Now, this chapter was done thanks mostly to Disturbed, gotta love that band.
JustAFerret: Now you will learn about politics man, and check out my page, gave you another shout out there.
DarkDanny: Creed is good, but yeah got to admit that I prefer heavy metal. My list of songs down here will provide you with holy music.
Thanks for reviewing y'all, and no, this is not a Star Wars/Mass Effect crossover. It is just Mass Effect with a little crossover with Ancient History…
Here we go!
The engines of the Plumbatarii gunship roared as both Sergius and Gerrel stepped into it. Zeus fighters were already circling the area, waiting for the precious cargo to be lifted in the air.
"An honor to have you sirs here." The dwemer pilot smiled at the two highest ranked beings on the planet. She was a sergeant by the symbol on her uniform.
"Pleasure is ours Sarge, how is everything going over there in the devil's belly?" Sergius asked while Gerrel chuckled.
"You were always good the ladies as I remember." Gerrel said, being a smartass to his best friend.
Sergius laughed but did not reply as he was waiting for the sergeant's answer.
"Well sir, looks like your plan worked. The geth are retreating while our soldiers are taking the city piece by piece. Some speculate that by tomorrow we will be controlling the area."
Sergius chuckled. 'Yeah right'
Gerrel just smiled and said "HA! This soon? Where is the fun in obliterating them?"
Sergius smiled but did not say anything after Gerrel's comment. The pilots began radioing command.
"Command, this is Eagle, getting out of our nest with golden package."
"Copy that Eagle, proceed with caution, geth anti-air fire is still visible over."
"Wilco command, thanks, Eagle out."
The gunship began ascending into the sky as Zeus fighters surrounded them.
"Eagle, this is Zurba One, we are escorting golden package."
The pilots smiled. The quarian private was the first to respond. "Copy that Zurba, we go now."
Sergius chuckled. Zurba was a dwemer word for bird, and while not very familiar with the language, as he had chosen to focus on Khelish instead because of his great curiosity on the quarian culture, he could still understand Dwemerish somewhat.
On his visit to Rannoch back in 1880, Sergius thought of quarians having "old souls" like humans. Dwemer acted with pure brute strength over their enemies, so one could see that they acted like children somewhat. Humans and quarians were more careful, their cultures really old and their races beautiful, culturally speaking. There was something about the Dwemer that made them seem childish and new…
Gerrel interrupted Sergius' thoughts suddenly. "Hey, look at that." The quarian general pointed at a geth colossus, some of its parts looked as if it was destroyed with lava. It was lying close to a creek, signs of bombs around with black dirt.
"What the hell happened to it?"
Sergius suddenly remembered his father mentioning a new weapon that could change the course of the war completely.
"Ah, Ares plasma cannons."
Gerrel's eyes widened. "Plasma cannons?"
"Yes. A week ago, two hundred thousand of them got here in shipments along with reinforcements from as far as New Tarentum."
"So… new weapons? And you did not tell me anything about this?" Gerrel's tone at the last sentence was somewhat mad, shocked to be exact.
"For the contrary, I did tell you but you said I was kidding about it… I… I think it was that time we were playing cards…"
Gerrel's eyes narrowed but suddenly got back to normal. Strangely, he then started laughing.
"I thought you were kidding. I mean, after a few beers, lies are everywhere."
Sergius laughed hard but did not reply. His mind was somewhere else.
The dwemer turned and giggled as she saw them fighting.
"Ah sirs, we are approaching drop point two, an Urban Cohort officer wishes to speak to you too."
Sergius nodded and turned his radio on. "This is Sergius speaking…" His voice was smooth, calm.
"Sir, this is Captain Alectus, head of the Acadian and Shadow groups, we are standing by at drop point zero."
Sergius smiled. "Copy that, we are approaching the area."
Ludilmis was in flames, that much was obvious. The city, which had a beautiful history of both culture and architecture, was now in ruins. Gerrel hissed at the sight.
There were hundreds of buildings on fire or simply gone. Razor anti-air bullets and artillery explosions could be seen in the north side, where the geth must have been making their last strategic stand.
"Gerrel, let us go and make ourselves at home." Sergius made Gerrel's thoughts disappear as he talked to him.
Gerrel smiled. "Let us go dil'stu."
Sergius grinned and nodded.
Dil'stu was the quarian term for brother. It could be for a family member or best friend. Gerrel had struck friendship with Sergius since 1882, when the human general toured the quarian military installations on Divo'Fidens.
"Sirs, we are here, stay safe out there." The dwemer pilot smiled while her quarian fellow officer smiled and saluted both men. "Please be safe out there sirs, you are our hope…. Keelah'selai."
"Keela'selai." Both men answered as they began to get out of the vehicle, less than three feet from the ground.
Nax was outside and saw the two men getting out of their vehicle. He smiled and waved for a group of his men to follow him. As he was about to salute the most decorated officers on the planet, ten heavily armed soldiers appeared. Their red sword and shield insignia gave them away.
"Sirs, I am captain Allectus, head of Shadow and Acadian groups, a great pleasure to see you here."
"We are glad to be here, where can we settle down?"
"There is a room already prepared for you thanks to Centurion Nax, whom I would like to praise for his actions in detonating the AA guns."
Both generals smiled and turned to Nax, who had a 'shocked face.'
"Well well, looks like our Centurion has been doing a great job." Sergius commented.
Gerrel smiled. "Wish we had more men like him."
Nax stood straight and smiled. "Glad to be of service and thank you captain."
Allectus nodded and moved out of the way so that the generals could make their way to the hospital, now a powerful bunker, able to withstand punishment greatly.
'Reminds me of the hospitals on Tuchanka..' Nax thought.
Sergius turned to see the Plumbatarii and the Zeus fighters making their way to the north. 'Good luck guys'
Nax cleared his throat and got the attention of Sergius. "Sir, if you could please come with us, we have everything prepared."
North of Ludilmis, June 16, 1910
War changed a lot of people, especially the ones who fought for their survival, people like Mara. Many quarians died in the first day of the Morning War, but thanks to the timed intervention of the Imperial Alliance, millions had been evacuated, and the geth fleet pounded to pieces. With complete air superiority, Allied forces were rapidly devastating geth defenses. Casualties were high though.
Mara'Xen vas En'gha was a lieutenant colonel in the Quarian Army, and one of their best. She was a skilled operative trained by Urban Cohorts in Edus Primus. That is why she was selected to lead a special forces team into deep geth territory to disrupt communications or at the very least warn the frontlines of possible geth counter offensives.
"Ma'am, we have disrupted geth communications, it looks like they are going to launch a counteroffensive to retake part of the central square."
Mara was looking at the engineer, who had just been trained and sent to the frontlines. He was really a liability in combat, but he was an excellent hacker nonetheless.
"Warn our allies about it. Have the tank divisions at the ready, pretty sure Sergius has a plan for these bosh'tets."
The engineer smiled and turned to his omni-tool. He was then surprised by the radar.
"Uhh Ma'am?"
Mara sighed in annoyance. "What is it private?"
"It looks like a squad of juggernauts and primes are making their way to-"
He didn't finish as a rocket hit him, splattering blood on Mara, who had been looking through the window. His body parts went all over the place, his hand hitting Mara's back. Shocked, she got her weapon and radioed her team by putting her hand on her ear.
"Under attack, Jub is dead! We need help now!"
She was met with silence as more rockets hit her hideout; a business center who had been turned into a fort for future attacks against the geth entrenched in the north. No more it would seem.
"This is Lieutenant Xen, I am under attack, Jub is dead, I repeat, Jud is dead!"
Once again silence. She heard robotic sounds coming from the stairs. 'Troopers'
She prepared her assault rifle and prayed to her ancestors for her survival.
Suddenly, there was a response in the radio. "This is Arcanii One, we have caught your group retreating, we would be glad to be of assistance."
'Arcanii' Technological superiority was just a term for these cold killers. They were the best of the best, nothing more nothing less. She had heard from them back in training on Edus Primus. She was shocked but responded nonetheless.
"Thank you Arcanii One, I am surrounded by geth troopers," she paused as she got to look through a window. "two geth juggernauts and two geth primes."
"Copy that, expect fire in five seconds, take cover."
Mara was puzzled but obeyed. She then heard a roar in the radio, which shook her to the bone.
"This is Crete Two, raining fire on enemy forces."
Explosions were heard outside. Mortars and artillery shells landed and pounded the geth with great efficacy. She smiled as she saw them getting destroyed one by one.
After a few minutes, the attack ceased. She looked through the window while crawling on the floor and saw a geth prime and four geth troopers still standing. "Stupid bosh'tets never die." She hissed.
Out of nowhere, six soldiers appeared and began firing on the geth. The troopers were instantly destroyed while the geth prime was peppered by assault rifle rounds.
The synthetic giant unleashed a barrage of heavy machine gun rounds on the black uniformed soldiers. They took cover and peppered the prime with all of their shots well placed on its 'chest and head,' the weakest points of these giant monsters.
"Preparing drop." Someone said on the radio, and from the sky, she saw a man in heavy armor going straight at the prime. He used his biotics to stabilize himself and land safely behind the robotic giant. He then placed an object in the prime and shot a concussive shot at blank range with a shotgun, which sent the monster to the ground.
"Everyone take cover." His voice was calm, cold, and almost emotionless.
The prime exploded into nothing but dust. Mara was shocked. 'So these are the Arcanii? Damn…'
The group got out of their hiding places and looked at the building. "LT, you can come out, area is safe."
Mara got up and ran down the stairs into the first floor, and then she got out to congratulate her saviors.
"Keelah, thank you for your assistance, I thought I was dead."
The men nodded, though no smile or at least a happy cheer came from them. They looked so cold, so…. Well… trained.
"We've been looking for you Lieutenant, General Sergius wants to speak with you." One of the Arcanii said.
"What does he want?" She asked as she looked in all directions as the sounds of gunfire and bombs approached them. The battle lines were getting closer by the second. The allied forces are pushing the geth out of the city. 'Got to love that'
"Can't say, not here, we must go now or fight our way through retreating geth." He then pointed at the dust forming a few kilometers from them. 'Geth tanks'
She sighed, "Fine, but what about my unit?" She spat at the last word.
"They have been taken into custody; proper punishment for individuals such as these is frontline duty in the most dangerous areas. Either way, they are dead."
Damn, this soldier was so cold. He was just missing a few millimeters to actually act like a geth. He held no emotion on his face. By the looks, he was human, but Mara had problems distinguishing dwemer from humans.
"Okay, let us go."
"Right this way ma'am." The soldier gestured with his hand for Mara to follow. 'At least they are polite.'
Edus Primus, Imperial Palace, June 17 1910
The Senate of the Imperial Alliance was one filled with some of the busiest people. Most of them were soldiers and politicians, though some were a combination of both.
Flavius Julius was anxiously waiting for three diplomats, who were bringing news on his son and the subject he wanted to discuss with him.
Although not a very warm father, Flavius had always been supportive of his son and often encouraged him to be outspoken and voice his concerns. It looked like that act was playing a role here. 'Better not complain about command, I cannot do anything there'
Sergius had viciously complained about high command, calling them a bunch of stupid cowards, as more than one hundred thousand quarians died in Haestrom because of their inability to make a decision in time. Resources were thin they said, fucking cowards Sergius said. If it wasn't for his son's great achievements as a general and his popularity with the Imperial Alliance public, he would have been jailed. Well, also that he is the son of the emperor counts…
Now, he had not seen his son for more than four years, but, since he knew he was doing well and being the mastermind behind the sudden overwhelming offensive on the geth throughout the quarian home world, he was calm.
The door hissed and a quarian, a human and a dwemer, entered the emperor's office. The three knelt and saluted him. "Your allegiance." The three said in unison.
Flavius smiled and nodded at them. "Please sit down and let us start with this meeting."
The three diplomats, who were dressed in suits, sat on their respective chairs and looked intently at the emperor of the Roman Systems.
"So, what is this about gentlemen?" Flavius asked.
"We are here to show you a plan both Sergius and Gerrel proposed to the Enclave and the Imperial Alliance Senate."
"Why me? If you want them to see it, go for it." Flavius cautiously answered.
"Because you are the prime speaker of the Senate, and as such, you introduce the ideas and plans to them."
Flavius smiled and nodded. 'Good, these guys are not dumb'
"Alright, what is this idea?"
The quarian diploma, who had started speaking, began. "We are here to propose the creation of the union of the three powers, the Tritarchy. The union of the dwemer, human and quarian peoples under a single banner."
'What the?'
"Excuse me? You want to create a what?"
The quarian smiled. "A new government to rule over all systems, ruled by a senate, composed of thirty politicians, ten men from each species will be introduced to fill these roles."
'What is my son doing with his spare time?'
Flavius shifted uncomfortably. "Okay, I get it, new government, but what about me? Or Arpeniax? I am sure you have not talked to him?"
This time, the dwemer diplomat answered. "My emperor has received this proposal through other intermediaries and is currently evaluating it with our portion in the Imperial Senate."
Flavius' eyes narrowed. "That does not answer what is going to happen to us"
The dwemer smiled at probably the most powerful human in the galaxy. "You will still be the ruler of Terra, and you will have a very powerful voice in the Senate, and in cases of emergency you will have voice to get your concerns known to the Senate."
Flavius was still not happy. "So that means I will be exiled from space? What am I going to do?"
"You will be leading Terra. The Tritarchy Senate will have the last word on space and military issues, but you will lead Terra without any interference from them."
'So it's Tritarchy now?'
"Well, I do not have power now; sure as hell this is a better offer." The human emperor chuckled.
The three diplomats just smiled.
Thinking about his son for a few seconds, a question popped on his head.
"Hey…. what about the military? The Senate leads them?"
After staying silent for most of the conversation, the human diplomat finally talked, much to Flavius' surprise.
"No, your majesty, the military, navy and army, will be led by the Tritarchical War Council... in case of full scale war."
'That sounds better.'
"And…who will compose this… government body?"
"The three best generals of each species, making it an even number, six, which should make decisions easier and the system to work faster, duly needed in case of war."
Flavius looked puzzled. "Who got all of these ideas?"
"Your son sir, Supreme General Sergius and his comrade in arms, Gerrel, they were the ones who ordered us to deliver this to you and every government body of our species."
"Okay, then what happens when we approve?"
"We shall wait after the war. Then, we will begin preparations for a shift in the government, and for the union of powers to finally come to terms."
"You cant expect for this to go quickly. This is a process that will probably take decades!" Flavius exclaimed the last sentence.
The quarian answered. "We are expecting nothing less my lord."
Flavius was in deep thought. Union of three powers? When did his crazy son thought of this? Although Sergius was always outspoken on equal rights to all species and better relations with species like the batarians, he was never saying anything about this.
'He is either insane or is already a drunkard'
Flavius shook his head and sighed. A smile plastered on his face, 'That is my son, stubborn and idealistic like his father.'
Citadel, Council Tower, June 17, 1910
The turian councilor growled at the news.
"The Imperial Alliance has declared an embargo act on the Turian Hierarchy, stating that 'if the turians want to negotiate through words and not through bombs, we shall gladly talk to them.' This is the latest of a series of diplomatic crises between the Imperial Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy. Economic analysts say this will hurt the Hierarchy economically, as the Imperial Alliance economy is booming with its war effort towards the Morning War and its great commerce with the Batarian Hegemony, and now we-"
He had enough. 'Blasted primates'
He turned off the screen and sighed. Lithierax was tired… dead tired.
Ever since the Imperial Alliance showed up, it caused nothing but trouble for the Council. They refused to be part of its 'amazing' political and economical system to not be subjects of 'tyrants' as they had called them.
The asari councilor was had been calm all along, but he had problems to sleep. Ever since the Imperial Alliance showed up, the balance of power had been turned. Krogan being helped, Quarians being aided against the geth, and peace with the batarians.
The door hissed.
'If it's anything about the stupid elcor, I swear on my ancestors that I will throw myself through the nearest window'
His suicide threat to himself did not work, however. He saw an elcor diplomat there in the council chambers. Good thing, though, was that he was leaving already.
"I am leaving, see you later, tomorrow we have much to discuss about the alliance." The turian grumbled as he left the asari and salarian councilors alone with the elcor diplomat. The salarian looked puzzled, while the asari calm, like always. 'Why does he have to do that?'
The asari sighed.
"Okay Mr. Godshokji, what do you wish to discuss?"
Okay, I wanted to give you guys something of a change and put more politics here. My story here focuses on combat and politics, so chapters such as this one will be common later.
Hopefully you liked the cameo of the Council, and note the word cameo, stubborn and really really stupid retards, and politicians, which makes them worse. Wish I had killed them in my play through but no, had to save him for being a good paragon…
Chapter was made listening to various songs:
Disturbed – Indestructible (The real inspiration behind the whole story to be honest)
Limp Bizkit – Nookie
Rammstein – Du Riechst So Gut
Infected Mushroom – Artillery
Amon Amarth – Guardians of Asgaard
Soviet Combat 1 – Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 Soundtrack
DarkDanny, you better not complain about these songs, they are badass and legit.