Edited by a person of many names Blood Raven AKA TimedRaven117. Go check out his story Mass Effect: X-Com Theory!
Also edited by Lord Foul
TFC:The Monolith Incident Part 2
2657 GS December /11/2329 AD
~[==|==]~
Sergeant Fortune Lecubarri Looked over his troopers, most were taking the time they had to get some rest since they didn't know how bad things could get on this mission. They were the first Terrans to go beyond Citadel space, he'd be honored if not for the fact he didn't give a damn. It was just another mission into alien territory for him and his Pathfinders, though he guessed it wouldn't end in nukes this time...
Perhaps…
Maybe…
Looking up he noted that the Turian Spectre Illia Verpine was looking at him from her seat across the aisle. They weren't travelling in what he would call style, Verpine had explained that they had boarded a smuggler's freighter who owed her a lot of money, to the shittiest hell hole in the galaxy. The Minister of Paranormal Warfare wanted to keep this operation dark as space, so he had asked for Verpine to pull this off quietly with Fortune and his Pathfinders. He was actually glad the Spectre had gone for what amounted as public transport, it wasn't glamorous, but if it got him close to the target he didn't give a damn. It certainly wasn't the worst hunk of junk he'd ever had the displeasure of sitting in.
"Sergeant I was wondering what your branch of the military does for the Federation, just wondering what use an assassin is against those Arachnids I hear so much about." Illia Verpine asked from her seat, working patiently one her omni-tool.
Fortune showed no emotion, "We're Special Operations. Our name is pretty indicative of our job too. Pathfinders, we either find, or more often make, a path of least resistance to allow the orbital insertion of large numbers of ground forces and dropzones. In short, we're special ops. They just give us so many jobs because we're the best at what we do." Shifting a bit, his ass bones feeling cold after sitting for hours on the cold metal floor, "But to answer your underlying question, first we need a target of assassination, they're typically two types you'd want to send us agaisnt, brains, or queens. Brains are, as you might guess, the brains of the operation and work as intel gatherers and strategists, the Queens, well you can guess. Skinnies are little tougher in the sense that if you kill their leaders they're just going to replace him with the next bloodthirsty bastard. Or worse splinter and fracture into smaller groups and cause a whole cluster fuck. Although it can be pretty fun when you account the Game."
"The Game?" The Spectre asked cautiously.
"How many capes can you take. It's harder than its sounds." Morita Hina piped up further down the line, like the rest of troopers, her name was unknown to the Spectre, so the thing indicating who she was, was her corporal insignia and her suit IFF signal. "Skinnie leaders love to wear capes, so when we're sent in to kill Skinnie commanders, we're there for months, so we try to make it interesting and kill the Skinnies in close combat to takes their capes. when we're finally called off we count up the capes to see who did the most damage."
"Seems like you're making killing into a game."
"To start with, fuck the slavers." Philips Karas, who was at the end of the line and had a tank of petrochemical fuel for a flame thrower next to him, "And to end with, we get bored fairly quickly when it comes to fighting them, and it serves as a perfect warning to other Skinnies, we warned you to not fuck with us, this is the fate of those who continue to ignore the warning."
While their trophy taking was barbaric, Illia, being a Turian, could see the point of it, what better way to scare off those who would otherwise attack you then a show of overwhelming force and brutality in return? "Alright so what about the other alien species I heard about, the Fourth and the Coven."
"The coven is classified, and we haven't fought the Fourth. Thank god on that." Fortune explained.
"So no tips for me on the off chance we fight together once again?" The Spectre asked with a questioning look.
Fortune thought about for a bit, then decided they could reveal the weaknesses of their enemies, "On the coven, we can give you a few tips. One: don't fight unless you have to. Two: Have friendly psychics at your back. Three: If you have to fight, fight only when you have all the cards. Oh, and one unofficial tip, if you're going to lose or don't have a psychic at your side and you can't escape, kill yourself. If you can't or won't do the smart thing, then at least get checked into some sort of psych ward and be permanently locked up. For the Fourth the best I can say is good luck, and try to take a few of them with you, if they detect you, you're dead."
"So a question of my own, what's this Omega place like?"
Illia seemed annoyed by the abrupt change of subject, but she thought it fair, "A criminal kingdom of sorts, survival of the fittest and most cruel of participants. So depending on who you ask either a paradise or a predatory shit hole. For me it's just a place to meet contacts. I've never spent any real time there for good reason."
"Then let's hope things go smoothly and we can be on our way quickly."
~[==|==]~
Sindri Myr waited in the office space he had rented deep in the Omega back alleys, it was the best place to keep deals like these out of the public eye. He had gotten confirmation from the pirate captain that they had retrieved the item by physical mail, and he would be arriving today with the cargo which would be delivered to his personal ship. But the captain wanted to give him the files the Terrans collected on the object personally.
It wasn't a problem for them to meet since he needed to give him the rest of the eezo for his work anyways, but just incase he hired some Blood Pack mercs for some extra security. His office space was crawling with five Krogan and several dozen Vorcha they liked to use as meat shields.
"Where is that Batarian anyway?" He muttered, checking his omi tool time readout again. Something was off but he didn't know what. This was Omega, and there were plenty of distractions for a Pirate like the one he hired to get lost in or caught up on. However the fact the Batarian was being sluggish in his replies to his messages is what unnerved him.
[Play Song: All guns Blazing, by Sabaton]
Standing from his desk and looking out the window to the core of Omega, the massive station of scum and criminals that it was. He wondered idly who would inhabit it in the next cycle. His thoughts was interrupted by seeing something climbing the wall. Three stories below four black armored figures were scaling the wall looking back at him. Before he could make a move one of them pulled up a three barreled weapon and fired a series of rocket propelled grenades into the room next to his office where the Krogan were keeping their Vorcha. Screaming followed the explosions and the creatures rapidly scaled the building. The screaming of Vorcha burning alive was wailing across the entire habitation block.
Sindri turned to the Krogan commander as he rushed in, "Get your slaves and kill those-" he was rudely interrupted as a sniper round of some exotic make hit the Krogan, breaking the shield, and then suddenly exploding towards the Krogan's head in a cone of shrapnel and concussive force taking out an eye. If it had been anything weaker than a Krogan, the jet of superheated shrapnel and plasma would have outright killed the target.
Sindri dove for the ground as another round hit the Krogan in the head and then proceeded to explode his brain across the entire office room. Another Krogan was blasted into the door of the office, breaking the shoddy metal frame from its mounting to fall to the ground. Closely following the now thoroughly deceased Krogan, a trio of black armored figures with the slim proportions of an Asari aggressively entered the room with weapons at the ready. The center soldier held a cannon that looked more fit for a Krogan and it unleashed a deadly hail of rounds that tore the already probably dead korgan apart until it was more a hole in the floor than a recognizable body.
The other two wingman proceeded to approach Sindri who was prone on the ground. Lashing out with his omni tool with an incinerate and EMP the left figure was hit squarely in the chest, and the other looked to recoil, Sindri took the moment to run for the door only to be clothes lined.
Taking a moment to catch his breath he saw something that really did not bode well.
"Spectre Verpine, an honor to meet you." Sindri started now having an idea of what was going on and acting a lot more relaxed than he was. Those black suited figures must be some high level Asari Commandos. Strange, he hadn't fucked with the Republics at all yet.
"I don't need another fan chick, tell me what I want and maybe I won't outright kill you." The Spectre threatened grabbing him by the edge of his suit's collar and proceeded to throw him bodily onto his desk.
"No, noooo I'm not part of that ilk. I just pride myself in knowing all Turian Spectres as they are the pride of our people, but enough idle chat. I assume you're thinking I'm responsible for something." He crooned, noting that his incinerate had done nothing more than slightly scratch the paint job and the other had a weapon with not a single electronic modification on it, meaning his EMP had done literally nothing to it. A quite primitive weapon from the looks of it. Why would an Asari have that?
The Spectre did not look amused as she continued, "Yes, you see, attacking the nominal allies of the Hierarchy and the Council is not a great way to make friends. Such conduct among Hierarchy officers is unacceptable."
"If I organized that attack yes, but I left the how of it to the Batarians, you can get me on accomplice charges, but you and I both know that I'll hardly be given a slap on the wrist for such. Anyways I'll make a deal. I tell you who asked for my services and the reason why, and I want to be let go without even a report to show my involvement."
The sound of radio transmissions between the black suited soldiers reverberated in Sindri's metallic skin, and his inbuilt spy suite in his body tried to eavesdrop to no avail. Finally one spoke, "Spectre Verpine, respectfully. We will not take that deal. We'll just haul him in for deep level interrogation."
Verpine cocked her head in thought, then smiled, "I'll have to clear it with Primarch Fedorian, but I'm sure he'd go for it. Congratulations Colonel Sindri Myr! You'll make the history books for why you don't mess with Terrans."
'TERRANS!? NO. SINDRIIIIIIIII…. YOU WILL AVOID SUCH CAPTURE!…' The voice, the sweet sweet loving voice crooned in his mind, the same one who warned him of the treachery of underlings, and scum alike. Sindri's voice suddenly took on a suitably fearful tinny, "Wait wait wait! Not them, I'll talk just don't let them take me Spectre. I was contracted by General Desolas Arterius. Real nationalist that one. He's been trying to find some way to get us Turians a more commanding position on the Asari for years now. His current scheme involves the Titan Temples on Palaven. He wants to get his hands on some of that old tech the Terrans had reported unearthing. So he sent me to get them. I think he's being over optimistic on if it'll do anything, but the Shadow Broker pays the big bucks for info like this so I couldn't turn something like this down without losing him as a contact."
"Shadow Broker?" The Terran asked.
Sindri shot his head to the speaking figure, looking at the assumed Asari as if she were a moron, "The Shadow Broker runs the information business in the entire galaxy! He, she, or it is one of the most powerful force in the entire galaxy and you'd do best to remember that factoid. You dumb-"
Verpine pushed her pistol against Sindri's temple, "Don't finish that sentence you dumb-fuck. You may have been have been helpful, but a bareface like you can't be trusted to say the whole truth." Turning to the Terran with the large cannon she did the Turian equivalent of a smile, "So do your interrogators require special treatment of him along the way?"
"Not particularly. All we need is the brain if it comes to it. Although they will be angry about the mess." The figure shrugged its shoulders, if they were lying it was impossible to tell from just their body language.
"Great. Nighty night you dumb-cock." Verpine announced, taking a proffered baton before sparking the end. The last thing Sindri remembered before his nervous system shut down was pain and tasting the color blue.
~[==|==]~
Spectre Illia Verpine sighed as she got ready to do something that would be hard.
They had arrived at Palavan with a little difficulty. Mainly that the worm Sindri had escaped after nearly killing the Pathfinder's Tech Specialist. She had been surprised he survived at all, but apparently he had a reputation for being unkillable. And she could see why. They had been in Omega for less than 3 hours with nary a second of free time and the guy had bought, cheated, or stolen several Kinetic Barriers, a hard light armor set, and a medical dispensary Omni-Tool. And she thought her Spectre teacher was paranoid.
After that little fiasco and the day spent vainly trying to chase him down, they were enroute to the temple, and though she did admire the Terrans abilities in battle after seeing them clean up that group of Blood Pack, she needed to handle this mission with a lot more tact, she did not need a fight, she needed the General to turn himself in, to make sure this incident did not become a rallying cry for the Planetary Nationalists or the Hierarchists that the Citadel was going to replace the Turians with the Terran.
"Listen, sergeant." She still didn't know his name, she never asked and she had a feeling they'd like to keep their names secret, "When we get to the temple I would like to handle this incident, so as to not have it spiral out of control, so could you and your men stay outside the temple with the transport? I know you want to take Desolas out and all but he's a big deal in our political world, and I'm pretty sure I can talk him into turning himself in."
Fortune made a look to think about it before nodding, "Of course. I understand, I wouldn't want a Turian arresting one of our generals out of the blue." The black clad figure replied, his face hidden by his helmet, "We'll stay outside just make sure to call us if it all goes wrong. We'll try NOT to kill everyone."
"There won't be a death today, he's a Turian. All I need to do is remind him of his duty." Illia declared confidently.
~[==|==]~
Over the suit suit radio Fortune was having a very different conversation "Taze, Karas, Su Jin, get into the facility quietly, and locate the power plant. And get ready to put some nukes on it. If things go bad I want this place reduced to dust. Andrew, Jensen, Morita, find their central server and copy all the research get two sets of copies. One for SICON, other for the Spectre so the Citadel knows what we did was necessary, IF it comes to it. Quiet as a mouse now."
"What should we do if the Spectre does talk him into surrendering peacefully?" Morita asked.
"Then we leave without causing any significant incident, and we get the files for the Minister like he asked."
"Remember, quiet as a mouse, I don't want any of you spotted and no casualties if you can help it. They shouldn't be that bothered with security we're in the middle of a desert on their homeworld, and for all they know they aren't doing anything illegal, but nonetheless be careful." He checked his suit readouts which he had connected into the local GPS system with Verpine's help, "Two minutes."
~[==|==]~
Spectre Illia Verpine stepped out of the freighter she had rented to get to the temple, noting that with how remote this temple was, anyone could get away with something here if they wanted too. Walking up to the guards who had assembled at the landing pad near the front gate, "Good afternoon, I'm Spectre Illia Verpine, I'm here to speak to your commanding officer." The guards looked confused as she handed them her identification badge from high command. That alone would be enough to clear her through, Spectre business was Spectre business, and General Arterius was pretty well connected.
After a quick scan of her badge and a call to the General she was waved through.
She was escorted into the temple to the central chamber and then into a side passage that lead to a room that held Desolas' office. Desolas stood before his desk at attention. "Spectre Verpine, welcome. What do I owe the honor of your visit?" He greeted, saluting then offering his arm in greeting.
Illia returned the salute and took his arm in greeting, before releasing it to speak. "I'm afraid general it's to arrest you for mistakes you have made." She explained, watching him and the few guards that were in the room.
"Mistakes? What mistakes?" Desolas tried to dodge, and by Turian standards it was a pretty good dodge, but Illia was very well attuned with liars.
"Your attempt to seize the device the Terrans found was predicted by their Military Intelligence, they set up a trap and wiped out the hired pirates, and they thought so far ahead they requested the presence of a Council Spectre for advisement in handling the object. I arrived just in time for the attack and they bluntly told me that this was a serious issue that they wanted resolved with my assistance, from there it was not hard to track the trail back to you. Sindri is a worm you know?" Illia explained causally, but looking intently at the General.
Desolas seemed to think a moment, sighing and rubbing the space between his fringes, "It's true, I did give permission for my middle man to do what was necessary to acquire the object. Though I would have thought he would have more tact than a pirate attack. Okay I'll admit it, Sindri was an absolute moron, I expected him to buy it for me as a middle man and to keep my involvement out, but I never expected him to try to ATTACK the heavily armed and paranoid species with a penchant for orbital nuclear bombardment. But I must admit this does make me worried about our species' place in the galaxy."
"And why is that?"
"The Council sent a Spectre on the request of the Terrans no questions asked, I doubt they would do that if any of the other non Council species asked, this means they're afraid of them, or more likely, they're scoping the Terrans out as replacement."
Illia remained unconvinced, folding her arms over her chest, "You're kidding right? It's common knowledge the Terrans are too xenophobic, too insular, and too active in too many wars to ever accept associate or even full membership. What would the Council be interested in them as a replacement?"
"Would they not? There is discontent among the lesser species of the Citadel for centuries, it didn't start with us, but it is getting worse. There are fears that we Turians are becoming too powerful militarily and politically, what a better way more stereotypical for the Asari and Salarians to fix their issue, then to put someone in a place where they can rival us, keeps us from becoming as powerful as we are destined to be. First it was the Batarians and now that has unequivocally failed due to greed and selfishness on the Batarians part, but now it's the Terran's turn to be the favorite. The final results of this is dangerous for us all, best case scenario we make some friends, get over our racial inequities, and we all live happily ever after. Worst case scenario we end up like the Krogan."
Illia couldn't help but laugh, "While you may have a point on some of that, it's still crazy and outlandish."
"Is it? consider for a moment who profited the most from the Krogan Rebellions, yes we Turians took some of their colony worlds for ourselves but so did the Asari, and consider that removing the Krogan from the picture removed the only other longed lived species that could compete with the Asari. I have long suspected the Asari plotted that little rebellion in order to remove the one species that could not only out live them, but out breed them. Outbreeding is the real problem for them, since they would not be able to retain cultural control of their society."
"The Asari don't-"
"Oh yes they do, how many minor species planets are now considered de facto Asari territory simply because they are now the majority living there? Of course they do not do it on purpose, it is simple a fact of life for them."
"Perhaps, but that won't factor into your trial, if you don't like the Asari maybe you should have stolen one from them. But what exactly do you think you have to gain from this anyway?"
"I thought you'd never ask, if my research progresses how I think it will, the Turians will not only be longest lived people group, they will be nearly immortal like the Krogan, unstoppable and strong as a Terran Power Suit, and able to have a chance at winning a civil war if one ever broke out. Pessimistic I know, but just arresting me won't stop the research here, not that you'd want to stop it anyways."
~[==|==]~
Corporal Morita Hina disappeared into the shadows once more as another Turian walked by after checking a console producing a small orange chip from the terminal. "Damn this place has tighter internal security than a bug's asshole." She mouthed to herself as she signaled Jensen to get the work on the computers. Looking around the labs as they snuck inside, she could tell this place was up to Psi War Research Division levels of no good, there were objects that looked old and advanced, some she could not identify, and various hues of blood on a few tables. Thankfully she had found that the blood must belong to the local fauna thanks to seeing the large amounts of specimens they had in cages in some rooms.
"Alright, I'm downloading the research now. They have some pretty good firewalls that lead to the internet, but they have like nothing here locally, or at least nothing I can detect. Also I can't speak Turian, So I have no idea what any of this says anyways."
"Don't worry about that. We just need to download the main files and their ancillary, and we can go." She whispered, moving toward one of the test rooms to peek in. For a moment the old saying of a cat and curiosity came to mind, before she initiated her night vision. She immediately regretted it. Inside was the body of a Turian misshapen monstrosity, metallic and dead, a failed experiment, and by the lack of any wounds on the body she had to assume the Turian had died from the transformation. It looked almost like the husks she had seen on the base near Shanxi, from the workers who succumbed to the device. This recording would be interesting for the geeks back at command, but she was half tempted to delete them to keep their grubby little hands and minds away from the subject.
~[==|==]~
As Spectre Verpine considered Desolas arguments, she left back into the bright sun of Palavan. Almost immediately she realized something was wrong as only the Pathfinder Sergeant was present.
"You know, I didn't think you'd actually convince him to come quietly. Well I owe everyone a pizza party and beer." Fortune commented emotionlessly. Tapping the side of his helmet twice, he looked on innocently at the Spectre.
"Sergeant, where's the rest of your squad?" She asked with suspicion.
In his short time with Turians, Fortune had learned they liked honesty, so he was honest as he felt he should be, "They were making sure that he didn't escape. They'll be back in a few minutes." Suddenly like shadows the rest of the squad arrived all around them, "Ah there they are. Ready to go? Oh and General, we planted a few charges on your powerplant, they aren't armed yet, but best to remove them."
Desolas actually smiled, "Paranoid ones aren't they?"
"Oh, by the way, my suggestion for you on this base, is to do exactly what we did, nuke it out of existence, it's too dangerous to allow it to exist in my opinion." Fortune commented laxly as they all got on the shuttle.
~[==|==]~
Spectre Illia Verpine stood before the council as they read over the report of what had happened, both her report and Fortune's report with evidence. She had fielded most of their questions already so they were drawing to the end, and most of the group looked displeased or intrigued beyond normal amounts, "The Sergeant's final recommendations is to destroy a priceless historical relic of the Turians on the off chance it may have similar properties to the device the Terrans found in the Shanxi system?" Councilor Tevos asked in a kind but questioning manner. Illia's long years told her that she was secretly alarmed and even a touch upset at the Terran's casual dismissal for the cultural significance of the place.
"Unfortunately it makes sense from what we know of the Terrans, they do seem to have a frightening penchant for overkill. But I'm more concerned with General Desolas' motives and logs from his research. While none of his men or himself has shown physical signs of what happened to the Terran personnel, that doesn't mean we just can't detect it. I will inform the Primarch Council to shut down and quarantine the site until further notice." Councillor Gallius spoke with the undertones of alarm, "I'm a bit more disturbed to hear about the experiments he performed. We don't have many options on how to deal with this manner. What do you believe Desolas' fate to be Spectre?"
Illia looked up at Gallius, "Sir, the Terrans' have requested to take control over his incarceration, I believe they want him to continue his research under a regulatory eye to see what they can learn about the matter. Sergeant Lecubarri informed me of the likely request, and admittedly, I believe him to be correct that we need to do limited studies on this technology… If I may sir, I wish to continue operating alongside Terran Operatives for the foreseeable future, I believe there is much to be gained from a partnership with their Military Intelligence, not the least of which is their expertise in interrogation and combat doctrines, and it would also give us an in when referring to their technological development, and form official ties to cover up my oversight of General Desolas."
Councilor Cenike nodded sagely in agreement, "The Spectre shows insight past her years. Thank you for your honest opinion. I am also glad they trust us enough to plan to give us a copy of the research from the start. With it we will be able to spot the signs of this unfortunate technology, and stop any illegal research that goes on that line of thought. Regarding Desolas' goals for the return of the Titans and the Iron Hawk Guardians, I've had some historians and investigators look into it, and I know I would not be the best source of information for this, but we believe it to be impossible for his goals to have worked as he intended. Affected individuals in the reports were shown to be increasingly mentally unstable and unreliable, and it gets worse as more of their body is converted until they either expire from the pain or their mind is consumed in madness. His current research had been focused on counteracting the mental decay but his scientists and researchers were expressing skepticism and worries that the research would never bear fruit." He took a breath, before continuing, "I have already had the STG begin writing up rules and containment procedure for the future, and to intercept any artefacts or technology which is similar in make or design. We should never have a repeat of the Shanxi Incident."
Tevos looked to her compatriots before nodding, "Then I think we're in agreement, spectre, we'll take your suggestions into serious consideration, and we will have a verdict on your desk by the end of the solar cycle. I believe we should approve your request to work closely with the Terrans in joint matters. This matter is settled and we will keep this information hidden from the public for now. Spectre Illia Verpine: do you have any comments before we close the matter?"
Illia thought for a moment then looked up to meet their eyes, "Their pathfinders are top tier soldiers, I'd say a squad of them could take on a team of Spectres and have a fair chance of coming out with a pyrrhic victory, they would make good Spectres. Although I have a feeling they would prefer to remain in their preassigned squads and work in teams, not as separate operatives. Speaking of Terran Spectres, if the Terrans were to ever be integrated into the Citadel, and we need to be looking for ways to integrate them, we may face serious friction between associate members and the Terrans. They aren't exactly trusting of others and a conflict with the Hegemony if they ever closed on the Skylian Verge would be inevitable and devastating to the Batarians. Sergeant Lecubarri may not be a representative but if he is correct in that we may face conflict with the Terrans in twenty years time, either with them or a faction they are facing. Finally there is the matter of the Arterius family, and if they should be informed of the matter?"
~[==|==]~
Seran sat at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea at the family residence. Brother hadn't visited for some time and he had a letter from the Primarch himself in his talons. The Primarch was saying it was a reactor accident, too much stress too quickly on the system. He said his brother, General Desolas, died when personally inspecting a new reactor design. He died making sure everyone else got out of the room before it incinerated his body. His funeral would be state funded as a hero, only in a few days.
He explained it was negligence on a subordinate's part, a Commander Sindri Myr. But Saren wasn't so sure, he knew some of Saren's closest confidants and advisors who were working with him, and from that he already knew this was a cover up. But why was it being covered up? Did he even want to know? The fact Desolas was getting a state funded funeral as a hero implied that perhaps there really was an accident or incident that either killed or necessitated Desolas' death for the good of the Hierarchy and greater galactic stability.
He could keep trying to uncover the truth, but could he handle the truth? Did he want to know it? He knew his brother was a troublemaker, a through and through nationalist for the Turian people, and hardly a fan of the Council. He looked back to his family home, Mother and Father were dealing with their pain in their own way, but they had not been as close as he was, so they thought it was all true. For them he would remain quiet for now. They deserved to believe brother was a hero, and Saren knew, he was.
"I'll find the truth Brother, and whether you were right or wrong I'll live how a good Turian should in your name or honor…."
~[==|==]~
Carl Jenkins looked over the report from the pathfinders, displeased. Not with there work, in fact they had been surprisingly subtle and careful in their work on Palavan, and avoided a diplomatic incident that could have resulted in an icing of relations for decades to come and an earful from Ambassador Maghernus.
But the implications.
A trap like the device they found was one thing, but the temple was a whole different beast. He would rather be helping his friends in the west with the political clean up, visit Dizzy and Juan's kids. Be the good god father he should be, maybe go out and find a good woman and have a kid or two himself. But it seemed this matter would consume his attention for the time being.
More than likely he was going to be headed east to work alongside the new Cerberus operations there, the threats beyond the Shanxi Relay were not just the well meaning Citadel systems and the lawless Terminus systems. But something older, the visions and headaches and prophecies were becoming clearer now, but it was still shrouded in a thick bank of night and mist. There was something more in the dark history of the galaxy.
He had read a quick guide on the protheans, and how something, someone, or some event either destroyed them or made everything in the galaxy who can leave their atmosphere disappear for the next 47,000 years almost instantly. These thoughts brought forth reports of the Coven and the Fourth Republic, and how long it was estimated they had existed, and correlating with that, their large levels of secrecy and military preparedness, with the Fourth largely isolationist and the Coven largely expansionist.
They had existed about the same time the protheans vanished. Carl grunted as he felt his forehead which was now thumping in pain from the strenuous use of his psionic powers, taking a few painkillers he sat down and rubbed his head. He knew something was already suspicious about the Prothean's demise. Maybe it was time to try and establish better communications with the two, see what they knew.
The idea of a vacation was looking sweeter and sweeter every day. Harper's division of Military Intelligence has just become that more important, poor guy was likely going to run himself ragged with all this information.
Many Citadel scholars had their own opinions, but he had his own theory, there was something out there, something that was destroying advanced races in cycles, and whatever it was would come back. The signs were all there, the last species with large amounts of archeological and official records were the Protheans, and after them there were only tiny snippet and flashes of those who came before, those who were destroyed before the Protheans. It was so obvious but so inconceivable, the galaxy wasn't that cruel as to wipe the slate clean everyone once in awhile right? There was no evidence, no remaining calls for help. But some reports and planets of interest did come to mind, a few planets here and there with large damage to them and their ecosystems, signs of fighting. All of them would be dismissed as previous races fighting amongst one another, but what about all of them? Surely, out there was some information on this threat. A ghost of some kind, still floating out there desperately trying to inform others of the threat.
He couldn't ask anyone or tell anyone else about this threat, not yet, he had so little information and the idea was so inconceivable and unrealistic, but it was a lead he was duty bound to follow.
He needed to amend Jack's contract, contact him, inform him of this lead. He doubted the Federal Government would be that worried about a possible boogeyman, they already had too many immediate threats to worry about, and they still had no idea where the first boogeyman, UAR01, had gone. No it would fall to Jack Harper's organisation to prepare the Federation, Cerberus, as Jack's one condition was to name it so, would need to begin looking into technology to defend against this unknown foe.
Closing the file on his pad, he forwarded it to Harper, with orders to expect a new Turian recruit. He began putting in a report to the Sky Marshals demanding a massive increase in funding with a personal note about the matter. They would need to expand the Paranormal Warfare branch. Jack was going to need that money to build what was needed rapidly.
Rubbing his forehead again, Jenkins called up his secretary, "Yes sir?"
"Send a message to Juan Rico: Tell him I'll be there for Christmas, and I'll bring presents for the kids. End message. Also please send in Harper, and have someone bring me a new bottle of Ibuprofen." Jenkins requested calmly.
"Understood sir. Are the headaches getting worse?" She asked with genuine concern.
"Yep. Hence why I'm going on vacation for Christmas. By the way, set the month of december as a vacation for all nonessential personnel. We're all going to need it."