New Mandalore, Mining Region
"Tali for the love of Mandalore just tell me what it is you want me to see!" Demanded Alren for the hundredth time as the Qurian women just continued to smile and lead him along one of the many tunnels that made up New Mandalore's mining district.
The young leader was not in a very good mood as he had been woken up fairly early and dragged here by Tali because apparently the miners had found something that was very important. Or so Tali had said.
"No Alren it's a surprise." Responded Tali as she continued to drag Alren down another tunnel.
It had only been a few months since the cure for the Quarian's weak immune system was distributed among the once space faring race and now you could rarely find a Quarian without their helmet's off save for when they travel off world.
"It's just around the corner." Said Tali as the two made another turn to find themselves in a fairly large chamber with various workers and a few scientists all surrounding the object in the center. Alren didn't know what to make of the foreign object but judging by Tali's excitement it had to be something very special.
"Uh Tali, not to be rude or anything but what the hell am I supposed to be looking at?" Asked Alren with a raised brow.
"Alren this is a Proethean beacon! Something like this is practically priceless to the rest of the Galaxy and is a treasure trove of knowledge! Just think of what we could gain from this if we can access it!" Exclaimed Tali excitedly.
Taking another look at the now known beacon Alren couldn't help but wonder just what the ancient race of aliens could have stored in such an object. Sure they may not had been as advanced as his people but that didn't mean that the Mandalorians couldn't take some of their idea's and technology and improve upon them. Hell they had taken Omni-Tool's and refit them to be integrated into their armor as well as a few other things because they saw the value in having access to such a vast network of information. There was just one problem with this though.
"Yeah I can see where your coming from Tali but the fact of the matter is is that no one on this planet is an expert on Proethean's. So if we want anything out of this hunk of metal than we're gonna need to find one that isn't associated with the Council at all. It would be best for everyone if we kept this to ourselves for now, who knows how others would react to what we have found here today." Said Alren as Tali nodded in agreement but had a smug smile on her face which made Alren question what else she had to say.
"I agree Alren, but I'm way ahead of you. I've already sworn all here to secrecy under penalty of death and have even found us our little expert. All you need to do is go and pick her up from her current residence. She's and archeologist called Liara T'soni and currently she's in between expeditions so you better get to her before she runs off to another ruin." Said Tali as she typed a few things into her Omni-Tool and sent the remaining info to Alren's own Omni-Tool.
Alren just stared at her in shock as it seemed that Tali already had everything planned out beforehand.
"Wow Tali. I know I've said this before but, you are a true Mandalorian."
"I learned from the best Alren. Now go get our little expert."
"Yes ma'am." Said Alren with a sarcastic salute as he left the mining area while calling up to the Malevolence to have it prepped for departure.
Sometime later, Thessia orbit.
After leaving Tali to find their Proethean expert Alren decided to read up a bit on who he was being sent to get as the Malevelonce was already told where to go courtesy of Tali. She had really had everything planned out for this little operation.
Turns out Liara T'soni was a young Asarii barely into her maiden cycle. Yet she was a brilliant women all things considered and was the daughter of one of the most powerful Asarii in the galaxy Matriarch Benenzia. He had heard of the elder in passing and it was quite well known that she actually supported the Mandalorian people and pushed for more contact between the Asarii and Mandalorian's.
This though could mainly be due to the fact that the Mandalorians, thanks to their serum, could now live as long if not longer than their own kind and saw them as perfect mates since it had always been a problem for the Asarii race knowing that one day their spouse would die long before they ever would. Kind of sad when one thinks about it.
Regardless Alren would have to be careful how he dealt with the woman as well as in general since he was about to land on the Asarii homeworld. He having just gotten clearance from the planets fleet to go planetside. Yet instead of taking a shuttle down Alren decided to test out his Basalisk droid Tal's capabilities since such droids were used back in the day to drop from orbit to the planet with no problems. Sure he may cause an initial panic but so what?
Hopping into Tal's saddle Alren urged his mount forward through the hangar they were currently in and the mechanical beast responded accordingly and without hesitating leaped from the hangar and free fell towards the planet. It was a beautiful sight to Alren as him and his mount fell towards the planet right over the city his target was in.
It began to get a bit hot during the entry into the atmosphere but the durable form and metal of the Basalisk helped shield both the beast and Alren from any harm. Within seconds Alren saw the city below them fast approaching and activated his Omni-Tool's map and saw where he needed to go to reach Liara's current residence.
"Alright Tal you know where to go girl." Called Alren over the rushing wind as he sent the coordinate's to the droid who let out a grolw in response.
Instantly the wing flaps on the back of the droid opened and the engines near them activated as the droid went from falling to flying towards Liara's location. As they flew over the city they caught many stares as the monogendered race constantly looked up at them in shock and awe having never seen such a machine before.
Within a few short minutes Alren and Tal had landed in front of a pleasant and large looking estate. It was fairly obvious that this place belonged to Liara's mother rather than Liara herself. Still Alren had to admit that the place certainly looked amazing and he would be content to live in a home like it.
The young Mandalorian dismounted his droid and gave it the order to stand guard as he walked up to the front gate to be greeted by two Asarii commando's who stepped into his path.
"Stop right there Mandalorian. What business do you have with Matriarch Benenzia?"
"My business isn't with her but rather her daughter. I have an offer that I am sure she will enjoy." Answered Alren.
The two guards looked at each-other before one began typing on her Omni-Tool and the gates opened up. With a wave of her hand one of the commando's began to lead Alren into the estate. Tal grew weary and was about to follow but a wave of Alren's hand stayed her as he followed his guide.
The young Mandalorian couldn't help but admire the architecture of the place and had to admit it looked fairly better than usual Mandalorian architecture. He would never say that out loud though.
Eventually they came to a large door that slid open as they approached revealing it to be a dining area of some sort with a large table in the center of the room. At this table sat three Asarii who seemed deep in conversation. Yet once the duo entered the three alien women stopped and turned to them.
Two of them Alren assumed were Liara and Benenzia as the third Asarii was one he knew very well.
"Councilor Tevos what an unexpected surprise. Didn't expect to see you here." Said Alren trying to hide his surprise but couldn't successfully mask all of it. What was a member of the Council doing here in the home of his target?
"Oh Alren I didn't expect to see you here. We were just talking about you as a matter of fact." Said Tevos also trying to hide her surprise at seeing the leader of the Mandalorian people here of all places.
"Oh and why would you be talking about little old me? I recall a certain Turian who talks about me and my people enough for his entire species?" Asked Alren while curious about why they would be talking about him.
Tevos was hesitant to answer the man as she didn't quite know how to say it and trying to pull away from the subject was out of the question as she had learned from past experiences with Alren that he would not relent until he had learned everything there was to learn on a certain matter that caught his interest. Thankfully or not Benenzia decided to speak up on her fellow Asarii's behalf.
"We were talking about a possible alliance with the Mandalorian people Mandalore the Conqueror." Said Benenzia politely yet simply.
Alren though was stuck on what she had called him, Mandalore the Conqueror. While it was true that some of his people had began to call him that due to the fact that the leader of the Mandalorian people took up the name Mandalore along with a little add on like Mandalore the Indomitable or Mandalore the Invincible they also possessed something Alren did not. The Mask of Mandalore. But the relic was lost a longtime ago with no hope of retrieving it now. As such Alren refused to take the title and break tradition though it didn't stop his people from declaring him as such. How this woman knew of the title only spoke of how interested she must be in his people and that spoke volumes to Alren.
Breaking from his slight shock Alren focused on the other part she said and grew even more curious. Why would they want an alliance with his people? Was the Council really that desperate to get at his technology that they would dbase themselves to begging for an alliance? With Sparatus on the Council the Mandalorian warrior highly doubted that.
"Oh? And why would the Council want to ally themselves with me and my people? Last time I was on the Citadel Sparatus threatened war if I didn't relinquish some of my peoples technology to the Council. And if I remember correctly I threatened to blast him into space should he try and threaten me again." Responded Alren with a little amusement and skepticism.
"You misunderstand us Alren." Responded Tevos kindly but with a little amusement of her own as she remembered Sparatus' expression when Alren had spoken those words to the Turian Councilor.
"And what have I misunderstood Councilor? You speak for your race on the Council so to ask me for something like an alliance I would assume it would be a decision made by the Council."
"While it is true that I do serve as a member of the Council, I also serve as a leader of my people as do you and as much as I hate to admit it, I don't think I can rely on the Council's decisions much longer." Said Tevos a little sadly.
Now that had Alren's attention, a Councilor not having faith in her own Council? Wondering what could shake the Asarii's faith in something her people helped found Alren gestured for her to go on and after taking a moment to compose herself she spoke once more in a calm tone but the sadness could still be heard in it.
"It has become tiresome with my fellow Councilor's to put it simply. Sparatus is pushing to take your peoples technology by force and I fear it has become an obsession with him as he and many of his kind feel that you have damaged their pride. Not to mention the fact that because of you he was forced to take away Saren's Spectre status and now only the Goddess knows where that Turian has run off to. Valern on the other hand wants your technology just as much if not more so and keeps pushing for us to send more Spectre's or spies to acquire it even with all of the warning you have given us. The only reason neither of which has happened is because I have been able to convince them such plans would be suicide but I don't know for how much longer that will last. I fear they are beginning to think that I have personally sided with your people over the Council and may act regardless of my willingness to act with them."
"While I do feel your pain in dealing with those two morons you still haven't answered my question on why you want to side with my people." Said Alren as he didn't care about the other two Councilor's and their idiocy.
"Because we feel as though your people may end up replacing the Council." Spoke up Liara who had been silent through this whole conversation until this point.
Seeing Alren's gaze now pinned on her Liara began to grow nervous and a slight purple blush began to rise on her face as she realized how she had spoken out to a leader of an entire race. Still she managed to regain enough of her composure in order to elaborate on what she had said before.
"Well you see the thing is is that nearly all of the Council's accomplishments have been due to Proethean technology but what no species has ever considered is actually how the Proethean's became so great and advanced. The Asarii feel that every species contributes something to the greater whole of the galaxy but despite the Council being in place we are all divided. The Prothean's became great because they were all united under one banner as one people instead of a bunch of people following a multitude of banners. After seeing what your people can and have accomplished we feel as though that if you wanted to conquer the galaxy you would have little trouble and that it may not be such a bad thing if that were to happen." Explained Liara gaining nods from both Benenzia and Tevos and leaving Alren stumped.
He had heard some crazy things in his life but to hear these three talking about his people taking over the entire galaxy and having little to no problem with it was a new one on him. If he hadn't of heard it with his own ears he would have thought they were making some kind of sick joke. Yet he had heard it and now found himself at a loss.
"Wha? How can you say that so casually? Do even know what your suggesting? Its as if you want my people to establish some kind of empire?!"
"That's exactly what we're suggesting." Said Benenzia, cutting Alren off, "we promote peace all we can Mandalore but even we know that sometimes force is required before peace can be made. You think the Proethean's built their empire with just words? No I have personally looked into your peoples history and culture as much as possible and I feel if anyone were to take over the galaxy and establish a fair empire it would be your people. If any other species were to attempt it and succeed I fear it would end in disaster. Most of the other races including our own are either too violent and strict or too peaceful and not strict enough. Your people are warriors yes but you do not enslave or look down on those you conquer. Instead you respect them for having the courage to fight against you. Strength, Honor, Loyalty and Death as I recall. The Resol'nare as I have learned in studying your people isn't as oppressive and is actually quite simple to follow showing that just about anyone can be called a Mandalorian so that shows you are not against anyone who may wish to join your culture and you also do not oppress your views on those you conquer. That's why we feel that with your people as rulers we can finally have what the Asarii have always wanted, a united galaxy." Finished the elder Asarii leaving Alren more stunned than before but he could see the logic behind her statement and silently respected her for being so thorough in learning about his peoples customs.
"While I thank you for your support Matriarch-"
"Please just Benenzia is fine."
"Benenzia. It doesn't detract from the fact that even if I wanted such a thing I simply do not have the manpower it would require. Sure our technology gives us a great advantage but if we ever began such a campaign we would be fighting against an amassed army made of multiple species who can and I fear will overrun us." Pointed out Alren.
"True. Which is why we propose and alliance between our two races. Not only will you gain a considerable amount to your army but we would also be willing to help you in achieving more allies for your cause." Said Tevos making Alren's skepticism on the deal that much smaller. This could be a great opportunity for his people to ascend in ways never thought of before. To just imagine an empire ruled by Mandalorian who were not oppressed under a larger government was something most Mandalorians only dreamed of yet here the opportunity to do just that stared him right in the face! Still he had to be careful in case this was a trick no matter how sweet the deal sounded.
"I have heard what you have said and while I agree with you on most things I can't accept such an offer just yet as I just do not fully trust you. So before anything else I feel we need to establish some trust before I consider accepting your offer. A good start would be allowing me to, borrow Liara for a little while."
"W-what do you want with me?" Asked Liara nervously.
"Yes. Just why would you need my daughter Mandalore?" Asked Benenzia suspiciously.
"Lets just say that I have found something that would peak her interests." Said Alren mischievously.
It took a moment for them to figure it out but when they did Liara loudly gasped and faster than Alren could blink she was in front of him with an excited gleam in her eye.
"You found Proethean ruins!?"
"Better. I found a still working Proethean beacon and I want you to personally study it. So have I caught your interest mrs T'soni?"
"I'll go get my things." Was Liara's reply as she ran out of the room leaving an amused Mandalorian and two very surprised Asarii.
"Did you really find a working Proethean beacon?" Asked Tevos.
"Yes. Yes I did."
"When were you planning on telling the rest of the Galaxy?" Demanded Benenzia knowing how rare such an item was and that hording it for themselves was a great crime in her eyes.
"When we had looked at what it contained and copied all we could from it. We weren't going to keep it a secret forever Benenzia but telling the whole Galaxy what we had found would make us a target and despite what you may think we aren't as dug in as we would let you believe and are still getting our defenses up to par with our standards. Now if you excuse me I must call in a shuttle to pick Liara and myself up as the way I arrived isn't suitable for going back with Liara in tow." Said Alren as he turned to leave but felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to look into the saddened eyes of Benenzia.
"I want to come with you and Liara. My relationship with her is...strained. Only recently have I began to actually accept that she does not want to follow in my footsteps and I want to spend as much time with her as possible. Plus this may be the best opportunity to learn even more about your people than what I already know." She said with a hopeful look in her eyes.
Alren looked at her for a moment before nodding his head and getting a relieved smile from the Asarii Matriarch. He knew what it was like to have a strained relationship with a family member and couldn't bring himself to deny her request. He would be sure that she was kept a close eye on though should her motives prove to be less than pure.
Malevolence Bridge
It ahd been a few hours since Alren departure from Thessia and now he had a Matriarch and her daughter on board his prized flagship on route home. He couldn't help but smile at the awed expressions on the two's face when they got a good look at his ship for the first time. He made sure his ships camera's had recorded their faces for future reference.
It was even funnier when Alren had taken off his helmet and Liara's whole face turned purple. Even Benenzia's face had gained a bit of a blush and Alren had to keep himself from outright laughing at such expressions. He even thought he heard one of them mutter something about, 'finally having a male Asarii,' or something along those lines.
Now here he sat in his captains chair with his two guests beside him watching as his crew worked methodically and fluently. Just then one of Alren's bridge officers, a Quarian male, walked up to him and gave a quick salute.
"Sir we will be arriving at New Mandalore any moment now."
Giving a nod of acknowledgment the Quarian walked back to his station while Alren turned to his two guests.
"I hope you both are ready to see New Mandalore. It may not look like much right now but I trust you will be impressed with what we have accomplished so far." Said Alren with a bit of pride as the Malevolence came out of hyperspace.
The young Mandalorian's face went from happy to insurmountable rage in an instant when he saw the state of his peoples new home. Just in orbit around the planet the seven Republic cruisers and five Seperatist Dreadnaughts were in a fierce space battle with over four thousand unfamiliar enemy ships while the Orbital cannons that had been built could be seen firing from the planets surface and destroying any ship they managed to hit. It was easy to figure out what was happening before the young leader's eyes.
New Mandalore was under attack. He didn't know by who though as he had never seen ships like these before but they seemed so familiar to him. It was Liara who answered this question.
"The Geth! But they haven't been seen outside of the Perseus Veil for over three centuries! What in the name of the Goddess are they doing here!?" She exclaimed as her mother just stood in shock at this new development.
The Geth, of course! Now Alren understood why the ships seemed so familiar as he recalled Tali telling him about Geth design's and the ships fit her description to the letter. That only made him angrier though at the thought of a bunch of tin cans had the balls to attack his peoples new home. He was broken from his inner rage by Benenzia who laid a hand on his shoulder and drawing his attention to her.
"Alren, do you know what this means?" She asked in worry as she saw Alren's rage filled gaze.
Said Mandalorian calmly picked up and dawned his helmet. After that he typed a few commands into his Omni-Tool and spoke in a cold voice laced with fury, "yes Benenzia I know exactly what this means. This means war."
Well there's the next chapter guys. Now I know your probably wondering why Benenzia isn't already a brainwashed pawn of Saren but this is technically an AU so some things are gonna be different. You don't like it? Tough shit this is my story and this is how I want it. Review and/or PM me. Until then, Nicranger out!