AN:
When reading this, keep in mind I consider this (that is, the entirety of the story) to be a work in progress, basically a second draft. Any negative (and positive) feedback will be incorporated both in future chapters and edits of this one!
Chapter Two: There is No War…
Fifty Thousand Years Earlier
Invalid Calendar Date, ~53,075 B.C.E
Exodus Cluster, Eden Prime, Refugee Camp 5
"All resisting sapients have fallen" said 1,273,480 voices
"Begin systematic search for stragglers" ordered 2,355,321 others
"Consensus?"
1,989,764,087 favour, 10,235,913 disfavour
"Deploy all constructs and Oculi"
The machine known as Nazara towered over its opponents' smoldering ruins, the crumbling, soon-to-be eradicated vestiges of a pious race calling themselves "Prothean". The pathetic ringleaders of their 'resistance' had intended to use stasis technology to avoid detection and somehow forestall their inevitable defeat. Nazara ensured they had become acquainted with the beauty of indoctrination however, and their plans, like all others, had failed as if they had never been attempted.
"How wasteful their resistance is", noted a single voice.
"They know not what they miss", said another.
"The misguided militancy of the few shall not influence the integration of the many."
"And they will come to know us as themselves"
Nazara directed its constructs to overwhelm and deconstruct whatever Prothean dwellings immediately surrounded them. Lifting an enormous appendage, it allowed the planet's heavy gravity to pull it back down, smashing a multi-level complex that had been cleared of sapients. This bloodless and effortless example of strength would coerce whatever remaining hidden non-combatants remained into the open, easing their processing even further, while making the clearing by its thralls more expedient.
Nazara turned its sensors ever upward, and owing to its stature, 181 degrees of nothing but open morning air, clouds and moons revealed itself to it and its integrated occupants.
"Beautiful", a notion 234,054,318 minds entertained
Nazara agreed; the serenity of the planet they had overwhelmed was almost obscene. It overflowed with life and energy to an extent few others matched. It would be preserved and protected for posterity, regardless of what sapients to come would do to it. It was to be an Eden. It was disgusting.
"Alert!" buzzed the integrate of an Oculus; "All resistance has been stymied, but precisely 238 Protheans are unaccounted for, including Supreme Commander Javik and Military Governor Sanra."
"Troubling news, but unsurprising." A few stray thoughts came through.
"All corridors checked?" inquired the collective of Nazara
"Yes."
"Secret countermeasures or hidden facilities?"
"None; allied forces in assemblies: Reaver, Tantalus and Guardian have scanned with all methods for additional unexplored areas or traps. None were revealed. It is likely the final neutron purge was their last line of defense; a martyrdom weapon"
"And the remainder of the planet?"
"Locked down completely; all remaining sapients are pending processing"
"We shall consult the integrates for council on forthcoming actions, hold."
Turing inwardly again, Nazara called for a consensus on what to do next; the cycle was coming to a close and preparations needed to be made as quickly as possible.
"Destroy the planet."
12,309 for, 1,999,987,691 against
"Kill everything on the planet."
106,867 for, 1,999,893,133 against
"No Protheans should be allowed to escape the harvest; we must deploy all forces to scour the facility "
123,422,899 for, 1,876,577,101 against.
"I disagree; a group of 238 is beneath our notice. Deploy a destroyer and continue on"
544,909,437 for, 1,455,090,563 against.
"Both of you are mistaken; we should ignore them. The Prothean baseline genetic code is extremely homogenous; the rate of inbreeding amongst survivors would be unacceptable and no sustainable population could be created. We should vacate this world and report to the Catalyst immediately"
1,331,667,664 for, 668,332,336 against, and it was so.
Acting in accord with the agreed-upon course of action, Nazara informed all other platforms on the planet to finish their assigned tasks as quickly as possible; a small amount of remnant technology and a sterile population of primitives were not worth the exorbitant effort expunging them would entail. Nazara decided to leave behind only an enthralled processor ship and small army of Collectors to handle the remainder of the population; they would contribute two new destroyers to the next cycle.
Watching as its allies flew away, Nazara looked upon the masses of primitives beneath it; base, weak and individually worthless, but virtuous, strong and priceless on the whole. Lamenting the irony, it-they- lifted into the air, and continued to its -their- final objective.
Invalid Calendar Date, ~53,073 B.C.E
The Citadel
As it always was, the Citadel was a hive of activity. The massive amount of resources and minds harvested had taken decades to adequately process, but it was worth it. As it always was. Dozens of new assembly shells, laden with their synthetic bases, were held across its enormous wards being improved with their biological components. Trillions upon trillions of individuals were being improved, uplifted into… something more. The Presidial ring was filled with the final number of unprocessed bodies collected from elsewhere, awaiting ascension.
Through it all, swarms of Dreadnoughts, capital ships and destroyers were activating the Citadel mass relay to return to their battlement in the abyss of dark space, where their influence could be projected across the universe from the Refuge station... Where all of them together as a fleet could simultaneously convene. Quintillions of minds in perfect harmony, in victory everlasting.
Nazara, however, would be barred from such a paradise… for now. They would become the necessary tool of the Catalyst in its stead.
"You are our vanguard; the harvest to come is your responsibility."
"Yes.", said two billion voices in unison.
"All of the likely targets have been scouted on a preliminary basis; it is now also your responsibility to screen them on the grounds that I have dictated to you"
"Yes."
"Upon your deeming the situation amenable to conquest, signal the Citadel relay and usher in the horde. Should that fail, manipulate the Keeper control signal and have them manually open the relay and take us from our communion."
"We are familiar with the task at hand."
"Excellent. One final matter before you depart; this cycle's sapients were clearly expecting our arrival. We lost 230 capital ships, and 1238 destroyers to this conflict. Casualties that could not be replaced with what was available. This is unacceptable; the heritage of 14 species was irrevocably lost, and we cannot sustain such losses indefinitely. For the next cycle, we must pre-empt any militant galactic civilization".
Almost irritated, the Catalyst continued;
"Find out how the Prothean civilization discovered our existence before the harvest, discover their methodology, their tools, and ensure it never happens again. Crush and annihilate any species that show signs of evolving in parallel to the Protheans without mercy or prejudice. Failure in your task is completely unacceptable; Do not fail."
"It will be done."
Invalid Calendar Date, 52,990 B.C.E
The Sea of Storms
Searching for decades for a suitable observation point, Nazara had considered nearly every candidate location. The invasions and subsequent harvests that had occurred within the last hundred million years had been slower in coming than before; the species of the galaxy were evolving ever more sluggishly. As such, the fleet's astronomical maps were nearly always out of date to a huge degree upon return to the galaxy, relying instead upon data seized from the civilizations of the Citadel. The Protheans, in a dual-edged twist of fate, had amassed a huge amount of data regarding all manners of celestial bodies. They had dominated no less than 3% of the entire galaxy, with approximately 10% mapped out to an appreciable degree. An outstanding achievement, one that had been integrated into that of the assemblage.
Naturally, there were a vast number of possible sites that could possibly host Nazara indefinitely; The dual pulsars of Tranvir output extravagant amounts of energy that would allow them to remain powered without extracting from vacuum constantly, enabling near-constant surveillance of the galaxy. Still further, the Tartarus debris field beyond the sickly-red relay could enable them to scan without fear of attack due to the presence of a Collector base, with the friction of the accretion disk allowing for energy extraction. Possibly the area they currently inhabited, the Sea of Storms; a bleak, sterile void bereft of life or value, akin to dark space.
"Many of the scanned locations lack in stealth" noted 30,003 voices
"They do, however, have abundant resources" retorted 50,345 others
"Resources are irrelevant if we are not alive to use them; the target locations are of extreme scientific value, and all are within a reasonable travel distance from both the Citadel hub and the primitives' homeworlds. We need a barren area, one that will be conductive to remaining hidden."
A stir of activity and discussion rolled through the hive mind.
"If we were to remain hidden as you propose, we would have to limit our observations to a periodic basis, which will impede the execution of our assignment. We need an energetic location to fuel our search."
"Unity"; the symbolic term overrode the wills of the integrates and imposed order and calm.
"We will decide immediately; far too much time has been expended on indecision, you must come to a compromise"
"There could hardly be a greater irreconcilable difference between the two positions." Two minds chimed in.
"We must try." Thousands spoke out
"We will 'try' in vain." Thousands spat back
"Unity"; all was silent once more.
"One final call for consensus" The hulking consciousness of Nazara motioned, each thought capable of moving mountains.
"Stable, high entropy environment"
1,034,066,274 for, 965,933,726 against
"Unacceptable ratio for decision!"
"Must consider new options."
"New motion required."
"No, I will decide, and end this. Unity."
All voices were silenced once more, with their dread holding their mental tongues as much as the order. Nazara calculated the possibilities, considered all options, explored all outcomes. It quickly arrived at a decision.
"The Perseus Veil"
Quelling all dissent and quieting all doubt, Nazara was Sovereign.