Location- Unknown
Date-Unknown
A Batarian feared very few things in the galaxy, having their eyes gauged out before death was one of them; another was being on the wrong end of Dreadnought scale gun. But as Charn hung in this room, completely alone and left in darkness that threatened to devour him should the sole light in the room fade—the light that was currently suspending him in mid-air.
He tried to remember what had happened and how he had gotten himself into this mess, they had been winning, Elysium, the human capital in the verge was going to be burnt to the ground before the pathetic whelps could do anything about it. Just as the Batarian forces were making the final push an ear splitting roar filled the air, than thousands of massive creatures started tearing through the Batarian ranks, their shields offered no protection, their armour even less.
He had been captured by one of the new aliens, it had been easily twice the size of a Krogan, its massive hands dwarfed his head and he had been quite literally plucked out of battle. After that though, he remembered nothing.
A small drone of some sort came up next him as he hung limply in the air, its single blue eye looking at him intently; it turned to face the darkness just as the sound of large, menacing footsteps echoed through the darkness. A figure, far bigger than him, approached, he couldn't see any details, just lights that ran throughout the figure.
It came to a stop less than a meter away, he looked up at the being with a look of pure hatred, it waved a hand and the field restraining him collapsed, causing him to fall to the floor. The light however remained, for which he was thankful.
"You'll pay for this! The Hegemony will blast your foul race into mud of your home-world!" Charn spat out at the massive figure, suddenly the room burst with light, the source apparently from everywhere as there were no shadows cast. The figure was almost disgustingly human, although this one seemed almost uglier, its face was tight and drawn back, its grey eyes were deep set and a pale fur grew on the back of its head. It wore the armour of the creatures that attacked him and the other Batarian and pirate forces.
"The Forerunner home-world was rendered uninhabitable tens of millions of years ago, during our early attempts at astro-engineering. But yours however, is still habitable, but for how much longer? Before I send my fleet to turn the surface to ash and remove your race from the galaxy, only leaving the barest amount needed for your civilisation to grow again, from scratch." The creature spoke with a voice so old it unnerved Charn, but what it had said was impossible, they would have to deal with the Citadel Council if they tried to attempt such a war against the Hegemony. Not only that but 'millions of years ago'? That would mean this 'Forerunner' race was so old it predated the Prothean's, but if they did, why weren't they the first species discovered in the galaxy and not now, after two thousand years?
"You're lying; no race is that old,"
"How old are you? Hmm? Less than thirty standard years, I am over six hundred myself. The memories of the Didact I carry span eleven thousand years. My civilisation has sailed the stars for longer than yours has known fire!" It growled out,
Charn simply spat at the creature, the being growled and clenched its fist but did nothing,
"You will tell me everything I wish to know, if not, I will have your memories removed forcibly and dispose of you,"
Charn said nothing but did try to escape past the creature, it simply waved a hand and Charn was sent flying across the room before it lifted its huge arm and Charn was pulled of the floor and he was once again hanging in the air at the whim of another.
"First what is your name?" it growled out deeply, the unrestrained anger in its voice caused Charn's insides to grow cold, "Charn! My name is Charn!" he yelled quickly, although the pressure he felt all around him made it hard to speak,
"Charn. A simple name for a simple race. What was the purpose of the attack on the human colony?"
"To wipe it out, without it other human colonies in the Verge would recede, allowing it to be colonised by its rightful owner, the Hegemony!" Charn said forcibly, the pressure that surrounded him increased almost twofold,
"Humans are our kin! If these planets belong to them than they belong to them, not some poor deluded fool that thinks he is more superior," the creature barked at him,
"W—what?" Charn stumbled after hearing the creature; they were related to the humans? "this… conversation is over," it turned to the drone that was still floating nearby, "extract any useful information, than dispose of it." The giant said before lowering his arm and allowing Charn to fall to the floor again and leaving him all alone with the drone.
No one heard his screams.
XX
Serpent nebula, Citadel tower, Council meeting chambers,
2176- Human calendar,
The Citadel council dealt with things ranging from mundane everyday situations to new and unforeseen events. It was during one of the boring and mundane events, the Volus once again preaching for a spot on the Council, that a Salarian wearing white and red armour came rushing in,
"Councillors! Have urgent matter to discuss, very important, top secret," he said as he approached the Council, normally someone would be pushed back away from the meeting between the Volus ambassador and the Council, but the Salarian, part of the STG simply walked in.
The Council dismissed the Volus ambassador and the STG operative quickly followed them to a secure room where no one would ever hear what was said, "What is it?" Sparatus, the Turian Councillor asked, no point beating round the bush,
"Have lost contact with everything inside Batarian space," the operative replied nervously, this had never happened before and reporting it to the Council was not a task he would have liked,
"So? It's probably just a communications error, it should reset itself shortly," the Turian replied angrily, he was obviously annoyed,
"No, not that, lost contact with everything, all at the same time, all across Batarian space. We tried to send some drones and ships but they didn't send anything back, never came back." The operative replied,
"Do you think the Batarians found them?" Tevos, the Asari Councilwoman asked, the Salarian Councillor shook his head,
"Not possible, we would know if any of the probes or bugs was compromised," he replied,
They spent hours on trying to figure out the reason behind it, and trying not to panic. More probes were sent in via a convoy from the Terminus systems but they yielded nothing, just like everything else.
It would be months before they get anything through, but what they would shake them to their very core. It would shake the very galaxy to its core, wondering who could commit such an act.