Hey guys here's the next chapter for ya.
Alren was furious! That damned Turian Saren had ran off like a coward and left his men to die in his stead! He didn't even have the guts to die with some honor and would rather be hunted down like some cheap game. Well if that's what he wanted Alren would happily oblige him when he found him and took his head to mount in his room.
"Sir."
Turning around Alren saw his men and Tali walking into the hangar with a bloody and bruised Turian be pushed along. When they reached him the Turian was brought to his knees before the young Mandalorian who gazed at him impassively through his helmets visor.
"Casualties." Demanded Alren as Tali handed him his blaster pistol's that he had left in the bridge giving her a nod of thanks.
"None sir. Also we've gotten word that the rest of the Turian fleet has been destroyed per your orders but a couple of the Quarian's ships had been damaged from some lucky hits by the Turian ships that were sent to attack them. Other than that nothing but a few scrapes and bruises." Informed one of the men.
Internally Alren sighed in relief at this and was glad he hadn't lost any men. But this did little to abate his anger at the aggressor. He wanted, no, NEEDED to find that bastard and make him suffer for ever attacking his fleet. Then his gaze drifted to the Turian soldier that was glaring at all of them as if he had some right to do so.
"Turian. Where is Saren heading." Alren asked simply and to the point.
"Go fuck yourself." Was the Turians reply as he spit some blood at Alren which landed on his boot.
Alren slowly looked down at his now stained boot before looking back at the Turian who had a smug look in his eyes. In a blur of movement Alren had lashed out and had his right hand wrapped around the aliens throat and now had him lifted off the ground and in the air slowly choking him.
"No more games Turian. Either you tell me where Saren could have gone or I kill you and he becomes the sole survivor of this encounter. So what's it going to be? Death, or survival." Alren said coldly but with a distinct tone of hate in his tone.
During his time with Tali he had been reading everything he could about this galaxy and its inhabitants. More specifically the three 'main' races. Honestly he found them even worse than the Republic! The Turians were the military portion of the Council and were very arrogant believeing they had no equal in military might. The Asarii were the diplomatic portion but were prideful and obnoxious in their belief's that because of their long lives they were naturally smarter and wiser than the other races. Finally the Salarian's ran the espionage and intelligence portion of the Council but Alren found them to be nothing more than thieves looking to take any bit of tech and knowledge they could that wasn't theirs by right and he had no doubt they would try and steal some of his peoples technology to further their own. Truly this galaxy was becoming more trouble than its worth.
After a few more seconds of struggling the Turian finally relented and gave in to his captor's demands.
"Fine! T-the Council! He more than likely went to the Citadel to inform the Council about what happened!"
Accepting the info Alren drops the Turian and orders two of his men to take him away and lock him in the brig of one of the stealth ships under heavy guard and to take his Omni tool to delete ant data he may have on his fleet. After the Turian was removed it was just Alren, Tali and the remainder of his men.
"What now sir?"
"Now I want the Malevolence prepped for departure along with two Republic cruisers. The Council thinks they can bully us around because we are new arrivals to this galaxy but they will soon learn no one commands the Mandalorian people. They will either stay out of our way or we will do as our ancestor's did and bring this Galaxy to its knees. Our people bowed to the Republic's will once and we will not trade one political prison for another." Stated Alren with conviction gaining a new level of respect among his men and Tali.
After his proclamation Alren had Tali hack into the ships systems and download all available info from it which just so happened to include very detailed knowledge on the Turians current military strength including the number of ships currently in service and the number of active and reserve soldiers. Aftwerwards they had all left the Turian dreadnaught and destroyed it before Alren left with the Malevolence and two Republic cruisers towards the Citadel which would take no more than a few hours time.
During this little bit of downtime Alren had decided to clean and repair his equipment as well as plan out what he was going to do when he met the Council. He knew they would try and demand 'justice' for his slaughter of their fleet so he would have to deal with that first which wouldn't be a problem. But it was afterwards that had him troubled. His people couldn't just wander through space like the Quarian's did and in order to stay afloat in this Galaxy he needed money.
After thinking about it for a moment Alren brought up his datapad and began to scroll through it before finding what he wanted. Omega. Part of the Terminus system which was home to the lowlife's and criminal's of the galaxy. The perfect place for what he had in mind after his little meeting with the Council.
Time Skip
"So that's the Citadel? Not bad but I have definitely seen better." Commented Alren as he looked down at the five kilometer long space station.
His small fleet had just arrived at the Citadel not but a few minutes ago and needless to say their arrival caused quite a stir. He saw about a hundred ships being mobilized and civilians running around or looking up in fear. His fleet hadn't moved from their spot above the station for a few minutes now as they awaited for them to receive contact first.
Alren didn't have to wait long as one of his men told him that the Citadel was trying to contact them. Telling him to open a channel Alren saw an Asarii in what he recognized as C-Sec armor appear on the holotable.
"This is Ajarah Mutora of C-Sec. Unknown ship please state your purpose." She said with as much authority as possible though Alren could hear the hint of fear in her voice making him grin under his helmet.
"This is Alren Krios Captain of the Malevolence and leader of the Unison fleet. I want an audience with the council as soon as possible." He said the last part with a warning tone meaning he wanted them right now didn't want to be kept waiting.
The Asari quickly disappeared from the holotable and Alren just sat in his chair waiting for the Council to contact him. It wasn't but a few minutes later that he received another communication and grinned while he answered it. Then the trio of an Asari, Turian and Salarian appeared before him.
"Greetings Alren Krios. I am Councilor Tevos and these are-" Began the Asari before Alren cut her off.
"I am well aware of who you all are Councilor. But I am not here to make pleasantries. I am here to talk about recent.. events, as it were. I will have a shuttle sent down to escort you and any guards you wish to my ship for negotiations. I expect you here within the next twenty minutes." And with that Alren cut the line not even giving the Councilor's time to object to his demands.
Now it was just the waiting game as he knew the Councilor's would accept his 'invitation' regardless if they wanted to or not. Not like he cared. With those thoughts Alren left for the hangar to await the Council along with a few of his warriors.
Time skip
Alren waited with his hands clasped behind his back, his warriors behind him as he waited for the shuttle carrying the Council to arrive while around him droids and other warriors went about their duties as if nothing was going on. Just the way he wanted it, he wasn't trying to make a big spectacle of the situation after all.
A few minutes later and he saw the shuttle come into view. When it landed Alren calmly waited until the hatch opened. As soon as it did over thirty C-Sec officers rushed in forming line from the shuttle hatch to Alren and his men. None of them were impressed.
The Councilor's then made their appearance walking with as much grace and dignity as possible before stopping in front of Alren. The young Mandalorian gave them a quick once over before turning around and motioning for them to follow him. All of the Councilor's frowned at the complete lack of respect they were being shown but nonetheless followed him along with ten C-Sec guards.
It was amusing to see the scared and surprised looks on his guests faces when the rode on the express line to the meeting room. Yet when they arrived all of that amusement faded away to cold indifference. It was time to be serious.
The meeting room was nothing special as it only had one decent sized table with three chairs at one end for the Councilor's and one at the other for Alren. While the guards for each took their positions around the room Alren and the Councilor's took their seats and waited for the other to speak first. After a few minutes of silence it was Councilor Sparatus who spoke up.
"So I see you have accepted our invitation? I trust SPECTRE Saren delivered it accordingly." Spoke the Turian Councilor with a bit of pride at the mention of Saren.
Unknown to the Councilor's this disappointed and angered Alren. It seems that Saren failed to speak to the Council meaning he either died in space, which was unlikely, or had gone off the grid to try and escape him. Clever but it would only delay the inevitable.
"More or less. You see I am here more for the fact of what Saren did when I declined your 'invitation.'" Alren said coldly.
The Councilor's were surprised by this but were also dreading what the SPECTRE may have done as he was known for going a bit overboard when insulted and from what they had seen so far this Alren character didn't seem like a respectable fellow.
"If we may ask what exactly occurred when Saren delivered our message?" Asked Valern.
"What your SPECTRE did was attack my fleet with his own. We responded accordingly and defended ourselves. Needless to say the entire Turian fleet was destroyed leaving only two survivor's. One being your SPECTRE after me and some of my men boarded his ship and I took his arm before he escaped and another Turian who now sits in the brig of one of my ships that is currently not here. What I am here for is compensation for an attack on my fleet by the Council." Declared Alren.
"What! We ordered no such attack!" Declared Sparatus.
"Saren is a Spectre meaning his actions reflect directly on the Council meaning that the attack on my fleet is not just Saren's fault but yours as well. And since I can't get at him you'll have to do. Now are you ready to hear what I want in return for your unprovoked attack on my fleet?"
Sparatus looked ready to continue the denial that the Council was at fault but a shake of the head from Tevos stopped him. Tevos and Valern knew that Alren was right in all regards and if they didn't want this man to be an enemy they would have to give into his demands for now. He did afterall wipe out one of the best fleets if not the best fleet in the Turian Hierarchy or so he claims. But if that's what did in fact happen it was best not to play the odds with him.
"Of course Mr. Krios. What is it you want?" Asked Valern making Alren grin under his helmet.
"What I want is to claim a planet for my people to colonize. And before you ask I have already chosen a planet." Said Alren while bringing up a map of this Galaxy courtesy of the Quarians and pointed at one specific planet that the Councilor's recognized.
"Eden Prime? Why that one?"Asekd Tevos.
"Do I need a reason Councilor? Either way I want that planet to be handed over to the Unison Fleet for colonization."
The next two hours went by with Alren eventually getting Eden Prime handed over to him and his people as well as a few agreements allowing some of the other races to settle on Eden Prime, or as it was soon to be known as New Mandalore, once the Unison Fleet had secured it and begun building their new home. They were just about to end the meeting when the doors to the meeting room opened and in came two of Alrens warriors dragging in a bleeding C-Sec Salarian officer. They promptly dropped him on the floor as they reported to Alren on what had happened.
"Sir we found this one sneaking around trying to scan some of our technology and even attempted to steal some weapons."
Alren instantly turned his gaze to the Council who were just as surprised by this as he was and knew then and there that this Turian was working for someone else.
Walking over to the bleeding Salarian Alren gazed down at him for a moment before he backhanded him and sent him to the ground with blood and spittle flying from his mouth. Placing one boot on the Salarian's chest he pressed down enough to make it hurt.
"Who do you work for scum? Tell me and I may let you live."
At first the Salarian just refused to speak but after pressing down to the point his ribs were slowly breaking the Salarian gave it up.
"The Shadow Broker! I work for the Shadow Broker!"
"Who is the Shadow Broker?" Asked Alren as the title was new to him. It was Tevos who answered before the Salarian could.
"The Shadow Broker is a holder of information with spies everywhere in the galaxy at every level making them the most well informed being in the galaxy. No one knows who or where they are only that they are very good at getting information they shouldn't and others can't get."
Nodding at the explanation Alren took out one of his blaster pistols and put a round in the Salarian's head killing him instantly and stunning the Council and other C-Sec officers.
"Why did you do that!?" Demanded Sparatus.
"Simple. He was a spy. Standard procedure is you capture spy if possible, get any available info out of them and then kill them. It's really not that hard to figure out. Better keep that in mind when you start sending people to New Mandalore in the future as no one will be exempt on my planet. Now this meeting is over so my guards will escort you back to the shuttle which will take you all back to the Citadel." Said Alren nonchalantly as he deposited his blaster pistol.
The Council did not object as they were lead out leaving Alren the only one left in the meeting room. He waited a minute more before heading off to the bridge while calling to the bridge through his comms, "set course for the Terminus system. More specifically Omega. Leave as soon as the shuttle returns."
Everything was going just the way Alren wanted it. Now if only he could fine that damned Turian SPECTRE then he would be the happiest Mandalorian in the universe.
Well there's the next chapter for ya. Review and/or PM me. Until then, Nicranger out!