, talks at length about his father's distrust of the Spectres. Garrus himself seems more frustrated with his father's attitude and the bureaucratic nature of C-Sec. Looking back, Garrus would have been quite a good fit into the Facility crews back in the day. His complaints sound little different than the ones I've heard from Angel and Tom about how things have changed since we founded the Alliance.
I have to say I'm still a little surprised Shepard let Urdnot Wrex join the crew. His execution of Fist was uncalled for, contracts be damned. He's obviously a good fighter and a strong biotic, so he's certainly got a role on the team, but the way he shot Fist… and yet Lucy still seemed to be understanding of him last time I spoke to her. I know his switching sides at Tira was instrumental to preventing the genocide of the Dilgar, and maybe I'm being too harsh to him… I may have to meditate on this. As strange as it feels to replace "think" with "meditate", which demonstrates how my life has changed over the last couple of years.
At that moment Robert decided he didn't want to dwell on Wrex any longer. When it came down to it, this was Shepard's ship. Shepard's team. He was here by her invitation and that meant he was obligated to show trust in her decisions. Given his prior experiences with Commander Shepard, training with her, fighting side-by-side on Gamma Piratus… she deserved that faith. He continued on.
Tali'Zorah nar Rayya is another familiar face. So to speak. Tom sang her praises after that affair with the Batarian attack on the Aurora and I can see why. Engineer Adams seems ready to induct her into the engineering staff officially. His reaction is a bit of an outlier, unfortunately. Some of the Normandy crew seem to be unhappy with her presence, or her constant presence in the engine room. I overheard Pressly complaining to Shepard that she was a 'security risk'. The Normandy is a state-of-the-art stealth frigate for the Systems Alliance Navy and he felt letting Tali, or any of the aliens, have easy access to her workings was inappropriate. Shepard didn't dress him down like I thought she might, but I have to say she's very good at dealing with her crew's disagreements with her decisions without caving in to them. If I must be honest, Shepard, like Julia, is better suited for starship command than I was.
Robert stopped at the moment and thought about what he'd just recorded. Almost two years ago, Jean-Luc Picard - himself an experienced starship captain - told Robert he considered Robert a promising captain. Was Picard wrong to think that way? Was he mistaken? Or was it a case that Robert had the capability to be one, if he actually devoted himself to it? He remembered when Maran asked him to command a ship in the new Alliance fleet with much the same argument; that he was a promising commander, and the Alliance could use him. Maybe it just comes down to my choice taking me away from that path, Robert thought to himself. As that thought crossed his mind, his memory recalled another voice, that of the Doctor's TARDIS. If you do this, your life will end.
Before Robert could continue those thoughts, or his log, a tone came over the ship P.A. "This is Commander Shepard. All team members, report to the conference room immediately."
Robert locked his digital reader and set it aside. It was time to see if they'd found any more traces of Saren.
The uppermost deck of the Normandy was taken up by various control stations, with the cockpit far to the front at the ship's bow and the Captain's station at the rear, just in front of a division wall bearing the ship's name. To either side were the doorways leading to the stairs down to the second deck, where the living spaces and infirmary were located, while behind the division wall was the door to the conference room.
Said conference room was now occupied by Commander Shepard and the team she assembled. The aliens Robert had been mentioning in his log were already on hand, as were those team members he'd yet to comment on: technical specialist and biotic Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko and Marine infantrywoman Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams, sole survivor of the Geth massacre of her unit on Eden Prime.
"We've still got nothing on Saren sightings for the last six days," Shepard said upon their assembly. "And nothing from the Geth cores we've recovered in our last operations."
"It looks like the Geth may have figured out how I recovered the recording of Saren from the last core," Tali elaborated. "I can't get recoverable data from them anymore."
"We could transmit it back to the Aurora," Robert offered. "Jarod and Cat might be able to find something."
Shepard nodded. "I'll have Tali send all recovered data to you. Now, we do have one item of possible interest to consider. There's been increased activity at the Binary Helix labs on Noveria. The Citadel Council's had forensic accountants going over the company's books. Saren and Benezia have been funneling a lot of credits into the labs, enough to show they've got a major project of some sort that we know nothing of. Given the timing of the payments, though, we can be sure it involves their hunt for the Conduit."
"Getting Noveria's authorities to let us into that lab won't be easy," Garrus pointed out. "They're big on privacy there."
"Still, they're not completely independent," Robert said. "If they thought they were facing a direct Alliance and Citadel investigation into their businesses they might decide cooperation is safer for their other clients. Especially with Saren tied to Binary Helix, and through Helix to them."
"If we have nothing else to consider, Noveria sounds like our best bet," Shepard said. "Anyone have anything to add?" When there was no answer she stood from her chair. "Then I'll go let Joker know about our new destination. We'll meet again when we arrive at Noveria. You're all dismissed."
Undiscovered Frontier
"A Race Through Ruin"
After the meeting Robert went down to the armory. While the gear was almost entirely M4P2-made mass effect weapons and gear, he'd set aside a section for his personal armor, a set of Gersallian combat robes in brown color, and a rack of standard model pulse pistols.
He sat on the bench and began checking his weapons. Since they were directed energy firearms, there was no need to be concerned with the kind of problems a chemical-propellant firearm, or even a mass effect one, might have. But these weapons had their own maintenance needs. Capacitors had to be checked to ensure they could hold the necessary charges, the firing chamber had to be calibrated, the charge clip loading area checked for any buildups of dust or material that could impede transferring the charges to the gun proper.
Robert was halfway through the check procedure on the second gun when he noticed he wasn't alone. The next bench over was occupied by Ashley. She was in the middle of disassembling the M7 Lancer assault rifle in her personal kit. The weapon had its own unique look with the slope formed in the gun's body above the barrel, giving it a curved, circular look.
For a moment it looked like Ashley hadn't even noticed Robert. It was only after he returned to work that she asked, "Why the robes?"
Robert looked up. She was looking his way now. "They were a gift," he said. "From Mastrash Kilaba, the abbess of the Umintamil monastery on Gersal. It was her way of congratulating me for finally gaining enough mastery over my augmented swevyra powers that I could go back out into the Multiverse safely."
"Swev-what?"
"My pronunciation of it sucks, even now," Robert mumbled. He cleared his throat. "The word has no proper translation into English, or German, or any other Human language I'm familiar with. It roughly translates as 'life force energy connected to all things'."
"Sounds like a bunch of alien mysticism."
There was something dismissive in her tone. Robert, for the moment, ignored it. "It can. But I've felt the truth in it. Some truth, anyway. There is an… energy, a force if you will, connecting all living things. Binding us together in a great flow of Life. It's what the Gersallians call it, actually. The Flow of Life. They just don't understand everything about it. I spent my time debating with them if the Flow itself had a guiding thought to it, an intelligence or being you might say."
"God," Ashley said. "That's what it sounds like you're talking about."
Robert nodded once. "It could be the Almighty, I guess. He, or it, or whatever… it spoke to me. In the form and voice of my grandfather. The force shielded my mind from the effects of the Time Vortex, it saved my life."
"That's…" For a moment Ashley seemed at a loss for words. Robert sensed her incredulity. "I've heard a lot about these aliens wielding powers. I'm a little frightened by it, actually. They have enough advantages over Humanity. But if you… are you sure what it was?"
"I'm not sure of the specifics, no," Robert replied. "It was a presence in the Flow of Life, a guiding Force, but it never gave me a name. Just a sense of its existence, and that there was far more to this than I or even the oldest Gersallian masters understand."
"That sounds like what God should be." A distant look came to her eye. "Greater than anything we can think of."
Robert nodded in agreement. He didn't feel it necessary to say anything. But he did have a question. "You said you were worried about aliens having these abilities. I get the feeling you're not happy with having non-Humans aboard."
"Well, Tali's not a concern. The Quarians aren't a threat to Humanity. I'd almost say they're a warning of what can happen to us if we rely on the Council too much." Ashley glanced over to where Garrus was leaning against the ship's ATV, an M-35 Mako vehicle. "But the Turians? And that Krogan? I don't like the idea that they get to move freely around the most advanced ship in the Systems Alliance. They can learn things that might hurt us."
Robert considered Ashley for a moment. He'd been around bigots before. He could remember the toxic nature of blind hate and fear. He remembered the taint of it on Admiral Davies and his aide. But he didn't sense that here, at least nowhere near to that level that disgusted him still. There was perhaps a level of fear, of worry anyway, and firm pride, but no hate.
And yet… and yet he still got a whiff of it, of the mistrust and paranoia he'd felt in Davies. This was a woman who, with the wrong stimulus, could become just as bad.
"I know I can't speak for the experiences of Mankind in this universe," he said, "but I've seen other universes that confirm for me that relations between Humans and other species doesn't have to be a zero-sum game. The Alliance has four species as full members right now."
"But aren't the aliens a minority?"
"There's no majority in the Alliance, actually," Robert said. "In individual states, yes, because the Gersallians, Dorei, and Alakins each have a unified government. But population-wise, Humanity only has a plurality of the Alliance population. So the Alliance is a truly multi-species…"
Robert was interrupted by the sudden sound of the ship's klaxon. Someone, likely Shepard, had the Normandy going on combat alert. Without a pause Ashley began putting her rifle back together. Robert set the pistol he'd been working on back on the work table, to finish later, before activating his omnitool. He tapped the blue light controls of the holographic light over his left forearm and brought up communications. "Dale to Shepard. Is everything okay?"
"We just picked up a distress signal from the colony on Feros," said Shepard. "They're being attacked by Geth. We're on our way to give whatever help we can."
"Right. Dale out." Without wasting a moment, Robert worked to get the pistol back in working order. The Normandy might be needing it soon enough.
The Normandy's arrival in the Theseus system went unnoticed on any sensors there. "Heat sinks are still showing green," said Joker. "Looks like they're clueless that we've shown up."
"What do we have, Kaidan?" Shepard asked.
"There aren't any Geth ships in orbit that I can see. The colony's automated distress signal is still transmitting."
"Take us in," Shepard instructed. She turned to Robert and nodded once.
He returned it. Together they left the cockpit area, headed for the armory.
The Normandy descended through the atmosphere, Theseus illuminating the sight of the many old Prothean skyscrapers that dotted the planet. The ship approached one of these in particular, where berths for ships had been built - or re-purposed? - to support the Feros colony.
An automated signal controlled by the ship triggered the docking system to grip the Normandy. An airlock swiveled into place to connect to Normandy's primary upper airlock on the command deck. When the door opened Shepard stepped out, in full combat gear. Ashley Williams and Garrus followed her, Robert and Tali behind them, and Wrex and Kaidan in the rear.
The attack began the moment they stepped from the walkway to the airlock onto the area around the dock. Robert was familiar with the humanoid-form Geth platforms that acted as their main troops. Their weapons fired specialized rounds that converted to plasma. The weapons fire sent everyone to cover.
But just for a moment. While Ashley and Garrus provided cover fire with their assault rifles, Shepard stood up and advanced in a blast of biotic energy. The impact disabled one of the Geth platforms. Her shotgun blasted through another, sending fluid and debris flying from the impact point.
Robert noticed another Geth, further down, taking aim. He reached out through the Flow of Life, willing the weapon of the Geth platform to rise. The Geth's shots missed Shepard completely. Her return fire, in turn, shattered the Geth's head, shattering the flashlight-like viewing aperture.
"Wrex, Kaidan, you're on guard duty," Shepard ordered. "Nothing enters the Normandy without my say-so."
"Roger that," Kaidan answered. Wrex affirmed the order with a grunt.
"Alright everyone, let's clear a path." With that order, Shepard continued on, shotgun raised and ready. The others followed with weapons similarly readied.
The resulting firefights with the Geth were short, violent affairs, each laden with danger. One shot nearly went through Tali's personal shield in a way to ensure a likely-fatal suit puncture. Another brought Garrus' kinetic barrier to collapse. Robert himself endured several close calls, even with the foresight provided by his abilities.
One by one, the units of Geth fell to their gunfire, aided by Shepard and Robert using their respective talents.
They approached the entrance to the colony… and promptly took cover from the fire of the residents. Once the shooting stopped Shepard shouted, "This is Commander Shepard, Systems Alliance Navy! Hold your fire! We're here to help!"
A woman's voice cried, "Come out where we can see you!"
Shepard immediately rose from cover, her weapon lowered, and stepped out into the sunlight. "Well?" Shepard asked expectantly.
From his place in cover, Robert sensed relief in the armed woman. Relief and… fear? There was a nebulous feeling of fear around him, fear and despair.
"I'm Greta Reynolds," the woman said. She lowered her assault rifle. "I'm sorry for shooting at you, but the Geth have been attacking us ever since they overran ExoGeni's HQ. We're all a little fast on the trigger."
"No harm done," Shepard said.
By this point the others emerged from cover. "We're here to investigate the Geth attack," Shepard explained. "Is there a way to get to ExoGeni's headquarters?"
"The skyway should still be intact, but it's filled with Geth," Reynolds replied. "But before you go… would you mind helping us? Our power systems are almost drained, we're low on food, and our water supply's been shut down. We can't hold out much longer."
Shepard looked back to the others. "The longer we stay here, the more time the Geth have to finish whatever they're doing and leave," Garrus pointed out.
"Still, we can't just leave them without helping," Tali countered.
"I agree." Ashley nodded. "It's not going to do us any good to get to the HQ if the Geth overrun our fallback position here."
Shepard looked to Robert next. He remained quiet, considering the choice. As he did so, he continued to feel something odd. The fear and despair, an edge off resignation… was it just the Geth attack and the colony's plight? He wasn't sure. Given the needs of the moment, he finally nodded. "We should help them."
Even as he said those words, Robert could sense Shepard had already made her decision and was awaiting the recommendations of her team to implement it. She turned her head to Greta Reynolds and nodded. "Alright, you've got some help. What do you need done?"
"I'll have someone show you to the access way for the aqueducts," Greta said. "You may be able to find power supplies in our backup stocks as well."
"And food?"
"There are wild varren packs…"
"Garrus and I will handle those." Shepard turned next to Tali. "Tali, I want you to get the water supply running, and check those stockpiles for any batteries or other supplies the colonists can use. Ashley, Robert, go with her and watch her back."
"Yes ma'am," Ashley answered. Robert let her reply stand for him too.
Another colonist, a Mary O'Donnell, was summoned to take them to the aqueduct system. Robert sensed the same thing in Mary as in Greta, indeed as it was in everyone here. There was a nebulous sense around him, that something was not quite right…
"It must be different for you," he heard Tali saying. He realized she was speaking to him. "Not being captain of a ship anymore."
"It is," he agreed.
"I wonder how they're doing?" Tali asked. "I never got to speak with Tom when we were on the Citadel. Everything was happening so fast…"
"I'm sure he's doing fine. They're all doing fine." Robert allowed himself a wistful smile. "If we're lucky, maybe they already know where Saren is and they're on the way to blow him to atoms."
"Ha!" laughed Ashley, not hiding her amusement at the completely unlikely scenario.
Robert allowed himself a chuckle in reply, but his thoughts couldn't help but wander to the issue of how the others were doing...
Among the stars of the Artemis Tau cluster, the Starship Aurora continued her voyage at relative ease. A kilometer long and over three hundred meters wide, the advanced starship represented the pinnacle of starship design for much of the Multiverse. Her four warp nacelles, arranged in a flat X centered around the drive hull, thrummed with energy. With ease they maintained the warp field that kept the ship and its two thousand crew and residents moving along at Warp 9.2.
The Aurora's captain, Julia Andreys, was not watching the sight of colored streaks that was the usual visual effect of being inside a warp field. Her focus was on the display monitor for her ready office computer. Said monitor was displaying a caller, an Asari. Doctor Umari Lasana had a dark blue complexion and a fine, thin-cheeked face. Her shoulders were covered with a lavender material. "Captain, I thank you for your patience," she said in translated English. "The University of Serrice is hosting a Multiversal conference on xenoarchaeology currently. I'm afraid we're quite busy here in Serrice."
"I understand you have a lot to do, Doctor," Julia replied diplomatically. "Has there been any follow up on my requested information?" She kept any hint of frustration out of her voice for the weeks of effort she'd spent dealing with Asari academics and bureaucrats being troublesome over her attempts to find Doctor T'Soni. Most of those she'd dealt with seemed more worried about being associated with Benezia's daughter than her location. It took a lot of inquiry to finally track down Lasana.
The Asari professor checked something off-screen. She let out a little sigh. "Ah. Doctor T'Soni." Her expression betrayed what Julia thought to be sadness. "She was one of my best students. Utterly determined to become an archaeologist, in defiance to her mother Matriarch Benezia too I'll add. Her doctoral thesis on the differing natures of Prothean ruins across the galaxy was one of the best I ever read."
"But…?"
"She became sidetracked by… well, Captain, this is delving into academic politics here on Thessia… how familiar are you with the Protheans?"
"I know they existed fifty thousand years ago," said Julia. "And they are supposed to have built the Citadel and the Mass Relays." It took some will to keep her impatience from her voice.
"That is the generally-held belief, yes. The greatest question in the galaxy has always been 'What happened to the Protheans?' We have never found their homeworld and there have been no traces of their remains. We only know of their existence from their ruins, in fact. So there are many theories on their disappearance, ranging from a mass exodus to another galaxy to a plague that destroyed their biological remains in some fashion. One of the… less credible theories is the Reaper theory, which argues the Protheans were exterminated by an unknown force at the height of their empire."
Which is what the Eden Prime beacon seems to indicate. "Much like how the Adranians were wiped out a quarter of a million years ago," Julia noted.
"I have read some of the papers from that investigation and find the theory insufficiently proven… but yes." Doctor Lasana nodded. "And Doctor T'Soni has become a devoted adherent to the Reaper theory. She has argued in many of her papers for the theory's acceptance, citing evidence and observations from her dig sites."
"But you don't agree," Julia said.
"I have to admit some of her arguments make sense, logically speaking, but the theory's greatest weakness remains. We have no sign of such an eradicating force. No ruins. No debris from battles between the Protheans and their destroyers. There is absolutely no proof that you would expect to find from a galaxy-spanning war. The theory expects us to just accept as an article of faith that these ancient destroyers cleaned up all indications of their presence and the Protheans' remains, but left their ruins intact for us to find. It's… unfathomable."
And yet probably true. Julia didn't say so out loud. Instead she asked, "I've heard about Reapers being responsible. Given what happened to the Adranians…"
"They are just a legend, Captain, nothing more. And Doctor T'Soni has damaged her reputation trying to prove otherwise. That's what she's up to out there, trying to find the proof for the existence of the Reapers."
"Do you know where she is?" Julia asked. "It's imperative I meet and speak too her."
"Hrm… I suppose she could be on Therum. The Prothean ruins there are still being explored, the ones that the miners haven't ruined anyway." Lasana glowered. "It's been difficult to get approval to dig at sites from all of the hunting for heavy metals."
"Where is Therum?"
"The Knossos System on your charts. In the Artemis Tau cluster near the Galactic rim. It is the second planet. The Systems Alliance annexed the world years ago to build mining and industrial facilities to process the heavy metals that are plentiful on the planet. It's a very important world for Human mining efforts, I'm told the planet's resources are directly supporting the expansion of industry in the Human core worlds." Lasana frowned again. "Unfortunately it's made exploring the Prothean ruins on the world difficult. The mining corporations are dragging academic organizations through the Citadel courts in our efforts to protect Prothean ruin sites. They're more interested in the mineral wealth than the prospect of new discoveries. For someone looking for evidence of the Reapers like Doctor T'Soni is, the untouched ruins there can't be overlooked."
Julia nodded in reply. "We'll investigate it immediately. Thank you."
"You are welcome. I am always pleased to ensure our friendship with other species…" A look came to her face. "She's not in any trouble, is she?"
"Maybe, maybe not. She may need our protection."
"I hope it all goes well, Captain." Doctor Lasana said. "Whatever her errors of academic judgement, Doctor T'Soni is a good archaeologist, and once she gets over this flight of maiden fancy she'll be a credit to the field of Prothean researchers. I'd hate to see anything happen to her."
"That's what I'm here to prevent," Julia said. "Thank you for your assistance, Doctor Lasana."
"You are quite welcome, Captain Andreys. Good day." The Asari disappeared a moment before Julia could close the line herself.
Julia tapped a key. "Andreys to Bridge."
"Go ahead," replied Locarno, currently sitting a bridge watch.
"Change our course, we're heading for the Knossos System, Warp 9.6. We may find our subject of interest on the second planet, Therum."
"Aye Captain. We'll change course immediately."
"I'll be out shortly. Andreys out." Julia returned her attention to the daily reports that were part of running her ship. She amused herself with the thought of how much Robert hated this part of the job. I wonder how he's doing with the Normandy crew, she thought even as another report came across her screen. At least he won't be able to complain about the paperwork.
Between fighting Geth and restoring the water lines, it was hours before the entirety of Shepard's team was assembled again. If anything the time proved that the worry about the Geth leaving before they got to the HQ was erroneous - the Geth seemed more interested in attacking Zhu's Hope. "We are very grateful for your assistance, Commander," said Fai Dan, the head of the colony. He looked completely relieved, although Robert felt lingering discomfort in him. "Thanks to you we can hold out for days should the Geth return."
"It would be nice to know why the Geth are so insistent on overrunning your colony," Garrus said. "If they have ExoGeni's headquarters, what can they get from you? What does Saren want with Zhu's Hope?"
"I… I'm not sure," Fai Dan said. Even as he spoke, Robert thought he felt something wrong with the man. He couldn't get a feel for what was making Fai Dan fear so much.
"Maybe we'll find out when we get to the HQ," Shepard answered. "Do you have any vehicles to travel the skyway?"
"Yes. One of the Mako vehicles that ExoGeni bought for security… it should be in the garage above us," Fai Dan confirmed.
"Well, at least we'll be armed," Ashley observed.
"Right." Shepard turned to Garrus. "Garrus, head back to the Normandy. If the Geth hit Zhu's Hope again, it'll be up to you, Kaiden, and Wrex to help out."
"Understood."
As he walked away, Shepard turned to the exit Fai Dan indicated. "Let's go." She brought her shotgun to a ready position and entered the doorway leading to the elevators. The others followed, Ashley's assault rifle up. Tali was busy monitoring things with her omnitool.
As they walked away, Robert considered the feeling around him. The more he thought about it, the more he felt there was a presence of sorts in the colony. Near it, maybe. He couldn't be sure, though. Indeed he wondered if it was just the result of the foreboding feeling he got from the colonists.
"Are you okay?" he heard Ashley ask. She was looking to him, her eyes visible through the visor off her combat helmet.
"I'm… I think. I just feel like there's something else here. But I can't be sure."
"Well, that's reassuring," Tali muttered.
"Eyes sharp, people." Shepard glanced back once. "We've got other things to worry about right now."
Robert nodded and kept further thoughts to himself for the moment. The Geth were the main worry right now.
Again Julia's computer screen displayed an incoming comm call. This time, however, the image showed the familiar visage of Admiral Maran, in his office in Defense Command on the north bank of the Columbia River. Through the window behind him the skyline off 27th Century Portland was visible. "We've finished redeployment of the Seventh Fleet to Adrana to protect Alliance space from any further Geth incursions. The Seventh's dreadnoughts have been reassigned, of course."
Julia nodded. Not only would they still be needed at the front, but under the Treaty of Farixen with the Citadel Council races the Allied Systems were only allowed to deploy six dreadnoughts in the M4P2 Universe during local peacetime conditions. The Geth threat was unlikely to lead to the Citadel accepting a finding of wartime exemption.
"Every colony in our Alliance and the Systems Alliance is still under alert for the Geth," Maran continued. "Alliance Intelligence has been searching for Saren's base of operations in coordination with Citadel elements, particularly the Salarians' Special Tasks Group. Two of their Regiments are currently prowling the region for signs of Saren. But our leads are few. Saren was ready for this outcome."
"Given his reputation, I'm not surprised," Julia noted. "But taking the Seventh Fleet off of the front, isn't that setting back our operations?"
"Yes. But it can't be avoided. And in the long run it is not a severe setback to our plans. The Fifteenth Fleet's activation is nearly complete and we have the ships gathered for it. While it may cause some trouble in the rear areas from our need to re-assign ships, we'll have all of the vessels we need to hit Earth in about six weeks' time."
"I hope we have Saren by then so we can join the fleet," Julia said.
"If at all possible, I want you there, Captain. The Aurora has fought the Reich often enough, and we know the SS have a particular interest in your ship. Having you join the attack on Earth will send a nice message." Maran looked off screen for a moment. "Warmaster Shai'jhur is calling, and I have some issues to discuss with her. Keep me informed of your operations, Captain. Maran out."
He disappeared from the screen. Julia checked her final bits of paperwork and prepared to finish them… just for the comm system to chime. "Bridge to Captain Andreys." This time Meridina was speaking. "We are preparing to drop out of warp at Therum. Sensors are detecting a Geth ship in orbit."
Julia stood immediately. "I'm on my way. Go to Code Red status."
"Yes Captain."
By the time Julia reached the door to the bridge, the ship's alert klaxons were blaring.