I've been a bit busy and hadn't had much time to write. That a plot bunnies are not longer coming to me. :( Anyhow; I did finally manage to actually get another on of my ideas done. Also for the Ork one; I'm not certain whether how I should write the Ork POV. Should it be like "da boyz den picked up da slagga" or "the boy then picked up the slugga".
Sisters! The Citadel is once again calling for us to reduce our fleets! What shall our response be? The Queen of Suen sang out the oily song of the Citadel Council from the depths of her hive in the home world of the Rachni: Suen. The Rachni sang to the Council via the proxy of willing Asari's and it was her charge to manage and guide the Rachni through diplomacy with such proxies.
Yet their own might has been bolstered with the fleets of the Turians! Why should we lower our fleets? She heard the singing of one of her sisters followed by a chorus of agreement from all the other sisters. She too agreed with this sentiment. The Great Voice had taught the Rachni to never bow before threats and oppression so that they may stand strong and weather the coming storm of devastation.
That the Great Voice had shown them the true song of the Council only ensured that the Rachni and the Citadel Council could not sing a song of harmony together. For they were destined to sing a song of strife and war, one that might end in the Rachni's utter destruction at the hands of the Council and their slave warriors. And so the Rachni must stand strong.
Refusing will only aggravate them more so. They will use it as an excuse to increase their military again for our 'aggressive behaviour'. She sang out to her sisters. The Citadel Council had already made clear what they thought of the Rachni and in turn the Rachni had only a sour song of disdain for the Council. But even so; it was her duty to inform her sisters of the consequences even if it was the same consequence over and over again.
Then we shall increase ours in turn! With our expansion into the Iwerni Traverse, we can have our new sisters construct fleets of their own. Another one of her sisters sang out with a chord of red anger. She could not blame her sister for the red anger she felt towards the Citadel Council. The aliens constantly provoked conflict with them and blamed all confrontations on the Rachni. It hurt the harmony that they were constantly unjustifiably in the wrong.
Then we shall require fleets from our older sisters to protect our newer sisters until they have developed their hive worlds sufficiently. Another sister sang out her suggestion. Such a thing should not be difficult to provide; many of the first and second generation of Queens had many fleets to their name. As the Queen of the Rachni homeworld, she had the most but all of them were kept within the Mashkin Sul system for defence.
Indeed, we have skirmished with the Batarians over the traverse and though we sentence all attackers to the great silence, the aliens continue with their song of strife. One of the sisters with her hive located in that very traverse informed. The hated slavers and their foul songs; she secretly hoped that the coming storm takes them all.
And they are still making pushes into our territory. What shall our response be? She sang out to the collection of her sisters. As the speaker of the Rachni collective; it was her role to present issues to the collective so that her sisters can collectively answer and prepare a response for the entire collective.
We can do nothing more than defend. They are secretly supported by the Council and they shall respond to any aggressive song against the Batarians with their own. One of her more wary sisters warned the rest. The Queen of Suen hummed a short chord of agreement; it was an open secret among the Rachni that the Batarians was being funded by the Council to contest them at the Iwerni Traverse.
The Citadel Council often made the mistake of seeing the Rachni as incapable of any form of subterfuge due to our isolation from them. They underestimate the power that we could exert over the weaker minded Batarians prisoners as we turned their songs to our melodies.
Then we should take the fight to the Council! Another of her sisters sang out with violent emotion. The Queen of Kharla. This was a sister she keenly recognised, one that always advocated a more direct and confrontational approach to their dealings with the Citadel Council.
No sister. Occupying the entire Citadel space would be a massive drain on resources better used for preparing for the Coming Storm! One of the more level headed sisters sang out with a chord of balanced reason. The Coming Storm promised a threat unlike any before and the Rachni would need everything they had to withstand those who sang the song of eternal hunger.
But we cannot simply just allow these attacks to go unpunished! The Queen of Suyin, a Queen whose hive world was among the common skirmish grounds between the Rachni and Batarians sang out her objection. Though the Rachni were superior in all terms against the Batarians, the constant songs of strife above one's hive made it a poor location to raise the new young.
Does any have a suggestion then? The Queen of Suen sang out to her sisters. For she could not see one which would not bring the Council upon them and dragging both sides into an age of strife. And that was something the Rachni would prefer not to do for they would be weakened before the coming threat that would sing a soulless and foul song.
Can we not consult the Great Voice for guidance? The same sister sang out her inquiry. There were many a chords of surprise as the song was heard by the Queens of the Rachni. Clearly this sister must be very young and new to not sing such a pale question.
Sister, we cannot call upon the Great Voice as we please. The Great Voice only grants us her true songs when we are in dire need. The Queen of Suen soothingly sang to her younger sister.
Is this not of dire need? Our worlds are constantly under attack by these aggressors! Her younger sister sang further with a chord of anger. She could understand the anger and desperation in her song but…
Sister! Calm yourself! She loudly sang to her sister. The last true song that the Great Voice sang to us warned us of the trap that the Old Machines have left for us! The same trap that the Citadel has fallen for. A few planets under attack does not come close to our entire race being exterminated!
So we wait for the Old Machines to spring their trap on the Citadel then? That could take many years yet! Her sister sang out her song. Yes, that was true. The Great Voice's true song had never sang exactly when the Old Machine would descend with their sour choir. It could be tomorrow or in a millennia.
Or we could wait until the Coming Storm devours them. Another sister sang out her dark suggestion. Now that they knew when it would happen. Only a few centuries from now and the Coming Storm will come with their consuming song of eternal hunger. But then she doubted the Council would be much of a road block before those that say the song of eternal hunger. They can be used to soften the storm before it comes for us.
Perhaps, but given what we know of the Council's military; they will not be much of a break for the Coming Storm. The Queen of Suen sang her out her thoughts with a chord of grey wisdom. The very fact that the Citadel Council used the weak Element Zero based technology prepared by the Old Machines already placed their own self developed technology above theirs.
Sisters! We are still discussing the defence of our hive worlds in the Iweni Traverse from the Citadel's lackeys! The young sister sang loudly to all the others. The Queen of Suen once again hummed a chord of agreement. This meeting was veering off topic from the issue at hand.
Yes then, does any have more solutions for this? The Queen of Suen sang out to her sisters yet again. This particular issue was a constant one and was always in need to be resolved. They had just yet to come up with a solution to resolve it without war.
Nothing short of blockading all Relays; which we don't have the numbers in the Traverse to do. The war advocating sister of Kharla dully sang. That was true; they had only began colonising the Iwerni Traverse in the last decades and the majority of the Rachni military might was already blockading all the Relays between the Inner Citadel Space and the First Sphere of Rachni Space.
Can the Inner Sphere not spare more fleets? The Queen of Suyin sang out pleading. There was a general hum of the apologetic chord; it was enough of an answer that even a song wasn't needed.
Not without compromising the defences we have in place against the Council. The Queen of Suen sang out to her sisters. All available fleets that the Queens of the Inner Sphere could spare had already been diverted to the Iwerni Traverse. They simply had no more to deploy without withdrawing some from blockade duty.
The Council is not dull enough to directly attack us! The Queen of Suyin sang out her protests. The Queen of Suen could not argue that; the Council were many things but there were not completely stupid. If they were watching the combat in the Iwerni Traverse as they suspected then they knew the Rachni outclassed them.
Perhaps not, but we do not know for certain. The Queen of Kharla sang out with a grey cautious chord.
There was a tense silence in the telepathic connection that the Rachni Queens shared. No one wanted to be the one that have to bluntly say they were going to leave their younger sisters in the Iwerni Traverse without more support. But as the Queen of Suen she would have to-
So we are left to fend for ourselves then? We are to- the Queen of Suyin angrily sang out with a chord of bright red rage. The Queen of Suen cringed in her quarters at the powerful emotion being sent across.
Wait! I have a possible solutions sisters! The Queen of Myar suddenly sang out loudly, drowning out the Queen of Suyin who quickly ended her song to listen.
Speak then sister. The Queen of Suen sang out with a chord of relief. The Queen of Suyin was young yet and she would be forgiven for such an outburst. But she would need to learn proper restraint when she grows older.
Could we not pull back the support we are lending to the Geth and have the inner worlds construct ships that our sisters in the outer sphere can utilise? The Queen of Myar sang out her suggestion with a chord of excitement.
Yes! The Geth are already on the verge of victory, they no longer need our support do defeat the Quarians. The Queen of Suyin sang out her agreement as she immediately jumped on board with the suggestion from her sister. There was a hum of thought and agreement among the Queens as they thought on the idea.
The Queen of Suen hummed a rhyme of sweet agreement. The Geth, with their support, had already survived the attempted genocide by their creators. It was because of that thin layer of Citadel Council 'Peacekeepers' and that the Geth lacked the will to actually kill off their creators that the Quarians still existed as a race. As it was, the Geth had control of the majority of the Quarian's old worlds including all the industry, resources and infrastructure.
The Geth should be able to sustain themselves with the resources of their creators. Our support is no longer necessary. The Queen of Kharla also sang out. Just mere reinforcement of what the Queens of the Rachni already had in mind.
Does any have a counter to this suggestion then? The Queen of Suen sang out to all her sisters, asking for any that might want to go against this suggestion. There was no response from any of her sisters which she took as a negative. Then let us follow through with this suggestion.
"The Rachni have refused to abide by the force limits we have proposed." Councillor Lysana, the Asari representative told her Salarian counterpart. The two of them were alone in the private lounge reserved for the two councillors; reserved away from the rest of the Presidium. And soon enough, they may be joined by a third member if the Turians proved trustworthy. It all depended on the performance of their military and how well they could co-ordinate with the Council forces.
"Unsurprising. Rachni constantly preparing for war for their Coming Storm." Councillor Helarn commented on the Rachni. Their Coming Storm belief itself was extremely questionable and based solely on their faith in the Great Voice; it was likely more of an excuse on religious grounds for the Rachni to continue their aggressive expansion and their rapid military build up to their already massive fleet. And when the Rachni increased their military; the Council was forced to increase their own military budget so that they could maintain military parity and discourage the Rachni from directly attacking.
"At this rate, we will be forced into a confrontation soon." Lysana noted with concern. The two sides could not simply keep upgrading their military, to get the better of the other, forever. And the result was not one that anyone would benefit out of.
"Total war between Citadel Council and Rachni will end in our loss." Helarn stated with resignation. Lysana nodded grimly at his bleak statement. All the combined races of the Council simply just didn't have the numbers or the technology to match the Rachni properly and come out as the victor. But they would make the bugs pay dearly though.
"I know... how goes the Unions research into the technology that the Rachni uses?" Lysana asked Councillor Helarn. The technology that the Rachni used was radically different to the Element Zero based technology they used and not in a good way. The combat reports from Batarian pirate raids on Rachni colonies in the Iweni Traverse showed quite well the Rachni's combat ability in regards to their ships. Detailed simulations of how well the combined military of all Citadel Council races would fare in a direct confrontation with the estimated total of the Rachni military always ended in their defeat.
And this was why they had to tread a thin line when dealing with the Rachni. While they knew the Rachni could defeat the Council; the Rachni didn't, or at least they didn't think the Rachni knew. And with a careful mix of warnings of military action and the constant reinforcement of the Council's power, the Rachni would never try to test how large the power difference really was. Of course this was top secret information withheld from all but the highest echelons of government. Given the Rachni Queens telepathic abilities, it would be crippling if they learned of the real gap in power between their prisoners.
"Rather well, we can expect our first proper attempt at the integration of Rachni technology into our own ships within the year." Helarn said with some pride. Lysana was less optimistic about it. While the upgrading of their fleets with Rachni technology was clearly necessary, it would take years, perhaps even a decade, for them to have completely integrated Rachni technology with their own. And in that time the Rachni would continue with their own military armament and research leaving the Citadel to play catchup with them. Reaching proper military parity with the Rachni seems like a distant dream given the already enormous lead that the bugs had.
"Will the Turians accept these changes though?" The Asari Councillor mused about the avian like race. They were very militaristic with a rigid culture of service, tradition and honour on the battlefield and she was not certain that...
"I am certain they will see the logic in upgrading their own weaponry." Helarn stated firmly. The Salarian Councillor then flicked on his omni-tool and read aloud a section from a report. "Analysis on the Direct Energy Weapon recovered from wreckage of Rachni vessel downed over -. I think the Direct Energy Weapon part would win them over easily."
"Very well then. We'll brief them about this later." Lysana concluded before frowning in contemplation as another prominent issue that they were came to head. "The Quarian-Geth war. We will need to step up our aid to the Quarians."
"Again!?" Helarn exclaimed in surprise. The Salarians expression of surprise was then replaced a thoughtful one before finally ending with a disdainful look as he surmised what the Quarians did. "Another failed campaign for Rannoch?"
"Unfortunately." Lysana sadly confirmed for him. The Quarians were extremely troublesome with their constant attempts to reclaim their old territory when they were barely able to hold their own against the Geth with Council aid and support. It was only the deployment of Turian and Asari peacekeeping forces that kept the Geth from overrunning their last remaining worlds completely; even then that relied heavily on the Geth not actually trying to penetrate through the thin line the peacekeepers have set up. "By the Goddess, but their pride and stubbornness will lead them all to their deaths if they keep it up." Lysana cursed the Quarian's idiotic tenacity. Not to mention if they kept attacking through the peacekeepers, the Geth might finally have had enough and take the fight to them.
"True." Helarn heaved a heavy sigh as he thought on the situation at hand. "This would be much simpler if the Rachni was supporting the Geth."
Lysana nodded her agreement at the sentiment. They didn't know how deep the relationship was between the Rachni and the Geth but it was certainly deep enough for the Rachni to supply the Geth with ridiculous amounts of material to sustain the AI's war machine. If the Council launched an attack on the Geth to reclaim territory for the Quarians... would the Rachni intervene?
"I don't even understand why the Rachni would even align themselves with the Geth. What do they have to gain?" Lysana said with a touch of exasperation. The Geth had nothing to offer to the Rachni that the Rachni could not acquire themselves. They could be doing this simply to oppose the Council for political reasons but allying themselves to those genocidal Geth wouldn't help their already poor standing in the galaxy. But then, the Rachni never did seem to care much about their reputation.
"Outside of simply opposing us?" Helarn sarcastically asked of her. He then heaved another deep sigh as he sank back into his seat. "I don't know."
There was a tense silence as they both uneasily sat. None of the luxurious comforts and no warming drinks could lighten the weight of responsibility on their shoulders. One wrong move and they could plunge the entire galaxy into a cataclysmic war which will take the lives of billions.
"I sometimes wonder if the Rachni's Great Voice really is real..." Helarn mused as he ventured off topic. The Great Voice: the legendary 'Singer' that apparently always guided the Rachni at defining moments in their history. Helarn had been quite interested in it for quite some time now. "It warned them to not develop an Element Zero base technology because it would make them weak before the old destroyers..."
"Old Machines." Lysana wearily corrected her Salarian colleague. She had heard this all before and it never amounted to anything outside of pure speculation. There was no evidence of the Great Voice and the Old Machines except the Rachni's claims, which was extremely dubious given that it was the Rachni.
"...Old Machines then. And well... Look at the Rachni now; their own developed technology is far ahead of our own!" Helarn exclaimed. Lysana blinked at the sudden outburst. She knew that Helarn had been putting much research into the Great Voice than was healthy but… "And if the Great Voice is real... And actually did foresee these Old Machines and their supposed trap around the Relays... Then I guess we know what happened to the Protheans."
The Seer carefully treaded across the chamber as he took a place next to the Farseer who was steeped in meditation. He patiently waited for her to notice him and wave for him to speak before he gave his report. "Farseer, the next wave of Batarians have been prepared. The false memories have been implanted."
"Good. But not enough." Farseer Caerys dully noted as she slowly rose to stand. She then walked over to the terminal which contained the star map of this sector. The Seer walking closely by her side. "Have them strike at the planet of Suyin. The Queen there has a loud voice and would be most infuriated with the constant attacks on the Rachni colonies."
"Of course Farseer. Is there anything else?" the Seer said with a respectful nod of his head to his superior in both rank and wisdom. Caerys stared at the star map, the colours of the respective factions marked clearly over the beautiful glistening map.
"We will need the Council to provoke the Rachni." The Eldar Farseer spoke up suddenly. And then she just needed to ensure that the Rachni became the dominant or sole force in this sector. With an entire sector at their command and the Rachni at her command; the maiden worlds in this sector would be protected against the approaching Tyranid hive fleet.
"Can you not command them to do so with as their Great Voice?" The Seer suggested. The Farseer had, after all, established herself as a god like entity for the Rachni who only spoke to them when the need was greatest. Or in reality: when there was something that Farseer Caerys needed done.
"I am planning to do so. Give them a warning of the Council's supposed treachery. But we will need to ensure the Council actually follows through." Caerys responded with a cool voice. The Rachni were peaceful creatures by nature; she had moulded them that way after all. So they would need an extremely violent and provocative move to aggravate them all to war. The difficulty was coming up with such a move that they could manipulate the Council to perform.
"And they are much too cowardly to do so." The Seer commented on the aptitude of the Council. He was no incorrect; the current Citadel Council was too cautious and fearful to directly provoke the Rachni outside of insubstantial warnings. A by-product of being unable to fix their selection; she was occupied with the Necrons on Kaurava III at the time.
"Yes. That is the problem." Caerys agreed with him. The Council was a useless tool to her; the Old Machines have gotten to them before she could. And now, the amount of time and effort to reverse them from their backwards technology path would not be worth the effort. They only had two paths left: either be annihilated by the Rachni or devoured by the Tyranids.
"And what of the Krogans? Can we not use them?" the Seer inquired of the Farseer. Caerys reminded herself that he was new to her entourage and thus did not know of her plans yet.
"They will be poor tools. They are essentially Orks except with an above average intelligence." The Eldar Farseer easily dismissed the barbaric inhabitants of Tuchanka. Uplifting them as they had uplifted the Rachni would likely just mean the Krogans would kill themselves off all the much faster. And that was not mentioning all the separate tribes of Krogans there was. The Rachni, with their hive mind and unity, was much easier to control.
The Seer gave a nod of understanding before going silent. There was a tranquil silence as Farseer thought and Seer waited. "Is there anything else?"
"The Harlequins has departed." The Seer informed her. There was now an uneasy factor in his voice when he told his Farseer.
"They go wherever Cegorach calls them. That is not unusual." Caerys said nonchalantly. The Harlequins only answered the Laughing God and no other. Any orders, or requests more like, she may pass on to the Harlequin Troupe would be obeyed only at the Harlequin's discretion.
"The Troupe Master mentioned venturing to the station of Omega…" the Seer ventured on, the earlier coolness gone from his voice.
"…in the Terminus Systems and where Chaos is most prevalent in this sector" Caerys finished for him. There was the slight concern that she might reveal the presence of the Eldar in the sector but it was a measly one easily pushed down. With the Harlequins moving to a place so tainted in Chaos like Omega; she did not expect many of the aliens to live to tell the tale. And the few that would escape would only tell the tale of the laughing devil. "That is troublesome but we cannot stop them. They will attempt to cleanse the entire station of Chaos."
"Farseer, should we not send a strike team to assist them then?" The Seer asked her. A strike team of Aspect Warriors? No. That would only be a waste of her already meagre resources in this system.
"No." The Eldar Farseer answered with a shake of her head. "It would merely waste our Aspect Warriors on a task unimportant to the greater scheme of things."
"But then will they not fall?" The Seer asked her, marked concern now in his voice. Caerys blinked in surprise at the question. Did he truly believe some backwater primitives would actually prove capable of slaying a whole troupe Harlequin, ones who could and would challenge Chaos without nary a fear?
"You do not have much experience with Harlequins do you Seer?" Caerys asked him. That was the most prevalent explanation she could conjure in her mind. He would not doubt the capabilities of the Harlequins otherwise if he had watched them dance upon the field of battle.
"No Farseer." The Seer admitted without feeling. There was no wrong with admitting your own lack of knowledge. It showed that you were still willing to learn.
"I do not send a strike team not because there would be nothing they could do to aid the Harlequins." Caerys explained her reasoning for him. All the aliens there would either be dead or would have escaped by ship.
"So they will be slain before they arrive then." The Seer concluded sourly.
"No." The Eldar Farseer cancelled his words with her own. She then went on to clarify what she had meant. "They will only arrive there in time to clean up the mess the Harlequins will have made."
I have an inkling of what to do with the Imperium but it'll only include either Imperial Guard of Soritas for now. That being said; I did come up with a lot of really stupid ideas that are more crack than serious.
First Contact
"What are they doing?" General Brutus asked himself as he watched the small human entourage stand resolutely on the small hill in the middle of the empty dry plain. It just screamed a trap to him but his scouts had detected nary a scent of any other humans nearby and he had already tested the space between them for mines and found nothing.
So unless there were humans hiding behind the pebbles and the grass; it was no trap. More likely it was the humans looking to parlay. With no threat in sight; he didn't mind parleying for the surrender of the human military forces on the planet. It would save him the trouble of having to beat them all into submission.
So it was with great pride that he went to meet the human general; a short man with an oversized collar that reached up far past his neck. A puffy cigar kept tightly in his mouth by his lips. His own guard kept their guns trained on the humans, who hadn't disarmed, watching for any traps.
"So, human. I assume you want to negotiate the terms of surrender." General Brutus asked them. What else could there be; he had beaten the human forces decisively upon landing and had simply just broken their will to fight.
"Indeed." The human general said. He then took another long whiff of his cigar before breathing out a long plume of grey smoke at the Turians. "I expect you unconditional surrender as of now. Refuse and you and all your troops will be annihilated."
The Turian General's mandibles twitched uncontrollably as he tried not to laugh at the human. Was all that smoke from his cigar getting to him? Him? Surrender? "Are you joking? I have you surrounded!"
"Us? Surrounded? Look again." The human confidently said as he pointed behind him. Playing along; Brutus turned to look at what the human was pointing at and felt his jaw drop at the sight.
Stepping out from behind the small pebbles were hundreds of meter high monstrosities that bore arm guns the size of small ships at that. And if that wasn't enough; thousands of human soldiers were now stepping out from behind the shadows of his own troops, rendering the Turians now surrounded.
"Don't move Xenos." He heard a cold voice say over his shoulder. He felt the cold end of a gun placed onto his exposed neck; at this range his kinetic barriers wouldn't activate and he'd be dead in an instant.
"H…How?" General Brutus hesitantly whispered. This was impossible! There was no realistic manner in which his own army could have been surrounded like this!
"They came out of our holsters sir!" his captain told him before there was a grunt of pain as the human holding him hostage pushed his gun in harder to his neck. Spirits! How did they…
"This should be impossible… something like this must have taken some sort of tactical genius…" his captain kept blabbering on despite the human breathing down his neck.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the human general sport of sudden smile before it was then obscured in another plume of cigar smoke.
Again sorry for the very late update
