Alternate Past: Uncertain Future Mk II
Co-written with aDarkOne
A/N: Well it seems most of you are unhappy with how the last chapter ended. If not the last scene itself, which may undergo an edit/rewrite later on as I talk with my co-writer if it has not already by the time of this posting, but the wording only, and not the peace itself.
And to those of you who think humanity is just rolling over I say this, Cold War, Proxy War, Shadow War, Arms Race.
Also, keep in mind something: not everything is what it seems.
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Chapter 14
"Si vis pacem, para bellum"It has been three years since First Contact between the UNSC/UEG and the Citadel Council and its associate races. Three years since a tentative peace treaty was signed between the two governments, and the destruction of the turian fortress world of Impera.
Things have changed since then. The galaxy is no longer as it once appeared to be.
The UNSC/UEG has grown massively since then. The economy growing steadily over the past three years, colonies had been reclaimed, industries rebuilt and grown. The UNSC Naval fleet has grown by leaps and bounds, its Army and Marine corps upgraded and the CDF expanded considerably. On the homefront, things have never looked better for humanity since the days before the First Insurrection. The vast spending by the UEG to return to its pre-war state, has been augmented by the Star charts taken from the Citadel races, with slipspace courses being plotted to new stars instead of blind jumps to the nearest stars in hopes of finding new worlds or waiting for astronomers to find them.
For the New Covenant, the situation has remained unchanged. Completing what few ships they still had in their shipyards, trying to teach a new generation of engineers and mechanics. The degradation of their fleet may have yet to begin, but as it stands, it appears to be inevitable. Civil unrest has begun to spread as a schism begins to fracture the New Covenant again. Between those that would stay allied with the humans, and those that would cut all ties with them permanently. Others have left the Covenant and High Charity entirely, returning to their homeworlds or choosing to go on their own paths.
As for the Citadel Races, things have changed immensely. The Treaty of Farixen has long since been disbanded. Military buildup and spending has reached unprecedented heights, surpassing that of the Rachini wars. Mass Relay exploration has restarted. New Relays are being activated, worlds discovered, colonized and resources exploited. The economy has grown by leaps and bounds by the new spending and influx of resources. Augmented by the resources the UNSC/UEG as part of their reparations. Reparations that have only so much longer before it ends.
Security among the Citadel races has reached paranoid levels and on the various homefronts, fears of a human campaign of conquest are present, along with a hatred of humanity. A hate that will soon begin to grow.
Both symbolizing and strengthening this hatred is the political group the Sons of Impera. The Sons were originally founded after the war by survivors of Impera who were off world when the planet was destroyed. Since then ten of thousands of people who had lost friends and family to UNSC soldiers and weapons had joined the group (with more joining every day). The Sons are a political action group that uses tactics such as nonviolent protest, online petitions, and working to get politicians sympathetic to the cause elected, in order to push their anti-human agenda. The group had had some success.
Using its influence to kill legislation in Citadel Council member states that would have expanded diplomatic ties and/or trade with the EUG, encouraging all member nations to increase military spending to guard against the human menace, and pressuring everyone to have as little contact with humanity as possible.
Yet it still wasn't enough for the leadership of the Sons of Impera. The founders (who occupied most of the top leadership positions) genuinely hated the UNSC (and in many cases the human species itself). It wasn't enough to protect themselves from human influence and aggression. They wanted some way to strike back at those who had destroyed their world and killed their loved ones.
"The problem is that the human reparations are making too many of our own people rich" Pallin Jared, the chairman of the Sons governing board said mournfully as he addressed the rest of the board, pacing through their inner sanctum (inside their headquarters on Palaven).
"And my own people think we can just wait the damn humans out" replied the asari treasurer Treeya Nyxeris bitterly. Because unlike most matriarchs, she had no patience when it came to the humans. Having lost all her daughters and most of her granddaughters when Impera was destroyed.
"We should target all the traitors who collaborate with the humans!" shouted Chazzik Jaroth, the only salarian on the governing board.
The chairman was thinking hard as the rest of the board started to argue. Pallin Jared had been a nobody who had just drifted from job to job until Impera was destroyed. But his hatred had given him focus, allowing a surprisingly sharp (and very bitter) mind to shine through.
"BE QUIET" the turian bellowed, instantly ending all the arguing.
"If we go after collaborators now that will just destroy our popularity and if we're unlucky get us labelled a criminal enterprise...what we really need to do is show the public that the humans are still a threat...that they are or soon will take further action against us" the chairman explained.
"I think I can help with that" one of the other turians on the governing board replied.
Once she had everybody's attention, Abrudas Acton (the group's head of Public Relations) smiled in her turian way and said "tell me...have any of you heard of the Office of Naval Intelligence?"
**APUFMKII**
While some have enjoyed the benefits of the growing Cold War between the UNSC/UEG and the Citadel Races, others have suffered a reversal of fortune because of it.
The Quarian Migrant Fleet had been particularly hard hit. Thanks to steadily increasing military spending and ever tighter security throughout Council space, the Migrant Fleet had been pushed further and further to the edges of civilized space. Even the relatively lawless Terminus Systems were becoming less welcoming to the Quarians. As many of the warlords, independent colonies, criminal cartels, and mercenary companies that called the area home increased military spending and patrols of their territory in response to Citadel Council militarization.
Because of all these factors, the situation had gone from bad to worse for the Quarians. Making it harder for Quarians to go on Pilgrimages (and harder to come back to the Migrant Fleet after they did), harder for the Fleet to find welcoming (or at least tolerating) territory to travel to, and especially hard to find all the raw materials and other resources the Fleet needed to function.
Their only saving grace were the new relays as the Council fleets began exploring again for the first time in millennia (at least, those that they could find unguarded). The paranoia of the Council meant that each Relay was guarded by a task force that was dwarfed only by the Citadel Defense Fleet and the fleets guarding the Council Race homeworlds in terms of sheer numbers (except for the Migrant Fleet itself of course).
But the Migrant Fleet's luck might have just changed. They had stumbled upon a Mass Relay that wasn't recorded in any (known) Council databases, which meant that it had yet to have been activated by the Council. Once they had activated the Primary-type Mass Relay, they prayed to their ancestors for good news. And receive it they did. The automated probes that they had just sent through confirmed that it led to an uninhabited and lifeless system full of natural resources. Including wreckage from what appeared to be a large battle that had occurred long ago.
Of course there was the obvious risk of stumbling upon an apparently much more advanced race, if the scans of the planet, which showed signs of weaponized plasma usage. Much like the 'humans' they had been hearing rumors of for the past three years. And the added risk of being found by a Council fleet. With the paranoia running rampant in the present time, few were willing to risk prosecution, which in all likelihood, would lead to execution.
"It doesn't matter if the Council would execute us all for using the Relay or not at this point...without raw materials and a chance to rest in a friendly system for a few months hundreds of civilian ships will start falling apart soon" Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib said as he addressed the rest of the Admiralty Board.
"Nevertheless we couldn't defend ourselves from the Council Races if they choose to retaliate...even our military ships are in disrepair now" Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema informed his colleagues.
"I for one however, am not as eager as the rest of you are to see what is on the other side of the Relay." Daro'Xen vas Moreh said, drawing attention to herself as they would expect her to be the most ardent supporter for the journey."My teams have analyzed the probe data extensively. Whatever created that graveyard of ships are both incredibly advanced and incredibly powerful. Both the wrecks and the planet show extensive damage resulting from high-heat weapons, most likely plasma. And as everyone here knows, the only race to ever weaponize plasma are the Geth. Factor in how much of the planet's surface was scorched clean, and the size of the wrecks..." She let the sentence hang, the implications obvious and disconcerting.
"It may no longer be a matter of choice. My patrols have reported that more civilian ships have been making passages through the Secondary-type relay in the system. It may be only a matter of time before someone reports our presence here and that information makes it back to the Citadel." Shala'Raan vas Tonbay told them. "Our presence is still unknown to others for now but that state will not remain for much longer."
Then she sighed and admitted "the truth is...we can't stay here and have nowhere else to go."
"Perhaps we could make a deal with a Terminus warlord?" Admiral Daro'Xen suggested with unusual meekness.
"We've already tried that...the only ones that seem open to the idea are the ones that would sell us out to the Council as soon as they asked" the leader of the Heavy Fleet said bitterly.
"Do we have any friends left in Council space?" Daro'Xen asked.
Zaal'Koris shook his head. "No, I've been compiling reports from among the captains; the most recent of those that have returned from the pilgrimages have said that the discrimination against quarians has worsened. So much so that it is worse than how our ancestors were treated immediately following the Morning War. The fear caused by these 'humans' has made the idea of pilgrimage near infeasible."
Disbelief shook the other three Admirals to the core, Pilgrimage, the quarian's right of passage, was one of the few, good, constants still left among their people. For it to be infeasible. it was unbelieveable, but with how society was now, it was a cold hard truth.
"Perhaps we could...appeal to the humans?" Daro'Xen replied quietly. The normal brash and uncouth admiral was being unusually meek, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the other admirals. It context though, it was understandable. An incident during one of her 'special projects' to understand and control the geth had backfired terribly. Few knew the details but whatever had happened had humbled the once proud (and some would say arrogant) scientist.
At which Han'Gerrel vas Neema simply laughed bitterly. Saying "they destroyed a heavily populated world just to make a point...imagine what they would do to people like us...who can't fight back against an interstellar empire worth a damn at all?"
"And I've heard rumors that they did that just to retaliate for the Council capturing a single ship of theirs" Han'Gerrel added.
"None of it matters as it's not our decision to make at all." Rael'Zorah said, speaking for the first time since the meeting had begun. "The decision to go through this Relay will affect every single man, woman and child in the fleet. And any of our people scattered throughout the galaxy. This is a decision to be made by the Conclave."
"The Conclave? Are you mad Rael?! The people are already frightened enough as it is, and you want to drop this on them? What are you thinking?" Zaal shouted, the normal calm admiral being outraged by such an idea. The Conclave was when the decision was left to the people of the Migrant Fleet, a majority decision made by representative's for all the ships of the Fleet. "I-"
"No...Rael has a point...this is a decision for the Conclave" Daro'Xen stated, speaking with the confidence that her colleagues had come to expect from her. But in truth, the admiral was just trying to delay. Hoping that she could come up with a better solution in the near future.
When Zaal looked towards Han and Shala for support, they simply nodded; assenting to what Rael said. Zaal slumped in his chair in defeat. "So, what do we do then?" He asked.
"Reports. We need to give the Conclave as much information as we can before they make their decision. That means the status of our ships, our supplies and Xen's analysis. Better they know the risks if we go or if we stay." Rael listed.
"I will informs the captains and begin the other necessary preparations for the Conclave" the leader of the civilian fleet said dejectedly. Normally he promoted the influence of the civilians, both because he felt it was just, and to increase his own status. But this time Zaal'Koris was afraid that their fear would make them reject the unknown in favor of the familiar, regardless of how awful (and unlivable) what they already had was becoming.
**APUFMKII**
On the other side of the coin, within the Epilison Eradini system, in orbit of the planet of Reach, the shipyards were alight with activity. Not an uncommon sight considering everything that had happened to humanity over the decades. Freighters, civilian shuttles, automated cargo transports and of course the warships had been pouring off the assembly lines the moment people could enter orbit and grab their tools. The planet itself had since recovered from its near Fall during the Great War, once again a bustling colony world and the most heavily fortified human planet, second only to Earth.
One shipyard in particular however, stood out from the rest. Capital-class shipyard Theta Foxtrot Twenty-one Beta. This one was separated from the rest; placed above the northern pole of the planet. The half-constructed ships within finally beginning to receive its hull-plating and soon its weapons. Watching it with a close eye was administrator Derek Hardison. Observing as his engineers double checked the frames before the armor plating was added.
Like many humans Derek Hardison had indirectly benefited from first contact with the Citadel Council.
Before First Contact the UNSC had actually been slowing military construction, due to the disappearance of the Covenant, and the fact that the rapidly weakening New Covenant didn't appear to be a threat. Leaving people such as Derek Hardison (who had expected to find a job within the military industrial complex straight out of college) in a difficult position.
But then the UNSC had made violent First Contact with the Citadel Council. Which turned out to be the largest, most powerful, and aggressive interstellar coalition that they had met since the Covenant. Forcing the human nation to militarize more rapidly than it had since the Great War. As a result, they had to hire legions of scientists, engineers, and technicians (i.e. people like Hardison) in order to rebuild and build up, their fleet of warships.
The civilian sector of the economy benefited too. As mining ships, freighters, and other civilian transports were organized to ferry the vast amounts of raw materials that the United Earth Government had agreed to pay the Council Races (particularly the Turian Hierarchy) as reparations for the destruction of Impera and the other worlds wrecked by the UNSC during its brief violent conflict with the Citadel species.
In truth, the reparations were to a large extent simply an excuse to organize a large proportion of the civilian economy around a (somewhat) non-military project, and to establish a presence near the edge of the UNSC border with Council Races, in the form of military bases, colonies, and factories (producing military and consumer goods).
However, regardless of the reasons or causes, that meant more money, jobs, and overall prosperity for trillions of people like Derek Hardison. Something the administrator could certainly appreciate as his teams of engineers told him that they had met the requirements for their latest deadline ahead of schedule.
"Its almost a shame that they're never gonna get used" Hardison told his chief engineer as he looked out upon the half built fleet of capital ships.
"What do you mean Derek?" asked Linda Danvers, as she stroked his hair.
The administrator smiled, technically it was against the rules for him to sleep with his subordinates. But as long as he didn't flaunt it and delivered results, nobody cared if he and his chief engineer were lovers or not. So Derek and Linda had had a very good professional and personal working relationship for the past two years.
"Well its just...the Council Races are too primitive to challenge us as long as we have a decent number of warships and what's left of the Covenant gets weaker every day...as soon as we fully master this 'Mass Effect' technology we'll be running the galaxy" Derek explained.
"Assuming everything goes according to plan" Linda thought.
What made the warships they were building at Theta Foxtrot Twenty-one Beta so special was that they had Mass Effect engines. That should (assuming all the technical issues had been worked out) allow the vessels to travel faster than light in realspace. But nobody had built warships with ME FTL engines as big as the ones Hardison and his people were constructing.
The Council Races said it couldn't be done. That vessels as big as his capital ships would rip themselves apart if you tried to manipulate their mass that way. But humans like Derek and Linda were betting that they were wrong. That superior construction and power generation would make the crucial difference.
"You really think that they will work as advertised?" Linda asked as she stared outside at the half built fleet.
"Of course...we beat the Covenant and took their technology….we beat the Council Races and took their tech...now its smooth sailing for all us homo sapiens" Derek Hardison stated confidently. Sure that the work that he was doing now would lead to more career advancements such as raises, more titles, and perhaps even a promotion.
"It probably won't hurt my ability to attract the ladies either" Derek thought. Wondering if there was a polite way to ask Linda if she would be open to a threesome. And if he could dump her for a hotter woman assuming that she wasn't.
"Do you think that the ships they're building at the 23rd will steal any of our thunder?" Linda thought aloud.
"You mean the flying tanks...hell no...combat is all about speed now...Slipspace gives us the strategic edge...and all this new technology will give us the tactical edge...we will literally be able to fly rings around everybody else" the administrator said contemptuously.
But the chief engineer wasn't so sure. Instead of focusing on speed, the warships they were building at UNSC shipyard Theta Foxtrot Twenty-three Beta focused on heavy armor and superior firepower at a relatively short range. As a way of countering the ability of the Council Race warships to make short FTL jumps to attack enemy vessels at point blank range.
These flying tanks as the administrator called them, were offically labelled as battleships by the UNSC. They shared a similar design to that of a modern cruiser, but with more than a few differences, one of them being the thicker armor. The biggest features of the battleships was the, or rather, lack thereof, of its MAC gun. In place of the spinal cannon(s) inherent in all almost all UNSC shop designs, it had instead four massive turrets, two on each side of the ship, with each turret having four sixteen-inch Jericho cannons. The design and function of the new class was only theoretical so just a few of the 'tanks', a dozen at most, were currently being built.
"I think they might actually be of some use." Linda tried to argue. "I mean, every other ship is made thinking we're going to be fighting the Innies or the Covies. Half the time the battles were just a slugging match across a couple of thousand miles. These new guys are practically ramming into each other every time they fight. I mean, did you hear what they did at Shanxi three years ago?"
The administrator snorted. "Please, that was the CDF and we weren't prepared. We didn't know what to expect so they got the drop on us. It's not like they'll ever manage it again. With all these new ships, they won't even get a chance to get that close anymore. With these babies," referring to the mass effect drive equipped vessels, "even if do manage to get that close, all we have to do is just 'jump' away and hammer them back into the stone age. And besides, you think they're going to be stupid enough to try anything like that again after what we did? They'd have to be brain-dead or suicidal to even think of it."
Linda didn't bother pointing out the contradiction in her administrator's last statement. The man brought up more than a few good points but still...she couldn't help but feel that the new battleships will prove to be more valuable than Derek thought they would be.
'Besides...I know if aliens showed up and destroyed one of our heavily populated worlds we would take a long time to forgive them...that's why so many people still hate the Elites…and If they spend long enough thinking about ways to really hurt us they're bound to eventually figure out a way to do it', Linda thought.
But Derek was still her boss. Besides, he was handsome, somewhat witty, and more than half decent in the sack. Even if he was an arrogant asshole. So Linda let the matter drop and said "I suppose you're right, Derek."
**APUFMKII**
Among the three Galactic superpowers, The New Covenant possessed what was still perhaps the largest and most powerful fleet of warships in known space. But unlike the human and Council fleets which were rapidly expanding, it only seemed to diminish in size. A reality that weighed heavily on the Arbiter's mind as he listened to the latest intelligence report on the Citadel Council and UNSC.
According to scouts and Special-Operations troops that were in Council space, the number of warships possessed by the Citadel races had grown tenfold. And it showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. With the Council constantly opening up new Relays to unexplored systems providing a boon to their own economy, and the vast majority of the raw materials being sent by the humans as 'reparations' being dedicated, if the reports were to be believed, straight to the foundries and from there to the shipyards.
It was a similar story with their armies: all of the Citadel races had poured Gods knows how much in resources into expanding their standing armies. There were no exact figures to support the intel but considering the increase in the number of active warships, someone was obviously crewing them.
The only good news out of all this was that what few civilians that chose to enter Citadel space were not met with hostility, but for the most part they were meet with relative kindness. The politeness one could expect when introducing themselves for the first time. There was even trade between the two economies, though most plasma-based technologies, including energy shielding, were strictly denied.
Because even though the leaders of the New Covenant would never admit it, the Citadel races industries and scientific community were so much larger and healthier than their own, that if the Council Races gained access to Covenant technology, they would probably soon become even more powerful militarily than the New Covenant had ever been.
That was the good news, at least compared to the reports on the humans.
The report was incredibly flimsy, a testament to the better security of the humans. The Citadel races may have been far more paranoid than the humans, but they lacked the ability to detect or even recognize the presence of active-camouflage and null-sig technology. That was the theory at least. Either that or they were incomptent than previously thought.
The UNSC had since recovered their losses, least in terms of ships, since the events from three years ago. However, some were still waiting for a crew while most were crewed by green and untested sailors and graduates. Not that any of this was news to him, having already learned of it some time ago from his meetings with the human Lord Hood, one of the few humans Thel still associated with. He even knew why most of the crews were inexperienced when he knew for a fact that there were currently less veterans serving now than before.
Hood and most of the UNSC leadership had dishonorably discharged or reassigned many of the crews and captains of the ships that went mad, or AWOL as the humans called it, during the Impera Event, which most humans called that day from three years ago. Hood said he didn't want to discharge that many men and women but said the UNSC had to send a message that that sort of behavior would not be tolerated. They had even handed over the captain, and the majority of her crew, that was responsible for the Impera Event, over to the Citadel Council. At least, that was what Thel had been told. What news that came from Citadel space seemed only to support it (their execution was highly publicized).
"But I doubt those treacherous murderers would have turned over their own so readily...I wonder just what was really executed on the Citadel that day?" Arbiter Thel asked himself.
But the truth was, that was actually not his problem. And the Arbiter had far more pressing concerns. The majority of the report came from the agents within the UNSC/UEG territories. Outside of the fleets, there seemed to be several secret projects in the works, that their agents' had caught glimpses of during their regular duties. These agents were not sure of exactly what they had seen, but they could confidently state that it involved a vast amount of resources.
However, the biggest piece of intel did not apparently relate to any of that. As his agents took note of a significant number of human personnel, AIs, and ships that seemed to simply disappear. Rumors ranged from a secret mission to an experiment gone wrong. But circumstantial evidence indicated it was none of those things.
It seemed that a small sect had gone AWOL (or possibly even turned traitor). What the reason was, they hadn't found out, but all signs pointed to the AIs being the cause. Something had happened that was enough to divide the normally unified AIs on a massive scale. So much so that even outsiders like the New Covenant had been to pick up the signs, and it appeared that whatever was going on the process seemed to be accelerating. The Arbiter had ordered his agents to seek out any more information they could find on these mysteries, but as it was he deeply suspicious of the anything the humans said or did that didn't serve a clear purpose and obvious end.
"Your Eminence...the humans have once again offered their assistance in repairing our fleet" one of Thel's aids reported dutifully.
The Arbiter made a noise of disgust as he threw aside the official forms that required his approval and began to pace his inner sanctum. Knowing that he couldn't trust any human agency or corporation not to further sabotage his warships and ship building facilities.
Knowing that even if most of the humans involved in such a project were sincere (a very big if), ONI's still wanted to see his kind weakened (if not outright wiped out), and unfortunately ONI's influence among the humans was so great that he couldn't trust any large group of humans near his shipyards. Either there were humans sympathetic to ONI's ideals among the workers, or outright ONI agents among them.
"Perhaps the Council Races could help us rebuild" one of Thel's advisors suggested.
"No...they are already our superiors in numbers and raw industry...if we expose them to our technology they will become our superiors in everything…especially if we become dependent on them to fix our machines" the Arbiter explained.
"A thousand apologies, milord." The advisor bowed lower, only further exasperating Thel. Not wanting or needing yes-men, but rather people who would tell their superior when he was mistaken or just plain wrong.
"Do not apologize for fulfilling your role as my military advisor...I need people with initiative and ideas...you're useless to me if you don't ever question what were doing" Thel said patiently.
"Then milord...can we to turn down the humans aid...or not seek help from the Council Races?" the advisor asked with a touch more steel in his voice.
"Perhaps not...but the fact remains we cannot trust either of other great powers in our moment of weakness...if we let the galaxy see how truly vulnerable we are our people are doomed...but we may have no other choice" the leader of the sangheili people confessed.
In his heart, Thel did something he had not done for many years, he prayed.
**APUFMKII**
Back amongst the Migrant Fleet, the final preparations were being made to hold a special session of the Conclave aboard one of the Live Ships. As Admiral Zaal'Koris mentally rehearsed what he was going to say to the people who represented all the ships and crews in the Flotilla.
Like Zaal'Koris all the other admirals were nervous. Although the only one who showed it was Shala'Raan, who seemed to be compulsively fidgeting. While Han'Gerrel, Daro'Xen, and Rael'Zorah simply stood in place. Waiting for the fleet's delegates.
Earlier the Admirals had discussed how they would break the news to the people, along with, at the present time, preparations were being made for either decision of the Conclave.
They had chosen Koris as the civilian fleet made up the vast majority of the Migrant Fleet, along with the fact that out of all them,he held the greatest trust among the people. "Well Koris, almost everyone is here, are you ready?" Gerrel asked, despite not showing it, he was equally nervous as the others. His time in the Migrant Marine Corps kept it in check.
"Don't remind me Han, I'm already nervous enough as it is." For Zaal, the constant stresses of dealing with the never ending problems in the fleet, had taught him how to keep a cool appearance, even if it were a facade.
As the delegates assembled in the gigantic chamber that served as the location for the Conclave, the admiral of the Civilian Fleet managed keep a grip on himself (barely). Knowing that the next few minutes could change all of their lives. Hoping his people could be as wise and brave as he had always claimed they were.
Among the delegates themselves, there was an air of anxiety and worry. They knew that the situation was desperate for the Flotilla right now, but only a few truly understood, or even knew, just how desperate the situation really was. And this special session of the Conclave just made them more nervous, knowing that such a thing would only be called in response to an emergency.
Once all the delegates had gathered the leader of the Heavy Fleet asked for silence, and after things had quieted down Zaal'Koris rose to address the group. Roughly fifty thousand sets of eyes looked upon him as he began to speak.
"My friends our situation is dire...the Council Races and their lackeys become less welcoming and more hostile by the day...our children's Pilgrimages become ever more perilous….and new species such as humanity have appeared to threaten us too...we cannot stay in Council space and the Terminus Systems are even more dangerous...but fate has given us a unique opportunity."
The admiral stopped speaking for a moment, both to gather his thoughts and make sure that he had everybody's full attention.
"As you are all by now aware, since entering this system, we have activated a dormant relay; granting us access to a region both untouched and unknown the Council. But there is something else. Something that we have found on the other side." Here Zaal looked towards Xen, to see if she wanted to speak for herself. The Special Projects director shook her head no. "On the other side of the Relay we have found evidence that another race may hold claim to the territory. A race both immensely powerful and technologically advanced, one with the power to burn entire worlds to ash and whose smallest ships outmass most of our own. I will not lie to you, our species is at a crossroads: either we stay and face the prosecution of the Council, or we leave and pray we find some form of salvation."
"Could the aliens be the humans?" someone in the crowd shouted.
"If the Ancestor's were only so kind, they would be. But no, they are most likely not. Whatever this unknown race may be, they have mastered the art of plasma to a scale that any of us can scarcely comprehend. One of the worlds we found had its surface burned to glass and its oceans vaporized. I do not need to remind you the only other ones to ever use plasma in their weapons have been the Geth."
Whispers began breaking out among the assembled captains, but before it could grow out of control, Zaal spoke again "now that I have told you what faces us on the other side side of the Relay my colleague Han'Gerrel vas Neema will tell you what we face in known space."
The admiral of the Heavy Fleet moved forward as he addressed the delegates. Admiral Han'Gerrel wasn't a great public speaker, but he spoke confidently, and as the closest thing the Migrant Fleet had to minister of war, his words carried weight.
"Ever since the destruction of Impera the Council Races have been building up their fleets...before then we were too weak to defeat them the Migrant Fleet was large and powerful enough that anyone but the leader of the Hierarchy himself would be hesitant to start a real shooting war with us...but now even the Associate Races are constructing warships in large numbers...unless something big changes sooner or later our relative military strength will be nothing compared to any of them...and after that once a fight breaks out...and it WILL break out now that the Council Races are more hostile than ever...we will be wiped out."
"What about the Terminus Systems?" a female delegate asked.
"Many of them are militarizing too...and the truth is my own Heavy Fleet is falling into disrepair thanks to lack of raw materials to fix them...we can't win a war with any interstellar power right now...and after the humans upset the balance of power everybody seems to be itching for a fight" the admiral admitted.
This time the frightened whispers did break out en masse. Fear permeating the air, as most those present were civilians and outside of the occasional pirate and slaver attacks, had never any real reason to fear for their lives, their families or their crews.
Zaal'Koris gestured to the leader of the Patrol Fleet to speak up, knowing that their argument would be more persuasive if all the admirals seemed to be in agreement.
"But fear not…not all the news is bad...the system on the other side of the Relay is full of natural resources and advanced technology that we can salvage...moreover it appears to have been abandoned for quite some time...its clear to we that the previous owners enemies wrecked the system until it was useless to them" Shala'Raan stated.
Then Rael'Zorah spoke up. He had the least seniority of all the admirals, and was theoretically the least powerful (commanding a relative few ships from the civilian and special projects fleet). But he was ambitious, charismatic and, some said was more intelligent than Daro'Xen, coupled with his thoughts that the Quarian people had a great destiny made him the more politically powerful on the Admiralty board. .
"I know many of you are afraid of what we may face on the other side. I know that many of you would rather stay with what you know and remember, but we must consider not only ourselves, but our children. I would face the unknown if only for the chance that my daughter may eventually have a family of her own, than have her stay and perhaps die before she has the chance."
Zaal'Koris wanted the last word, but he honestly couldn't think of anything to say better that what Real'Zorah just had, so he decided to call for the vote.
The question, should we go through the Mass Relay or stay in explored territory?
Because the vote was done electronically (with the delegates using their omni-tools to submit their vote) the actual voting took only a few minutes. But the customary process of digitally double checking the results (so that no one could question it afterward) took about an hour. Even longer than usual because nobody wanted the results of this particular vote questioned.
Many people are afraid of the unknown so roughly 38% voted in favor of staying in familiar territory. But the Quarian people weren't stupid, and knew that their situation was desperate. So the majority voted to take the Migrant Fleet through the (previously dormant) Mass Relay.
The process of readying for the transition had already been completed by the Admirals before the meeting had begun, but the transition itself of fifty thousand plus ships would take weeks. But at least now, hope was alive.
**APUFMKII**
The Oort cloud was once where the UNSC had constructed the first of the INF-class ships, the Infinity, now renamed the Era of Retaliation, back when it seemed the war would be lost. Now it was the location of the INF shipyards and other secret projects. And currently the docking point for the ONI stealth cruiser UNSC Point of No Return.
The vessel was one that was so heavily classified that it didn't exist on any records, few had ever seen the ship, and fewer still served onboard. To that end, the entire installation and all the shipyards were deserted: everyone there had been relocated temporarily almost two weeks ago.
All because of two certain individuals who possessed far more clout than some thought they should. A fact that Parangosky hated to show, but it was easy enough. She had swallowed her pride often enough during the Great War. That was she, and several others were currently heading towards the most secure waiting room in the Oort Cloud, as opposed to waiting for the two individuals to come to them. Following her were Rear Admiral Ned Rich and Captain Aaron G. Gibson, the ONI Covert Ops and Black Ops divisions leaders respectively. The three of them rarely met in person like this, the last time had been when Colonel James Ackerson, god rest his soul, had come to them to propose his Spartan-III project. The man was seen as arrogant, short-sighted and self-centered before his death. He had proved them all wrong during the Heretic Wars, but that was the past. She had to focus on the here and now, and why she had agreed to these conditions.
Her two subordinates didn't speak at all, there not being a point since they also knew why they were here. As they reached their destination, a pair of double doors opened, closing shut immediately after they had entered. Parangosky vaguely noted how the room was designed like the Odin's Eye on board the Point of No Return before focusing her attention on the two already waiting for them. Alan Morgan Denton and Catherine Elizabeth Halsey. Possibly the only people in all of human space that she both would rather stay from at all times, but keep them alive at all costs (after Terrence Hood).
Alan was leaning back in his chair, acting carefree as he always did. While Halsey had her fingers wrapped around a still steaming cup of coffee. "Good afternoon Margaret." Catherine greeted them as they took their seats opposite from the two scientist.s She took a sip from her cup, "To what do I owe the pleasure of such a meeting like this?"
"Yeah Margie, what's so important that you actually bent over backwards to meet with us?" Denton said, trying to provoke the woman he so adamantly believed was the reason for his many near death experiences over the years, despite what anyone said. He leaned forward and onto the table. "I mean, must be something big that you left your throne and brought your two dogs with you." Alan looked over to the two 'dogs' in question. "Woof woof." He taunted them, or least tried to. Gibson had his arms crossed and was glaring at Alan while Ned had simply drawn his flask and uncapped it before taking a decent pull from it.
"Alan, could we please not antagonize them?" Halsey chided. "I actually am interested in what they have to say."
Alan pouted before he leaned back. "Aw, youre no fun Lizzie. Fine, I'll behave."
Margaret sighed internally in relief. "Thank you Catherine, as for the reasons why I agreed to this." She activated her omnitool, the Citadel technology had spread far and wide in the UNSC since First Contact almost three years ago, before forwarding several data packets to the pair of them.
"I want your analysis of this data...keep in mind it concerns the continued existence of the UEG itself" the head of ONI said solemnly.
Denton and Halsey looked over the intelligence reports ONI had gathered on the nations in Council space on their own Omnitools. Drawing the (to them) obvious conclusions. But considering the gravity of the situation, they double-checked their data. Reaching the same awful conclusion.
"This data...is it accurate? Are you trying to be funny here?" Denton asked, his usual irrelevant and carefree manner disturbingly absent. "I'm all for jokes, but this one isn't funny Margaret." Using the ONI head's full name for once.
"The data is as accurate as possible…what are your findings?" Admiral Parangosky asked coldly.
"War between us and the Batarian Hegemony is inevitable" Doctor Halsey replied bluntly, her eyes not having left the reports.
"Why...surely they realize we would crush then?" the head of ONI said with justified confidence.
"Yes...they would stand no chance against us...but thanks to all the settlements and bases we have set up since the war with the Citadel Council, the batarians are right on our border," Denton explained, his hand now covering his eyes. "...and their dogmatic ideology and society is completely dominated by the notion that their racially superior to everybody else and a might makes right philosophy…" He sighed, leaning back into his chair. "Add in their tendency to raid and enslave their neighbors, the batarians overall military aggression, and its only a matter of time until we provoke them or they provoke us into a shooting war." He finished, speaking as though he were a teacher addressing a class.
"Do you agree?" Parangosky asked as she turned to Doctor Halsey, something she had rarely ever done..
"Unfortunately yes...those four-eyed slavers remind me of the worst and most warlike regimes from Earth's own history." Halsey admitted. "It's only a matter of time before they become bold enough to try and besiege one of our worlds."
"These guys are apparently more arrogant than anyone outside of the Innies when they started their Second Insurrection." Denton added. "It doesn't help that they've basically been allowed free reign to do whatever they want for centuries. Like Catherine said, its not a question of if but when."
"Congratulations...you reached the same conclusion in minutes that it took our top researchers and data analysts months to achieve" Margaret replied, managing to make it sound like faint praise.
Denton snorted. "Then you need to get new ones. You said they were your top researchers? Hand them over to me and I'll make sure they deserve that title."
The truth of the matter was, those researchers and data analysts were merely brilliant. Savants like Denton and Halsey were rare, and everybody (including Denton) knew it. Which is why the head of ONI (someone who was used to instant obedience) tolerated Denton's disrespect and rudeness.
However, not even people like Halsey and Denton could be good at everything. Which Halsey demonstrated when she asked "So why the concern?...they're too weak to be any real threat to us."
"Because she's afraid that a war with the batarians will become a war with all the other Citadel species...who are well on their way to having more nukes than we have people...and regardless of what she makes the press say we still haven't recovered enough from the Great War to fight another conflict like that." Denton (who even though he would never admit it, was sometimes a great politician) accurately guessed.
"Not to mention their territory is the only thing that's within spitting distance of ours." Denton added. "From there it's just a matter of them turning on more of those blasted Relays we keep finding." Ever since the UNSC/UEG's discovery of the first Mass Relay in the Shanxi system, they seemingly started to appear everywhere, even in territories long since held by the UNSC. "So what do you suggest? It's not like we can go all 'American' and just topple the current regime and create a new one." He snarked, grabbing a bottle of water from a cluster of them at the center of the table before drinking its contents.
"Why not?" Admiral Parangosky asked, a truly wicked smile crossing the old woman's face for a moment.
"For starters; there's have to be something we can work with in the first place. It's one thing to play on existing grievances, its another to try and make them from scratch." Denton shot back.
"That all?" Gibson asked, drawing both the doctors' attention. "I've already had prowlers, infiltrators and geist troopers sent in. And they all tell me that this 'hegemony'," He waved his hand around to show his opinion on said government, "is just a powder keg waiting to blow. Almost three-quarters of their population are slaves, another sixteenth are lower-class citizens, and more than half of their standing forces are tasked with just trying to keep any slaves from revolting. If that's all you need, then they've done the job for us and then some." Tilting back his flask as he finished.
"My people are also ready to act as needed." Rich added. "We've already identified more than a number of their 'nobility' and other high value targets, and can move in as needed. My squads tell me that compared to their regular operations, their recent scouting missions have been a cakewalk."
"That still begs the question; what do you need us for?" Halsey asked, finishing off her now cooled coffee. "It seems as though you have figured everything out already."
"To be honest I wanted you to confirm my people's findings before launching an operation like this...but I will also need your expertise to deal with the fallout from what's likely to happen as a result." the ruthless old woman admitted.
"You want me to figure out how to keep the Council from declaring war on us when they figure out what were doing" Denton said with a groan. The memory of Councilor Wrex breaking his nose making the regrown organ itch.
"Yes...I also want you to help us determine how to create a new government once the Hegemony has fallen...with a friendly nation across the border and in Council space we can influence and perhaps even control the other Citadel species" the head of ONI told the scientists.
"Damn it you old woman...do you even know what the word 'hubris' means?" Denton sighed. Already imagining the many things that could go wrong with such an ambitious plan built on so many assumptions.
"If that was all, you would have only called for Denton. Not both of us." Halsey pointed out. "You want my Spartans for this, don't you?" It was a well known fact among the upper echelons that the Spartan-IIs only listened to John-117, who in turn listened only to Fleet Admiral Hood and his 'mother', Halsey. The Spartan-IIIs and Spartan-IVs were far more malleable in comparison.
"Yes, I do." Parangosky didn't even try to deny it. "Your Spartan's are the best the UNSC has to offer. The S-IIIs and S-IVs hardly compare to them. And I'd prefer to have every advantage I can get ahold of."
Halsey wasn't surprised. Her Spartans were the only reason anyone ever wanted to meet with her at this point. And ever since they had been made their own division, she had been in more meetings than she ever cared to be in. "I'll speak with John, but no promises. There are only so few of my 'children' left, and I would prefer not to bury any more of them."
Parangosky pretended to be sympathetic, but in truth she was unmoved. She felt Doctor Halsey had participated in and performed enough inhumane actions at this point that Halsey no longer had the right to act as though she still had a conscience. The Spartans had been her brainchild in the first place. ONI had simply gave her the resources to make it a reality. Parangosky had given up her conscience decades ago, regarding it as a weakness that she couldn't afford.
"So we are in agreement then?" The two scientists nodded. One not looking forward to the myriads of migraines that were surely headed his way in the future, the other thinking about one of her 'children'.
"Then we shall take our leave." The ONI officers frose from their seats and made to leave. Just as the doors opened, Parangosky paused for a moment. "And Catherine, I'll be expecting your answer soon." With that the three of them did leave, leaving the two scientists behind.
As the three made their way back to the ship, Rich asked, "You think she'll go for it?"
"She will." The Admiral confirmed. "The Beta program is the closest she'll ever get to having a lasting legacy. I assume preparations have already been made?"
"Already started pulling the funds from the usual sources, as is everything else. The only thing left is where. Don't exactly have a lot of holes left to hide something like that."
"For now it doesn't matter." The terrible old woman turned to Rear Admiral Rich and Captain Gibson as she said formally, "When we get back I want you two to begin the preparations...Operation Spartacus is a go."
