A Krogan misplaced: Chapter 13
"X-compound " -Australian Outback - 2 & 1/2 months after landing
The woman, or at least that's what Wrex thought the human was, sitting in the chair opposite him was diminutive even by human standards, with a hunched frame, cloudy eyes hidden behind glasses and the general demeanour of an annoyed klixen. Yet Professor Emily Mei was apparently the foremost mind on gravitational physics the humans possessed, and his talks with the professor had proven surprisingly fruitful once he explained the basics and showed the diminutive figure some diagrams on his omni-tool.
But to Wrex what was important wasn't the Professor herself but rather what she had shown up with at his...well he supposed it was an office, not two weeks after he first began discussing how quickly humanity could advance and the timeframe required for such an effort. The device she'd placed on the desk would have appeared alien to the outside observer, and while it was inspired by such it was of human make. About as long as a human arm, a handful of switches with human writing on them to designate function and what was clearly a graal inspired barrel the device was a chimera of two worlds.
All in all the first of humanities plasma firearms was an impressive, if primitive piece of work.
Giving the firearm a look over once more before handing it back to Professor Mei, Wrex looked at the woman questionably before speaking.
"Could this be mass produced?"
The Professor shook her head quickly as she spoke, the spectacles on her neck dangling as she did so.
"No, far too expensive, too many rare materials, overheats quickly, and it's a prototype besides. Also if my suspicions are true it wouldn't be of much use against your technology?"
Wrex gave the human equivalent of a grin as he sat back in the chair, mulling the possibilities before he answered, his tone low.
"It might be a decent starting gun, but you'd have difficulty piercing personal shields, let alone some of the stuff mounted on vehicles or fortifications. Not a bad effort though, as far as first attempts go anyway. Which of the designs did you base this on?"
The elderly female initially hesitated before answering, perhaps too used to the black ops site she'd worked at prior to arriving at the compound. But after that moments hesitation, she answered promptly.
"The one labeled as a 'pulse rifle', we haven't been able to replicate the aerodynamics of the plasma as shown, but my colleagues to have theories as to how it could be done. These Geth must have fascinating mastery of technology to achieve the speeds stated. I cannot help but wonder what could be achieved if I had an actual example to study..."
Wrex gave a nod of acknowledgement as his mind went to other matters. He waited for the look of curiosity to fade off the woman's face before speaking again, his voice a low rumble as he mused the possibilities for the future.
"Do you ever wonder, professor, what the galaxy will be like when you humans finally reach it?"
Mei's face was set in a deep frown as she seemed initially taken back by the question, before she gave a slight shrug and responded.
"Why are you asking me that? You lived in it. Of all people on this planet you should know."
Wrex just gave a human nod before tapping a few holo-squares on his omni-tool. A floating image of the galaxy appeared, all partitioned in sectors and colours to sign with the various powers at be. Wrex gestured to it before speaking, his voice still giving away his curiosity.
"This is the galaxy two hundred years ago. Around the same length time your people are expected to take to actually reach the wider galaxy. Two hundred years ago the Quarians were a budding powerhouse, the last remnants of the Second Krogan rebellion were being ground into dust by the Batarians, and the Council were seriously considering another campaign in the Terminus, to bring some order to the thousand petty worlds within."
Wrex idly scratched his scaly chin before continuing, staring into the image like it might provide answers.
"And when I landed here the situation was completely different. I can give you humans guidance, and yet I can't promise anything I say will even be true by the time it will be useful. You'll have to make your own way in the galaxy."
Wrex gave a toothy grin.
"And won't that be a sight to see?"
-
-Dehli, India-
The towering hotel-casino overlooking Ashoka's Pillar made a rather good meeting site truth be told, surrounded by enough people in a bustling city to escape notice, yet also civilised and recognisable. A shame it would only be used the once, but one couldn't be too careful in the age of surveillance.
Yet as Amir walked through the doors to the conference room, rented out so kindly by his colleagues, he gave a swift glance around for any signs of electricity, his cybernetic eye detecting nothing even as he moved to sit down at the leftmost of three long tables. As he glanced around he couldn't help but notice that the motley group that had assembled in the Indian capital probably would have looked like some bizarre conspiracy from an old spy movie even if they were totally innocent, the fact that they were a conspiracy notwithstanding of course.
Amir's seat wasn't anywhere near the head of any table, perhaps to remind him that he was ultimately a lesser player in the scheme, valued mainly for the wealth he commanded, rather than having countries at his beck and call like a handful present did. The woman at the head of his table was one such member, few in Iran would guess that the main power behind the President was in fact the mans wife, but Saleh Lajani was a woman with an iron will...and deep pockets.
A surreptitious glance at the rest of the tables revealed much of the same ilk. Most of those present were businessmen or women, a handful of politicians, intelligence operatives and military officers excepted. From every corner of the globe, from Kenya, France the Phillipines and everything in-between, the men and women in the room had gathered for a single purpose.
How to keep things stable.
Stability led to control, for who would make money or raise themselves higher if anarchy reigned. The whole dreadful business of 2027 aside, they'd been rather good at their jobs. A rebellion? Funds would make their way to the government opposing them, a disaster? Money would make its way to relief efforts. A blogger attempting to pull a Panama Papers?
Random people on the internet went missing all the time.
The beauty of the whole thing sometimes made Amir want to laugh. People thought that a global conspiracy was the stuff of cheesy movies, and it would stay that way for as long as the group could keep things going. But this would be the first meeting since an event nobody could predict had occurred, and Amir wondered what was going to happen, but then who wouldn't?
Whomever led the group was traditionally called 'The Head of the Snake", both as a joke, and a reminder. A rattlesnakes head could still bite even if it was severed after all. The current Head was a balding fellow of 80 odd years, Amir knew despite the man's plump frame and jolly expression that he could...and had, ordered deaths of powerful people in the blink of an eye. After the polite discussion finished, the Head began to speak, addressing the forty or so people in the room as if chairing a board meeting.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it pleases me to welcome you all back for another of our little get togethers. Now, as per usual the results of previous investments have been sent to your accounts and detailed reports can be viewed at your leisure, but the primary topic of discussion today is perhaps somewhat obviously, Urdnot Wrex, and what we will do with the information Mr Cirta over there managed to glean from his sources."
The man...boy really, in question stood up as the Head addressed him, his blond hair shaking from side to side as he pulled a tablet from within his suit. After tapping on it a few times, the young visage of Edward Cirta began to speak.
"Uh, no doubt you all know the basics as to what's out there in the galaxy, but what you may not know are some of the juicier details only present in the sealed archives. I'm sending a copy of everything gathered to your personal devices, it makes interesting reading."
True to form, Amir's phone gave a small *bip* as the files arrived, opening them to look, Amir read the covert documents for the next five minutes.
And five minutes was all it took for a wide grin to make it's way across his face. The potential within those files was enormous! But the dangers were...troubling.
Amir's colleagues showed no such restraint, a dozen conversations breaking out about profit margins and how much they could make or solidify their positions with the intel gained. If even a tenth of the technological contents could be deciphered at the most basic level it would make the inventor the richest person on earth.
But Amir's eyes had been drawn more to the patterns this Council had written into the stars. Of dominance, of utter control.
If more aliens were to arrive at Earth at that very moment, Amir was confident half the people around him would sell out the planet in a heartbeat. That couldn't be allowed.
And so making his own plans, Amir began to think of how he could strengthen humanity.
Authors Note
I'm like back and stuff. yay.