Chapter 18: Worlds Architects
June 20.
Following the coordinates extrapolated from the vaults, the Normandy was heading straight toward the location where the control center of Meridian was supposed to be. The atmosphere was heavy, especially in the lower hangar, where Sara was constantly modifying her arsenal, trying to decide what was the best weapon to kill the Kett.
And seeing the turbulent state her daughter was in, Jane just had to step next to the weapon station and talk to her.
"Tell me what's on your mind." Jane asked calmly.
"That if they laid even a finger on Scott I'm going to tear open the Archon myself." Sara replied with a shiver of rage in her voice.
"Your rage is normal, but you should use it to rescue your brother, not to avenge him."
Sara made a loud sigh. "I know. I just...I am scared. What if they exalted him already?"
"We all knew this could be a one-way trip. It's the constant in all of our missions."
Sara pushed down the pistol she had, leaning herself on the table, her head lowered in a discouraged pose. The mere thought of her twin brother being lost forever was nothing less than paralyzing. Just like it was devastating for Jane. And honestly, what else could she say?
At moments like these, she tried to figure out what her father would have done. What did John say to convince his crew to follow him through the Omega 4 relay? How did he manage to push the galaxy to follow him against the Reapers?
Alas, the answer didn't came. Who came to her rescue, however, was Saori Gozo.
"You should listen to your mother, Sara Shepard." the psionic woman said in her usual calm demeanor. "For I guarantee that your brother is still alive and Human."
The sudden declaration surprised the two, but then Sara turned around and asked annoyed. "How can you be so sure?" thinking that it was just a cheap way to reassure her.
"Because we're getting closer to him." Gozo replied. "I can sense his presence. And it's the same as yours."
"Is that supposed to help me feel better?"
"It should, Sara." Jane intervened. "Psionics are able to perceive what we would generically call 'aura', if you want. I trust she says the truth."
"And why should Scott's 'aura'" she asked while making the quotation marks with her fingers. "be the same as me?"
"Because you are twins." Saori explained. "You have been sharing the same vital energy since your conception. Twins are one of the most unique set of people, once you look in the Flux. Even with your differences in character, your souls are intrinsically connected, and that is going to play a key role if we want to rescue your brother."
Sara shrugged and opened her arms in a confused way. "How?"
"Your ties with your brother will tell us exactly where he will be, when the time comes. I will help you, but for this technique to succeed, you need to keep your focus."
Sara stayed quiet at first. Those things seemed way too convenient and good to be a real possibility. Eventually, however, Jane knew that she wasn't ready to give up hope on Scott.
"Trust me, ma'am. I am focused on one thing only, right now."
Gozo made a slow nod and acknowledged the fact. "I will take your word on that."
Then the Intercom suddenly came alive. "Captain, we're coming out of hyperspace in two minutes." the voice of Mazak announced.
"Okay, everyone, be ready for everything." Jane ordered to all the combatants in the hangar before taking the lift to Deck 2. There, as she entered the cockpit, she heard the beeping of the proximity alerts, signaling that the ship was about to leave the blue tunnel.
What appeared in front of the sensors was a colossal structure floating in the voids of space, with a yellow star shining just a couple light years away. Combined with the dust coming from the broken parts of the station it created an orange lighting that gave the panorama a suggestive view.
However, even on the visual projection there was something that immediately caught Jane's eye.
"Are those Kett ships?" she asked.
"Affirmative, Shepard." EDI promptly replied. "Several dozens of frigates and corvettes, plus an intense traffic of dropships coming in and out of the structure."
"Any sign of the Archon's ship?"
"Not yet." replied Mazak. "But something tells me their battle group is not that far.
The radar started to ping loudly.
"Shepard, a large group of ships is coming out of hyperspace on the Kett side." EDI reported.
"They must've noticed us when we came out. Mazak, disengage the cloaking device." Jane calmly instructed.
The Zabrak was not liking it, but he obeyed the order. A few moments later, the main fleet of the Kett and the Grysk came out of hyperspace, revealing both the flagship of the Archon and the Grysk battle flotilla of twelve ships.
The sight was indeed quite frightening, but Jane kept repeating that the plan she was playing a part in was solid and that they could come out alive from this situation. The only real doubt she had in mind was whether Scott was on the flagship or on the Grysk battleship that had attacked them at Kadara. But as if reading her mind, Gozo and Sara appeared from the walkway.
"Mom. We know where Scott is." said Sara.
"Captain, we're receiving a transmission from the Kett flagship." Mazak reported.
Jane gestured Sara to wait, then turned toward her helmsman. "I'll get it in the comm room." and headed quickly to the back of the deck, followed at a brief distance by Sara while Wilhelm took command of the bridge temporarily.
When she arrived in the room, Shepard found the hologram of the Archon waiting with a posture fit for a noble with a stick up his ass, but next to him there was somebody else. A tall, hooded figure, with even dark gloves to cover its hands.
"Greetings, Captain Jane Shepard." the hooded figure started with a calm tone and what seemed to be a voice scrambler.
"I assume you represent the Grysk." Jane replied keeping her cool.
"You presume correctly. You may refer to me as Cadmis, but I doubt you will have the time to make use of this information."
Without waiting if it was his turn or not, the Archon spoke up. "You will surrender immediately and bring your ship into the hangar of the Verakan."
"You are still quite far from us, Archon. What makes you think we will surrender instead of running away?"
The Archon didn't reply. Instead, she lifted his left arm in forming half a 'T' and then suddenly another hologram appeared.
It was Scott. Bound in the gravitational cuffs that Jane had seen restraining the Moshae back on Voeld. The young man seemed unconscious, but there were no signs that he had suffered physical torture. Still, it was impossible for Shepard not to show a crack in her wall of resolve.
However, in doing so, the Archon implicitly revealed that Scott was detained aboard the flagship, or what apparently was called Verakan.
"You will come aboard." the Kett boss repeated. "Or this Human will not even be given the gift of the Exaltation. I will just kill him. You will reveal to me how you can use the Remnant technology and, if you will prove useful, you will ascend."
"Fine." Jane eventually said. "We will surrender, but I warn you. If anything happens to Scott, there is nothing left to stop me from blowing the Normandy and your ship to hell."
"Your threats are void. Disarm your weapons and prepare to be brought aboard." the Kett concluded before his hologram and that of Scott disappeared.
"I'm sorry for the rudeness of my associate. But he has not taken lightly the fact that you and your people could do something that he had been trying to solve for a few years, by now."
"The Remnant. I thought you Grysks were the ones interested and the Kett just your pawns."
"It is unusual for us, yes. However, we do require to learn the secrets of Exaltation for our purposes. So giving the Archon the Remnant is a price the Grysk are willing to pay, at the moment. But as I said, I don't want to bore you with details that won't make any difference in the short amount of time you have left."
"How considerate. Then see you in hell, Cadmis."
The Grysk didn't move or reply, he stood there for a second before his own hologram disappeared as well.
And just at that moment, Sergeant Johnson called from the hangar.
"This is Johnson. Chief is ready with the welcome gift for those bastards."
Jane brought the wrist of her omni-tool near her mouth. "Understood. Prepare to release the waste. We don't want to get aboard with such a mess around." she said.
"Aye ma'am." the voice of Chief replied.
The 'gift' was a scrapped-together EMP bomb that Chief was going to cautiously drag toward the flagship at the right moment, when the Normandy was stable inside the dreadnought and couldn't be attacked by the rest of the alien fleet. It would be at that point that the real party would begin.
"The Normandy is being pulled into the Archon's ship." the voice of Jordan Bridger resonated through the speaker. "Contact with Chief confirmed."
Iulius was observing the images sent by the stealth frigate, which had left hyperspace hours before and waited out of sight until now, just to let the fleet know when it would be the perfect time to strike. A time that was rapidly approaching.
He pressed the button linked to the other three major ships of the joint fleet. As the images were working only because Jinx and Steve were communicating with each other on an encrypted line, the Lord-Protector needed to warn them. "This is the Admonitor to all teams. The Normandy is executing Phase One. Confirm your status, over."
"This is the Chimaera, the first strike team is ready." Thrawn replied first.
Then came the Captain of the Carunoan battleship. "This is the Neemo. Second strike team ready."
Finally came Darvos. "This is the Liberator, ground assault units ready."
"Copy. All strike teams, ready for jump to hyperspace. Steve, link with their navicomputers."
"Yes, Lord-Protector." the AI replied.
Preparations were in full swing. As soon as the bomb disabled the Verakan, the joint battle fleet would come out of hyperspace and take the Kett-Grysk fleet by surprise. The reasoning for using the EMP was to disable the most powerful ship of the aliens and also prevent her from escaping. Hopefully, Shepard and her crew would be able to kill or capture the Archon before he could escape or the ship could be reactivated, and in the meantime the Admonitor and the Chimaera would lead the charge to secure the orbit of the Remnant Station, which had been given the codename 'Ark'.
Iulius kept observing the transmission until a flash appeared and the Verakan was suddenly traversed by a visible overload of electricity that crippled her systems and all lights started to shut down.
"Strike teams, go."
The Carunoan warships, already aligned to depart, lit their engines and one after the other entered hyperspace. This was part of Thrawn's plan to win the battle.
"I hope your calculations are correct, Grand Admiral." Darvos said on the comlink. "The Carunoans won't last long against the Kett fleet."
"Fret not, Colonel. I am aware of what our allies can and can't do."
Shortly after, the Constantinople framed the arrival of the Carunoan battle group which started to take its formation of a box.
"Now." Iulius instructed.
At the helmsman seat, Colmas punched in the command for hyperspace. Quickly, the stars collapsed to form the familiar blue tunnel and the sensors confirmed that the rest of the fleet had followed.
The trip only lasted two minutes and forty seconds, which was from the nearest point the fleet could go before the Kett's scanners could find them.
And just as Thrawn wanted, the alien fleet had already charged toward the Carunoans, meaning that they were caught completely off-guard when the Chimaera and the Admonitor emerged from the abyss of space, being much larger than even the WarMaster. One could see the alien ships open up the throttle of the reverse engines to brake, but it was already too late. The two Star Destroyers had arrived with their enemies on their port side and were able to unleash their weapons on the fleet.
Immediately, the imperial ships destroyed two heavy cruisers (or at least the two bigger ships after the WarMaster) while the Carunoans engaged the smaller classes of ships to keep them away from the ISDs.
"Ciena, order the squadrons to launch. Fel and his Defenders stay close to us. Kyrell and his Avengers intercept the enemy fighters." Iulius quickly instructed.
"Yes, sir." Ciena promptly replied and sent the order down the hangar.
"Thrawn, I'm leaving the ships on the left to you. We move to disable the WarMaster."
"It will be my pleasure." the Chiss replied with a serious tone, despite that seeming quite a bragging statement.
The Chimaera turned and sped toward the melee, aiming to destroy three Grysk and Kett cruisers left that could pose a threat for the Carunoan fleet. The alien ships, perceiving the threat, turned their attention toward the Star Destroyer, firing their lasers and plasma bolts that however were not able to pierce the shields of the ISD.
The Admonitor meanwhile took the approach on the right, making sure to bring herself on the flank of the WarMaster that had been left uncovered. Iulius saw the Chimaera deviating all power to weapons and unleashing a stream of turbolaser and ionic bolts that quickly crippled a cruiser.
"Sir, enemy fighter coming our way." the sensor officer, Echiris, warned.
"Tanis to Kyrell, move to intercept."
"Acknowledged. Squads 1 to 4 on me." Thane replied and the Avengers could be seen forming up and head toward the fighters launched by the WarMaster.
And if the gap in power between the warships was much evident, the fighters were not different: the TIE Avengers were faster, more agile and mounted a heavier armament, meaning that it wasn't even close. The Grysk fighters were blown up in barely a minute.
"Excellent work, Kyrell." Iulius complimented before making his next order. "Fel, focus your ion torpedoes on the enemy dreadnought."
"Understood. Initiating attack run."
"We'll cover you, 181st." Kyrell said.
Escorted by the Avengers, the TIE Defenders navigated toward the WarMaster completely undisturbed. Only at the end the Grysk ship opened fire against them, and two Defenders were eventually shot down, but Fel and his pilots still concluded their attack. Three dozens of ion torpedoes hit the WarMaster along the entire hull, shutting it down and allowing the Admonitor to finally catch up.
"Enemy ship in range of the proton beam, sir." Ciena reported.
"Would you like to make the honors, Commander?" Iulius asked with a quip.
Ciena grinned. "With pleasure." she turned toward the weapon officer, Balros, and gave the instructions. "Aim the beam at the engines."
Balros relayed the order while Ciena looked at the video feed that showed the aiming system of the special weapon.
"Target locked."
"Fire!"
The focused ray of proton energy appeared almost out of nowhere from the second deck of the Admonitor and focused exactly on the propulsion engines of the WarMaster. In but a couple of seconds, the first engine exploded, and the overload of energy was so much that another set of engines blew up, effectively immobilizing the huge cruiser.
"The enemy ship is losing power, sir." the sensor officer alerted.
"Order Fel's wing to destroy the other engines but leave the ship as intact as possible. Then let's focus on the rest of their fleet."
Ciena nodded and made the necessary preparations while Iulius opened the channel with his brother. "Tanis to Liberator, the path is clear. You may deploy the ground teams."
"Copy that, we're en route." Darvos replied.
"This is the Constantinople," Jordan interjected. "We're moving in to secure a landing zone."
"Acknowledged, Captain. Good hunting." the Grand Admiral finally wished.
"Grand Admiral, a report from the Carunoans." Ciena arrived all of a sudden.
"What's their status."
"Two frigates are heavily damaged and are trying to disengage, but the enemy is not giving them breathing space." she said as she tapped the datapad and updated the holograms of the battle.
"Let's provide some cover fire, then. The Chimaera?"
"Just dealing with the last cruiser left. Overall, we have the upper hand."
"Very well. Now it's up to the ground units. Do we have any news on the status of the Normandy?"
It was incredible how the plan had worked so perfectly. The EMP had caught the Kett completely by surprise, just as the Normandy had landed inside the greater hangar of the Verakan, only that the marines on board were armed to the teeth instead of being ready to surrender. Chief had barged inside the hangar after leaving the bomb to drift against the dreadnought and by now the crew of the Normandy had taken the hangar.
However, knowing that soon all the Kett warriors in the ship would swarm the area, there was no time to hesitate: leaving Johnson and the marines to defend the hangar and the Normandy, Jane gathered an assault team to rescue Scott, after instructing Chief and Cortana to head straight for the command bridge and see if they could intercept the Archon. Meanwhile, EDI and Mazak were leading the effort to restore the Normandy's power so they would have their escape ready.
Thanks to Gozo's psionic abilities, the group had been able to determine the position of Scott. Now, Jane was leading Garrus and Tali down the main road while Wilhelm, Sara and Gozo advanced through maintenance shafts and minor pathways to reach the detention block.
"Shepard, Cortana just sent us a map of the ship." Tali said suddenly.
Jane finished planting a bolt into a Kett's head and then took cover. With Garrus providing more cover fire, the two women quickly assessed the situation.
"Shepard to Chief, what's your status?"
An explosion came in response, followed by a burst of shots.
"Sorry, ma'am. Chief is a bit busy." the voice of Cortana came in apologizing, yet retaining her carefree tone. Clearly, the sounds and grunts of pain coming from the other side were caused by Chief and not coming at him. "Anyway, we're making our way toward the bridge and found this map lying on a corpse. Thought you could use it."
"We do. Thanks. Just remind Chief that I would prefer the Archon alive, so we can interrogate him."
"I'll make sure to pass it on. Hey, Chief, the Captain says…"
"I heard that." the Legionnaire replied with his almost mechanical voice, before another shot and the sound of organic material splattering around the microphone manifested itself.
Jane then closed the transmission and opened a channel to Wilhelm. "Wil, Cortana gave us a map, I'm passing it to you." and quickly swiped the commands on the omni-tool while the Turian and the Quarian kept the Kett at bay.
"I got it." Wilhelm replied shortly after, which allowed Jane to rejoin the firefight.
"Let me know when you reach Scott, we'll keep those bastards away from you."
"Of course. Okay, according to the map we're just a couple blocks away. Piece of cake."
"Good. Keep going, we'll see if we can find a way to hurt them more." and she closed the comm, then rose up and gunned down the last Kett of the current wave that was coming at them.
"Shepard, I was thinking," said Garrus. "could the missing colonists be on this ship?"
"Months have passed since the kidnappings." Jane noted. "But I guess it couldn't hurt to take a better look." she opened up the map given by Cortana and the three took a moment to analyze it.
After a few seconds it was Tali, with her much greater affinity toward ships, that had an intuition over where the colonists could be and pointed at a segregated room. "Here. If they have anything similar to a lab, it's probably there."
"Ok, then let's go take a look."
The three remade their formation and pressed the attack before the Kett had time to bring in another organized wave. Then the voice of Mazak came in.
"Captain, the Normandy is back online, but we've got bad news."
"Like what, Lieutenant?"
"The flagship is also regaining power. Whatever you need to do, I suggest you hurry up."
"See if you can contact the rest of the fleet. We need to know if it's safe out there."
"Yes, ma'am."
The squad kept fighting toward a level lower. Since the Kett had still limited ability to keep track of them, staying mobile was their best defense, as they only encountered smaller groups that they could easily take out separately.
Tali found another way on the map, one that avoided the bigger hallways, where the patrols would certainly focus their efforts, so they went in, heading for the supposed lab, when Wilhelm contacted Jane once again.
"Jane...we found him."
The relieved tone of voice washed Shepard with a sense of lightheartedness too. "Is he ok?" she asked, not wasting time in comments but also not hiding how happy she was.
"He's a bit weakened, but we'll get him back to the Normandy."
"Do it. We're trying to see if we can find the missing colonists, but we'll be on our way soon."
"Don't get lost in here. This damn ship is huge."
Just as he said that, the ship was shaken by an explosion. It seemed distant, as it wasn't particularly difficult for the trio to stand on their legs as the short shake passed.
"Woah. Normandy, do you copy? What's happening out there?"
"Captain," came the voice of Mazak. "The imps have just destroyed the thrusters of the Verakan. It looks they are preparing to board."
"That means they already breached the enemy line."
"Hell yeah. I'm even picking up the transport ships moving toward the structure. Captain Bridger is already clearing a landing zone."
"It's good to see things going smoothly, for once." Garrus commented.
"All right, Mazak. They're bringing Scott on your way. I'm making a sweep to see if we find more prisoners to free, but warm up the engines anyway." concluded Jane.
"You got it, ma'am."
A Kett barged at him from behind a corner, wielding a sword and trying to hack him. Yet, to Jordan, he moved with the speed of an old man. The Legionnaire bowed down and side-stepped toward the alien so his momentum could be used to be flipped over Jordan and falling flat on his back, at which point the Legionnaire pointed his Mattock at the head of the alien and mauled it with three shots, killing the last defender of the landing zone he had chosen.
"Area secured, sir." Vetra reported after assessing that they were not under fire anymore.
At that point, it was time to call in the rest of the guests. "Bridger to ground units. LZ secure, get down here before they send in reinforcements."
A quick flow of positive answers came and soon enough, from the hangars of the Liberator and of the Carunoan transports, storms of Pelicans and Carunoan dropships headed out and dived straight toward the surface of the station. They were escorted by Green Squadron aboard their X-Wings, plus some TIE Strikers and almost immediately some Defenders joined up.
The dropships formed a single flux bottled toward the direction of the landing zone.
Unfortunately, reinforcements were closer than anticipated. The Kett had brought in a couple of turrets that started firing on the dropships. These were too fast for the turret gunners to follow them, but the AA barrage took out a Carunoan dropship, which exploded in mid-air.
Still, the rest of the transports managed to get on the ground and started unloading the troops while Jordan and his marines were already charging at the enemy reinforcements, catching them by surprise. With the force of the four Legionnaires in the team, plus the relentless onslaught of Urdnot Karg, the Kett were quickly decimated and forced to retreat, allowing for the rest of the troops to disembark in good order and quickly spread out.
Among those troops, aboard the Carunoan vehicles, were the stormtroopers of the two Star Destroyers, under the command of Cody, while Rex was leading the forces of the New Republic. Their objective was the central command of the structure, and they knew where it was because of the maps found on Aya, but the Kett had presumably explored that place for months, so it wasn't much of a guess that the allies would have to fight all the way to the center.
The best part, at least, was that they had the numerical advantage: the entire Carunoan force of 40.000 was there, meaning that they outnumbered the Kett garrison especially if they added the Angara fighters that were hosted on the Liberator and the Dark Troopers coming down from the Admonitor. The dropships were already returning to the transports to pick up more troops and, eventually, even armored vehicles to provide cover fire for the mass of troops that were going to secure every inch of that structure.
And almost immediately, the clone commanders gathered with two teams around Jordan.
"We're sending our lieutenants to lead the main column. Thought you might want some help to take the control center." Rex said.
"Indeed. But first…" Jordan then turned toward his three Legionnaires. "Gutierrez, defend the LZ, there may be more Kett lying around here. Micha and Thabo, support the attack. Take out any major problem of the frontline."
"You got it, J." Thabo replied eagerly.
"Good luck, sir." Gutierrez concluded.
"You too, lads. Let's go finish this story."
As the allied force was sending out the first patrols to enlarge the perimeter, Jordan took his team made up of Andromedan forces and led them toward the direction that Jinx was pointing them at. It didn't take long for them to find an access to the inner levels of the stations, beneath the external hull, and also find the Kett defending the hallways. Jordan acted like a Legionnaire was supposed to: staying forward so his better protective gear would better defend him and draw fire away from his comrades.
Yet it didn't take long for the Kett to realize that they needed to take out the more vulnerable troopers if they wanted to have a chance at taking down Jordan, but after fighting together for months, the clones, the Legionnaire and even the Carunoans were able to fight in a high synergy, making it extremely hard for the Kett to make a dent in their formation.
The assault proceeded well. On the surface, even if they suffered losses, the Carunoans had much more firepower and were giving a good show of their efficiency as a fighting force. Jordan's detachment was making a swift advance, especially when reinforcements started to pour into the lower levels and taking control of the structure. The Kett were not expecting such a grand assault, meaning that their defenses were insufficient, and with their command structure decapitated, their positions opposed what resistance they could offer before being wiped out.
It all came down to the moment when they found the control room.
"Be ready. Most likely their best units are defending this room." the Legionnaire warned.
"As if that will stop us." Rex commented confidently.
"Jinx, open…" Jordan started, but he was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a hologram.
A hologram representing a Kett Ascendant, similar to the Cardinal. The alien looked around for a moment, then turned exactly toward the Legionnaire.
"Greetings, Captain Bridger. I am the Primus, and I'm here to offer my surrender." he said with no qualms whatsoever and speaking in Basic.
The strike team was definitely caught off-guard. This was the first time they ever saw a Kett offering to surrender instead of being forcefully captured. But if this was true, it was also an unprecedented chance to finally interrogate another Kett commander. Especially if he called himself something like 'Primus'.
Jordan made up his mind and delivered his answer. "If you really want to surrender, drop your weapons then open this door."
The Primus left the hologram running, which allowed the attackers to clearly see how all the Kett forces inside piled up all their weapons on the ground and then willingly aligned themselves on the opposite side of the room. After that, the Kett leader pressed the buttons necessary to unlock the door and Jordan's group finally entered, still keeping their guns ready.
He quickly spotted the Primus, standing at the center of the room where a Remnant terminal was. All the other troopers were lined up neatly on the opposite wall, but were not holding their hands up. Most likely, for them, staying still was enough to show that they were not going to fight, and considering how high and mighty the Kett considered themselves, the soldiers were certainly going a lot of internal suffering.
"Secure their weapons." Jordan ordered to the rest of his forces while he went in front of the Primus and his red wearings.
"All rightey. You people never surrendered before. So, what's your deal for saving your ass?"
"Sir, all surviving enemy ships are jumping to hyperspace. We got them on the run!" Echiris declared victorious.
A brief grunt of excitement came from the officers, who still didn't let victory cloud their minds and stayed focused on the objective.
"Should we chase them?" Ciena asked.
"No need. We took down all their capital ships, those survivors won't be a severe threat for us." Iulius concluded. "Colmas, bring us back to the WarMaster."
"Yes, sir." the helmsman replied dutifully.
The Admonitor veered back and made her return to the only Grysk ship left, powered down and surrounded by the Carunoan fleet, ready to blow the vessel up at a word of their Lixoriom.
"Sir, Captain Bridger is asking for Command's opinion." Ciena reported. Then her tone became slightly confused. "He says one of the Kett officers has surrendered and wants to make a deal."
Iulius was taken by surprise too, but he tried not to show it. "Patch him through, Thrawn and Darvos too."
His commander obeyed, and shortly after the officers appeared on the bridge, then the new Kett commander, whom Jordan Bridger presented as 'Primus', the second-in-command of the Archon.
"Before we start...Ciena, any more news from the Normandy?"
In response, the Verakan suddenly blew up, the explosion clearly visible from the viewport without the visual sensors.
"What the...Normandy, do you copy?" the Lord-Protector asked slightly surprised.
"This is Shepard. Reading you loud and clear."
"What happened? Did you find the Archon?"
"Yes, but he didn't want to surrender, so we just staked him." Jane replied with no qualms or regret.
"I see. You're just in time, then. We have a new Kett friend eager to surrender." he then turned his gaze clearly toward the Kett on the other side of the holo-table. "Isn't that right, Primus?"
"What I am offering to you, Lord-Protector Iulius Tanis, is a trade. Something that will benefit both of us. Don't misjudge out compelling with your conventions for surrender." the Primus replied quite irritated.
"Sure." Iulius mumbled, deciding that it wasn't worth his time to comment on the alien's delusions. "Please, do tell me what is your 'offer'?"
"It's simple. Destroy the Grysk known as Cadmis. If you do that, I will return to the Kett Senate and convince them to stop our war against the Angara. I may even be able to broker friendly relations with the Empire."
The sheer nerve that the Ascendant professed, Iulius at this point was not surprised anymore. After all, he had seen that attitude in countless imperial officials. He simply went on and asked a question that had bothered him since the beginning of this journey. "What about the Human colonists you have kidnapped? Where are they?"
"Right here." an altered and spiteful voice arrived from the microphone of the table.
"Who am I talking to?" Iulius asked, directing his gaze toward the communication officer, demanding to know who could enter imperial communications so easily.
"I am Cadmis of the Grysks." the voice replied. "Your colonies are aboard my ship. If you really want to save them, then you will allow me to leave, so I can deal with those traitors."
Caught by surprise, Iulius needed a moment to think the proper response. "Show me the hostages, and perhaps I will consider it."
A moment later the contact was allowed to send images and they promptly arrived, showing some of the capsules containing the colonists, still apparently hibernated. A quick scan from Echiris validated that those were on the WarMaster.
The Primus was about to say something but Iulius muted both aliens. It was already clear to him what were the consequences of both choices, but Thrawn and Darvos still voiced their opinions.
"Leaving this Cadmis escape with all the data he gathered on us might be catastrophic." the Chiss calmly assessed. "The Grysks will certainly learn and adapt to our military superiority. My Lord, pardon me for my boldness, but you should kill him while we have the chance."
"We came here to save the colonists in the first place." Darvos instead argued. "Besides, both the Grysk and the Kett are too prone to lying to the others. What makes you think the Primus will keep his end of the bargain?"
"All the more reasons why we should at least give him what he asks. It's clear that there is a conflict between them, and we should exploit it to weaken both. For how regretful the losses, the sacrifice of these colonists might save billions in the future."
Iulius understood that he was facing a critical juncture. Should he save the colonists, allowing Cadmis to escape with everything he learned on the Empire and the New Republic but show to the entire galaxy that the Empire was able to rescue its people without killing them? Or should he take up the Primus' offer and blow up the ship, leaving nothing for the public to know but undermining the relations between Grysk and Kett?
The human side and the officer side of his mind were at a standstill. He turned to his sensor officer.
"Echiris, can you determine how many capsules are on that ship?"
"I'm still running scans, sir." the Lieutenant-Commander reported. "And so far...I found at least 1.300."
1.300. It wasn't all of the kidnapped colonists, of course, but at this point he wasn't expecting to find more than a hundred. Bringing them back safe and sound would be a great propaganda victory, and a proof that the Empire was now actually protecting its citizens.
Iulius looked some of his officers, all of which clearly glad that they weren't the ones to call the shots on this one. The Grand Admiral then spotted a certain insecurity and questioning look on his Commander.
"What's wrong?" he asked calmly.
"If I may, sir…" Ciena at first hesitated. "But isn't it a bit convenient that he had so many colonists on that ship? What was he doing with them?"
Another sharp argument. The Kett had proven able to completely transform other species into themselves, who was to say that the Grysk weren't capable of something like that and Iulius was about to take on a bunch of sleeper agents?
The Lord-Protector lowered his gaze, deeply focused while the holograms of Thrawn and Darvos were waiting for him, the effective leader of the entire expedition, to make the call.
But as his mind rushed to decide which scenario was less worse, Iulius saw a light. After taking a moment for a silent breather, he closed his eyes, firmly clasped his hands behind his back and then reopened his eyes with a severe gaze toward the Grysk, then finally restored the volume of the comlink.
"I'm not sure you understand the situation quite well, Cadmis." he said in a subtly glacial and threatening voice.
"What…?" the alien asked.
"My priority is the security of the Empire, not that of a few colonists. So here is how this will go: you will deactivate every self-destruction mechanism on your ship and make sure the pods are ready to be transferred. Only at that point you, and any survivor on your crew, will be allowed to leave."
The Grysk probably was not expecting the sudden resolve of the Lord-Protector and took a few moments to reply. "You really expect me to just surrender one of the jewels of the Grysk armada?"
"I believe you want to live, Cadmis." Iulius asked with just a hint of sarcasm. "Otherwise, you would have already rammed your ship into mine and blew us all, instead you are here, bargaining for your life. So you either accept my requests, or my fleet will finish the job on your ship."
Another silence followed on the other side, one that was impossible to read. Everybody on the bridge prepared to the possibility that the WarMaster would all of a sudden explode with the most violence.
"Fine. I accept your requests." Cadmis grunted.
A triumphant grin appeared on the face of the Lord-Protector, who turned toward the Primus and delivered his response to that offer. "I'm sorry, Primus. I shall decline. You and your people can go freely but make sure to deliver this message to your Senate." and turned his whole body toward the Kett, who was clearly very frustrated at the outcome. "The Empire now has an official interest in the Haeleus Sector. If the Kett ever try to attack the Angara again, we shall respond in full force."
The Primus just made a nod and gave Iulius a venomous expression before closing the transmission. And with that, the Grand Admiral ordered Yagler to lead the boarding parties that were departing from the Admonitor and the Carunoan ships to secure the WarMaster.