Alternate Past: Uncertain Future Mk. II
Chapter 25
Shadow War: The Turning
"Which is our greatest enemy? That which we create from without, or the ones that threaten us from within?"
-Unknown.
Private Bala Avinash was like many other turian soldiers currently doing a tour of duty on the batarian homeworld. Although reasonably well trained and equipped, he lacked any real combat experience. But his superiors didn't see that as a problem.
While the combat prowess of the Spartans was undeniable, the Powers That Be in the Turian Hierarchy saw the average rebel as nothing more than armed thugs. Dangerous in large numbers or unfavorable circumstances, but no real match for the soldiers of the Hierarchy.
Bala had initially been excited when he heard that he was being sent to Kar'Shan. Like most outsiders, he had nothing but disdain for the self-serving, brutal, and xenophobic Hegemony. But he regarded the batarian rebels as nothing more than terrorists/collaborators who were in league with the same monsters that had destroyed Impera, a widespread sentiment that was being encouraged by the turian officers on Kar'Shan. However, so far Bala's service in the batarian capital city had been uneventful.
The fact that he and his squad had seen almost no action was considered to be a curse by some, and a blessing by others. While the majority of the turians now stationed here actually wanted a firefight with the Rebels, others simply wanted to gun down any batarian seen with a turian slave following them. The near legendary discipline of the Turian Hierarchy military being the only thing keeping them from doing so.
Except for the Historic District and the neighborhoods where the wealthy lived, Overseer City was generally an ugly and depressing place. With the lower castes living in old rundown dwellings. Even the newer buildings built for the non-elite tended decay quickly, due to the fact that they were cheaply constructed and poorly maintained.
It was also where the Hierarchy had established its current base of operations. The Hegemony not willing to let them establish a military presence in the more, 'respectable' cities, for fear of 'spooking the local populace'. Not that it actually did anything in terms of keeping the civilians separate from the turians. The sheer population density in the lower caste regions meant that it was literally impossible for the turians to avoid interacting with them on some level.
Most of the locals regarded the turian soldiers with suspicion and fear. Government propaganda taught them to view all outsiders/non-batarians with mistrust. While experience had taught them that soldiers could, and all too often would, intimidate, harm, and exploit the civilians around them with impunity. As clearly both alien outsiders AND soldiers, the turian troops were seen as untrustworthy and dangerous on multiple levels.
So far, nothing had come of the animosity, at least in Bala's area. Harsh words and dark looks had been shared, but otherwise, the interactions had stayed calm and peaceful. The people around them too cowed and intimidated to show any overt hostility to those who were clearly stronger. Though it also meant that they were denied almost entirely a source of intel. Without the locals willing to talk to them, it meant that everyone was a potential threat. In the literal sense. Barring Hegemony officers and military, it was impossible to tell to who was, and who wasn't, a terrorist.
Bala checked his omnitool to see the time. Marking it, he checked to make sure his Phaeston was set before heading for the checkpoint, well it was a glorified gate to be honest. Seeing the rest of his squad, he tapped off a quick salute before joining them.
"You're late private." Bala's sargeant said irritably.
"By only a few seconds." Bala protested.
"Late is late. If it happens again I'll give you an official reprimand." the sergeant said unsympathetically.
It was clearly unfair considering that most of the squad was getting as they were speaking. But as the newest, youngest, and least experienced soldier in the squad, Bala got more grief from his comrades and superior than anybody else. It was pretty common for the new guy to get short end of the stick in this situation, but for Avinash, whose head had been filled with dreams of glory when he first came to Kar'Shan, it seemed dreadfully unfair.
"C'mon scrub." The sergeant waved the squad towards the gate. "We've got another boring patrol to get to."
**APUFMKII**
As Bala and his patrol were moving through the streets of Paradise Grove, a neighbor inside the city, keeping an eye out for anyone potentially hostile. The name was a complete oxymoron. Paradise Grove was one of the oldest and most rundown neighborhoods in Overseer City, many of its buildings were centuries old and it showed, garage was left lying in the street, and beggars appeared to fill every other corner. A visual testament to the misery the Hegemony had brought to the vast majority of its people.
The turian squad never realized that they were being watched by more than just beggars and the destitute. Inside the buildings around them, Rebels ran across the floors. Holes torn in walls and between tight knit buildings allowing them to follow the turian patrol.
"Hey, Rakus you sure you're okay with this?" Grot, a salarian rebel asked. "I mean, they are your own people after all.
"I'll be fine." Rakus, a middle-aged turian answered. "The Hierarchy abandoned me and my family years ago. I know what the humans did, but at least they don't abandon their allies because its convenient. Far as I'm concerned, the Hierarchy I served is dead." Rakus's opinion was one shared by most of the other turians in the Rebellion. Even those who had been born into slavery and never even seen a Hierarchy world.
Of course the few turian slaves who had originally been from Impera felt differently. But the handful who had ended up in the Rebellion couldn't cause much trouble. Instead they either tried to strike out on their own, and were recaptured by the Hegemony, or killed by the Rebels when it seemed like those turians were going to betray the Rebellion.
Rakus held up a hand as they were about to reach the end of the block, and thus the houses as well. "Contact the other squad, tell them to stop opposite our position. Tell me once they've confirmed." He told Grot. "Everyone else, check your weapons." As he heard weapons cocking their weapons, he checked his omnitool. Reading the message. 'Spicer Mine: Alpha: Primed. Beta: Primed. Sigma: Primed.'
When he looked to Grot, he signaled that the other Rebels had received the orders and were waiting for the pre-agreed signal. Peeking out the window, he watched as the turian patrol walked down the street.
The one at the head, probably the squad leader, Rakus mused, wasn't paying attention to where he walked. Missing the little rod sticking up out of the ground. Neither did anyone else in the squad. Still walking, the sergeant was about to turn when it went to hell.
Three dull thumps drew the attention of the squad as three mines launched their canister payloads into the air. Before any of the turians could focus on them, the canisters exploded, sending razor-sharp flechettes flying in every direction.
Those closest to the blast were shredded to nothing, their bodies torn to ribbons by steel barbs passing through their bodies. The kinetic barriers of those further away shimmered as they were hammered before shattering, and more flechettes impaling themselves in the armor, and straight through in the weaker portions. Those furthest were unscathed, their kinetic barriers stopping the flechettes cold and still holding under the barrage.
Before Impera, the wounded turians would have been out of fight, too wounded to focus on anything but the pain. But the Hierarchy had learned many lessons from that short war. Steroids, antibiotics and painkillers flooded the bodies of the wounded, shutting off the pain and keeping them on their feet. In total, of the squad of thirteen, only three had been killed in the blast, five wounded but only two seriously and the rest were unscathed.
The patrol were not even able to get their wits together before someone shouted, "Open fire!" Bullets came blazing from all directions, overwhelming the kinetic barriers and armor of three turians, one of whom immediately died as a bullet went through his brain. Another soldier was killed as she tried to get out of the line of fire and tripped, falling down and hitting with lethal force. Everybody who could got out of the line of fire. Hunkering down and calling for reinforcements.
But just as abruptly as it had begun the attack stopped. The rebels were not staying to fight. They had done their damage and were relocating. Happy that they had done some damage to the allies of the Hegemony.
As for the turian patrol, a third of them were dead, and most of them were wounded (two so severely that they would die before they could receive) medical attention. The only member of the squad who had emerged from the ambush unhurt was Bala Avinash. Who stared at his dead and dying comrades in horror, wondering how everything had gone to hell so quickly.
What Bala was too inexperienced and ignorant to understand though, was that this was a normal day for the forces of the Hierarchy on Kar'Shan.
**APUFMKI**
Far from the action and secure in his bunker, High Admiral Datak Korra grimly considered the Batarian Hegemony's situation. At this point he was reviewing every single skirmish and engagement the Hegemony, including their turian allies, had with the Rebels, regardless of whether Spartans were present or not.
As High Admiral, he had seen and participated in many of the Hegemony's violent conflicts. Granted, few were proper military campaigns but he still had a wealth of knowledge to compare the reports to. And he could see the writing on the wall, the Hegemony was bleeding.
Since the attack on the Castle facility, the Rebellion had gone from being a mere nuisance, to an actual threat.
No, Datak corrected himself. It was before that, since the first time military depots were struck by the damned Rebels, ever since then the insurgents had had enough military hardware, and demonstrated enough daring and resolve, to do significant damage to the Hegemony's personnel and infrastructure.
Unfortunately such raids were starting to rapidly grow in frequency.
And most disturbingly to Datak Korra, the Spartans themselves hadn't participated in in most of these terrorist attacks. Instead the native rebels had done most of the work. The initiative and resolve of the former slaves that made up the bulk of the Rebellion seemed to grow day by day.
'It seems the humans won't or can't send enough Spartans to take on the Hegemony by themselves so instead they've tried to inspire the scum of our society to do the work for them' Datak thought. All too aware of the fact that the Spartans seemed to be succeeding at such efforts at this point.
Because while the rebels were increasingly motivated, his own personnel seemed to grow more fearful and discouraged day by day. The majority of his forces had never faced any significant rebel activity, but the constant rebel attacks and acts of vandalism against batarian police and military personnel was making them all afraid. Constantly worried about rebel snipers, ambushes, and bombs. Knowing that this was an enemy who refused to fight fairly, striking unexpected and from the shadows, and then usually running away before Hegemony forces could organize a counterattack.
He and along with the Department of Information Control did their best to reduce the impact of Rebel victories while at the same time, propagandizing their own victories. Showing how in every single direct firefight between Hegemony forces and the Rebels it always ended with a Hegemony victory. The effects of such propaganda had been marginal though. The Rebels increasing daring made any attempts to minimize their effectiveness incredibly difficult. Case in point: the latest raid on another military depot. One of medium size, it had little in the way of tanks and IFVs, but there was a good deal of heavy ordnance otherwise. Ranging from anti-armor, mortars and the like. And the Rebels had seized a massive amount of those weapons. Such an attack was incredibly difficult to cover up and so whispers still managed to seep out. There were no desertions as of yet, but now for the first time in a long time, the chance of it happening was there.
Korra still had confidence in the average batarian soldier's ability to fight, but he knew that their morale was being dangerously tested. And things were worse amongst the civilians that the Hegemony relied on to keep things running.
Because like all relatively large governments, the Batarian Hegemony needed legions of accountants, bureaucrats, and civil servants of all kinds to organize and maintain its operations. Personnel that the rebels seemed to be targeting with increasing fervor. Starting from the lowliest of managers and supervisors, their targets only started rising in importance with every successful assassination. To supervisors of munition plants and low ranking officers, to branch managers and mid-tier ranking officers and of course their latest target, one of the higher ranking Senators in the Hegemony. A few had tried to make a public appearance, several at Datak's behest, read: demand, only turn what was meant to ease the public into another Rebel victory as they were assassinated. Some with by a single bullet, while others were more...explosive.
Slowly but surely, the Hegemony was suffering a Death by a Thousand Cuts.
The unofficial leader of the Hegemony knew that ultimately it was an issue of resolve. If the forces of the Hegemony could keep their morale up they had the resources to outlast this rebellion, which, for all their ferocity, comprised only a minority of the batarian nation's population. However, while the former slaves in the Rebellion, who had virtually nothing to lose except their lives, seemed completely and utterly dedicated to bringing down the Hegemony, Korra knew that his own followers weren't nearly that committed. That all too many of them obeyed the regime out of fear, self-interest, or simply due to the weight of tradition.
Korra's eyes widened in realization. "Fear...that's the key isn't it? Fear and Resolve. An army filled with the former and without the latter; is doomed to collapse upon itself." Quoting one of the classics of ancient batarian literature, The Mastery of War. Already he could imagine this new army. An army of fearless soldiers, with an unflinching resolve, charging upon the Rebels and executing them without remorse. Shattering the Rebel's resolve while bolstering that of their allies.
The High Admiral stepped over to his desk, before pulling out a small transmitter from it. It was a data scrambler, unless the signal, transmitter and eventual receiver was set to filter and adjust for it, any would be eavesdroppers would simple hear static. A precaution he had never taken before, but with the current 'climate' as it were, one could never be too careful.
It took less than a minute before someone responded to his message. "Oh, the great Admiral contacts us personally." The words were heavily laced were sarcasm. "To what do we owe this honor?" Datak scowled at the scientist, or rather sociopath, he had made director of Project Golgatha, the Batarian Super-Soldier program. Doctor Enid Arash. Brilliant physicist, geneticist and all around sociopath. Brutal even by the standards of the Hegemony, she was also held back by her abrasive personality and open disrespect for anyone she considered her intellectual inferior, which was virtually everyone. But Arash had always been a bit too useful to purge or completely marginalize.
Besides, circumstances had changed. Regardless of her personality flaws, the Hegemony desperately needed the services of someone like Enid Arash now. And unfortunately the unpleasant bitch was the best of the batarian regime had. She, in the opinions of many, suffered from delusions of grandeur; her life's work was focused on trying to advance the batarian genome and biology, by whatever means necessary. If Korra was honest with himself, the bitch did unnerve him somewhat, having seen some of the end results of her experiments. Not any of it pleasant. No one could deny though, with enough time and resources, she always delivered.
"I contacted you to ask if you've made any progress." He managed to say with a flat voice.
Waving her hand, which was holding a bloody surgical tool, Enid replied, "Well if by success you-" A piercing scream was heard, Enid making a sour face before shouting to someone off-screen, "I told you to get a damn muzzle on that subject! You know I can't work otherwise!" Turning back to Korra she continued, "Sorry about that, well not really. You couldn't send me better quality subjects? These barely last a single test." Tossing the bloody instrument onto a nearby tray, she added. "If you want to get results, you're going to need to give me either better subjects, or a lot more of them. Otherwise," She just shrugged. Behind her, Korra saw a gurney being moved, with two bodies stacked on top of it. By the looks in their eyes, their mouths open in silent screams, he could only assume they had died screaming. The marks on their bodies only supporting that.
'Well, she certainly doesn't waste any time.' He thought to himself. "So I assume you've made no progress then?"
"Oh I've made a great deal of progress...the cybernetics I have developed can at least double a batarian's strength and speed...the problem is finding a way to strengthen their skeleton enough so that the body doesn't snap like a twig under the strain." Arash explained as she gestured towards the ruined corpses around her. "Anything I've found just pulverizes or malforms the bone as I try to strengthen it."
"I have a new path for you to focus on." At the sour look on Enid's face he amended, "An additional path, I mean. Rather than just enhancing their bodies, why not augment their minds as well?"
Enid frowned, "What, you mean telekinetic or telepathic abilities? Unless you're willing to wait a few centuries of forced evolution..." Datak didn't respond verbally, instead challenging her with a look that said, 'are you really as smart as you say?' To her credit, it only took another second for her to realize what was being implied. "You want me to create 'dead walkers', don't you? You want me to perfect them?"
'Dead walkers' was a batarian term referring to those that lost much of their individuality or some part of their personality by whatever cause. Sometimes it was combat, others was harsh punishment, whatever the cause, the end result was an individual that for the most part, followed whatever orders given to them. Ancient batarians had assumed that Dead walkers truly were dead (thus the name) due to their souls being stolen by demons. Of course modern batarians (at least intelligent and well educated ones) knew better. But the stigma remained, and those who who lost their minds and sense of self-preservation were regarded as creepy and disturbing at best (and soulless monsters at worst).
"Essentially, yes. If you can create a means of, on a large scale, utterly erasing all traces of fear and doubt within individuals, while breaking them and making them malleable, the end result is an army without fear, hesitation and unflinching loyalty." Despite their general value as a military asset, Dead Walkers were far and few in between, with the vast majority being in some way, worthless as an asset.
"Yes, I can see your point." Enid admitted, "But it won't be easy. Aside from more subjects, I'm going to need-"
"Just forward the lists to me and I'll ensure you get them." Datak interrupted.
"All of them. Including your subjects; just add what types of subject you want."
Enid just nodded before killing the link without so much as a farewell. Datak Korra grunted irritably in response. He would tolerate that kind of disrespect from virtually nobody under his command. But you had to make allowances for genius, even (or perhaps especially) the crazy ones.
**APUFMKII**
For once, Parangosky and her people were not being forced to meet aboard the Odin's Eye. A welcome fact as despite it was one of the most secure places to meet in UNSC space, scheduling such meetings was a logistics nightmare as the ship, the meeting and the disappearances of those attending had to be covered up. Now they could meet more openly, relatively speaking. This time, the meeting was under ONI's Sword Base on Reach.
Things were looking up for the Office of Naval Intelligence. While the New Covenant had wiped out most of ONI's assets in their territory, and the covert ops group had been forced to give up virtually all that remained in NC territory to keep the peace with Lord Hood, the New Covenant seemed unwilling or unable to retaliate further. Moreover, as time went on ONI data on and infiltration of Council space continued. Especially in the Batarian Hegemony.
Operation Spartacus was proceeding well. The ranks of the Rebellion were slowly but steadily increasing as the Rebellion proved it had the resolve and staying power to continue defying the Hegemony. Giving ONI access (through the Rebellion) to an ever expanding amount of people, territory, and information in the batarian nation. The slavers that they had turned only adding to the assets that ONI was receiving. Being far more effective and profitable than any of them had expected. Serving as couriers of information from the Hegemony along with other assets, and of course, constantly supplying their agents on the ground. In terms of intel, ONI was gorging itself on information. The only wrinkle was the strong and slowly increasing support the regime was receiving from the Turian Hierarchy.
"So," Ned Rich started, "we've been hamstrung by Hood, the bird-brains are getting involved, along with the walking tortoises, squid-heads, and frogs. And Section 0 is now Hood's private army."
"So far the asari, krogan, and salarians have given the Hegemony only token support and I doubt that will change unless we provoke them directly." Halabi shot back. Since all operations against the New Covenant were more or less now defunct, Halabi had been given command of operations in Citadel Space. "And despite all that we've done, having the local populace providing the bulk of the action means that they have no reason to change."
"That still leaves the turians and they hate us." Gibson pointed out. "I hate to say it, but I have to give those fringe-heads some credit. They haven't been sitting on their asses and twiddling their thumbs since Impera. They've been working on quite a few new toys."
"The more I learn about the Council Races, the more I think destroying Impera was a mistake...it seems like its done more to motivate the bird-brains than terrify them." Dalia Artmova muttered. The now ONI Rear-Admiral had been the one to make the unauthorized decision to drop and then detonate a NOVA-grade nuclear weapon on Impera. When Denton had promised that she and those who went along with her plan were to be handed over to face trial for her action, ONI knew they couldn't just let someone willing to go to such lengths out of their reach. A simple surgical alteration to a life-sentence inmate, plus promises of payments to her family and those of the crew if they went along, and just like that, Dalia was free woman.
"There's no point in worrying over what could have been, Dalia." Parangosky remarked. "I didn't go to such lengths to keep you out of alien hands, just so you can question your actions."
"Besides long term the turians won't matter...there are far more important things in Council Space" the head of ONI continued. Referring to her long term goals for the region.
The was an awkward silence at that. Most of the people in the room had at least some idea of what Parangosky was talking about, and even by ONI regular standards it was extremely ambitious and amoral. The kind of thing that could bring the Office of Naval Intelligence (and perhaps humanity itself) down if things went wrong. But no one in the room had the courage to express doubt to the terrible old woman, so Rich changed the topic by saying "Yes, but...in the immediate sense the turians ARE a real problem."
"No, they are not." Osmin countered. "They may have accelerated their weapons development, but they are still a far cry from ever being a threat to us. Even should they develop effective slipspace drives, our forces are still superior and growing every month." All those present felt somewhat unnerved when the ONI Director's prodigy smiled; it was never a good sign for any involved. "The Forerunner archives have been disclosing more information as of late, with any luck they may have information regarding the Citadel races, or at least more useful information."
"Actually their involvement is a good thing." Everyone's attention turned to the individual, "The turians are beginning to suffer significant losses supporting the Hegemony while we spend less than a tenth what they do on Operation Spartacus. When this war is over the Hierarchy will be exhausted, demoralized, and much less popular with its own people and neighbors, while at the most we will have lost a few dozen Spartans and a hundred or so other operatives." Gibson stated confidently.
"At this point, we are winning or at least holding our own on all fronts." Osmin agreed.
"But that could easily change if we push our luck. The Covenant, Citadel Council, and even Lord Hood are all watching us like hawks down just waiting for us to slip up or overreach" Dalia Artmova argued, having gotten far more cautious and conservative since being promoted.
The head of ONI looked at her Dalia in annoyance. She had protected and promoted Dalia for her ruthless drive, but in the wake of Impera's destruction (which Dalia now regretted) Artmova had developed into a useful but not particularly extraordinary administrator. Moreover, none of her other chief subordinates favored escalating their operations against the Hegemony (or other Citadel Races) at this point either.
Worst of all, the admiral had to admit (if only to herself) that they had a point. While her instinct was always to go for the enemy's jugular, what ONI was currently doing seemed to be working. While escalating their operations was all too likely to provoke a strong response from their enemies and rivals.
"While we do run the risk of raising the ire of the Citadel Council," Parangosky admitted, "there is very little they can do regarding our Operations in Khar'Shan, and the evolution of the Rebellion into the entire Hegemony without risking the ire of their own citizens. Thanks to reports provided by Halabi, we know that the Citadel citizens have as much distaste for the Hegemony as we do, and should the Council ever decide to expand upon their operations to end the Rebellion, their citizens may oust them from office." She pointed out, with the officer in question nodded in affirmation.
While they may not have been able to actively work in Citadel space, that did not prevent them learning as much as they could, thanks to their AIs and the Citadel's own extranet. In comparison to human and even Covenant cyberwarfare suites and defenses, that used by the Citadel were nowhere near capable of preventing ONI's access, with the exception of the more highly-encrypted files. If only because any sort of access or proximity would immediately raise alarms, or so was assumed.
"That being said however, I still believe that we may need to increase our efforts for the Operation. Several of the Spartans sent to assist have been sent back to Reach for medical attention and recovery. Along with the revelation of Spartans actually being able to die, thanks to that damn batarian high admiral." Thankfully, despite it being a public broadcast, ONI Section II was on top of it, as always. Quickly broadcasting their own counter-message with UEG/UNSC space that the entire video was a fabrication. While humans were indeed present in the Hegemony, no Spartans were reported missing or AWOL. Therefore, any supposed-Spartans were either imposters or digitally added.
Of course it was all lies, and at this point ONI had very little credibility left with the public. But the Hegemony's reputation was even worse. Moreover, the xenophobia left over from the Great War caused many humans to mistrust anything aliens said as a matter of course. So whether High Admiral Korra's public broadcast had hurt ONI PR wise with the average human was debatable.
"With all due respect, ma'am that's a bad idea. Lord Hood is still waiting for us to step out of the line and all indications are that the New Covenant is finally getting its confidence back. This this the time to consolidate what we already have, NOT reach out for more." Admiral Artmova said firmly. "There's also the fact that we may not NEED to further our involvement beyond what we have already planned. The Rebellion has now started growing in power that it is now, if somewhat, able to maintain itself without our aid. Soon enough, our involvement may be a moot point."
'Of course for all her strategic caution, Dalia's still one of the few people in ONI willing to stand up to me." Parangosky thought as she looked at the officially dead woman. Giving the Dalia her best glare, before sharing it with the others, asked, "Do any of you agree with her?"
Slowly and reluctantly (in a few cases with apologetic looks on their faces) the rest of the men and women in the room nodded. None of them were happy to be openly disagreeing with the terrible old woman. But they all felt that ONI was (metaphorically speaking) pushing its luck. Noticing how their enemies and rivals were becoming angrier, better prepared, and more paranoid in response it ONI's continuing aggression.
To the surprise of all, the old Admiral actually smiled. Just barely, but it was an honest smile. "Good, I was expecting for all of you to say as much. If any of had simply agreed with me, you would have been ordered to leave. I have no need of any sycophants or mindless drones amongst you. However, while we may NOT be escalating our operation, we will be maintaining them."
So the course was set. Nobody in the room was quite sure if they had actually changed Admiral Parangosky's mind or if she had just been testing them. Regardless, Operation Spartacus would continue. As ONI tried to carve out a sphere of influence directly in Citadel space.
**APUFMKII**
"The Resolute just called to change its ETA to tomorrow afternoon." Councilor Tevos's personal assistant informed the asari.
"Thank you Electra" Tevos told her assistant. Hoping that none of her inner turmoil showed on her face.
The Resolute was the personal ship of Justicar Taiba. Matriarch Abene's most trusted student and the one that she was sending to the Citadel. To 'facilitate' communications between the Justicar Order and the Citadel Council (or at least the asari component of it).
But Tevos had been a politician long enough to read between the lines. She knew that the leader of the Justicars was sending Taiba to not just keep an eye on her, but to send a message as well; 'The Justicars were returning'. It was a powerful one as most law-abiding asari would submit to the authority of a Justicar before anyone else, even before Tevos. Who for once in her long life was wishing there was more bureaucratic paperwork. She had been throwing as many regulations and forms to be filled out as she could at the Justicars, and using as many loopholes to delay their arrival. Apparently though, it had done very little in comparison.
The problem was, the Justicars were (in a very real sense) above the law in the Asari Republics. Giving them the right to obey or ignore laws at their whim. Councilor Tevos hadn't really considered it a problem when the Justicars had been isolated from the rest of society (in truth, she hadn't thought much about the Justicars at all until she needed them) but now she was seeing the awful implications of what her ancestors had done.
If Matriarch Abene had been telling the truth, and Tevos wasn't sure what to believe, all the power the Asari Republics possessed was nothing more than a facade. An allowance granted only by the Justicars that could be taken away just as easily, allowing them to take control at their whim. And worst of all, there was nothing she could do to stop them. If the Justicars wanted to resume power, and begin remaking the Asari Republics into a more militant state and hardening its people; under the claim that the Asari needed to reclaim their lost glory as a galactic superpower on their own, or any number of reasons, the people would not only agree, but support it with all their might.
'Of course there will be dissenters, but virtually everybody has violated the Justicar's precious and ridiculously long Code in some way, giving them an excuse to kill virtually any of their critics." Tevos thought pessimistically.
As she watched the seconds tick by on the clock, Tevos racked her mind for an idea, any idea, that might help with the Justicars. But every asset she could think of was either loyal to the Republics and thus submitted to the Justicars, such as the Asari Commandos, or be totally ineffective, such as mercenaries. As she kept striking every idea her mind could come up with, a sense of dread and defeat kept rising within her.
What if she couldn't find a solution? Something that would allow her to remove the Justicars from the equation, but it would allow her to keep her reputation intact. But what? It was as though there was a solution that was both legal yet highly illegal otherwise…
Tevos paused as she ran over the idea several times in her head. Considering as many permutations and potential outcomes as possible. 'Perhaps...it is indeed possible'. She thought with each permutation, and each outcome proving to the potentially more favorable than the last. 'Though, this will only end in one of two ways.' She realized. The final permutation finished running through her mind, she pulled up her Omnitool before typing a quick message and sending it off.
Shutting her tool down, she contacted her secretary. "Nyxeris, I want you to postpone all scheduled meetings for today."
"All, madam Councilor?" The asari asked over the comm.
"Yes, Nyxeris, all." Tevos confirmed. "I also want you to keep all visitors away for the remainder of the day. Unless they are one of the other Councilors do not let them in."
"Yes, Councilor." Nyxeris confirmed, already she knew what Tevos considered to 'important' when it came to this. "Is there anything else?"
"There should be a Spectre coming to see me soon. When she arrives just send her up to see me, and since the meeting itself is classified erase all records of it as soon as she leaves."
A short while later the asari Spectre Tela Vasir was summoned to the Councilor's office. Fortunately the Spectre was already on the Citadel so didn't take her long to get to her boss's office. Telling the secretary "Councilor Tevos sent for me."
Nyxeris simply opened the doors to allow the Spectre in. Shutting them behind Tela once she was inside. Curious as to what the Councilor and Spectre were doing, but not foolish (or unprofessional) enough to try eavesdropping.
Tela Vasir found the Councilor sitting at her desk looking worried. Tevos was so preoccupied it took her a moment to notice the Spectre's presence. Politely greeting Vasir once she did.
"Thank you for coming so promptly Vasir I am glad to see that you seem to have fully recovered from your injuries."
"It was only a flesh wound so inbred pirates didn't have decent weapons anyway" the Spectre replied with a shrug. Referring to her last mission for the Council of eliminating a band of murderous pirates that were preying on ships traveling along a key trade route in the Terminus Systems.
"Nevertheless, they way that you dealt with them was very impressive." Tevos said with a charming smile she had spent centuries working on.
The Councilor continued to engage in polite small talk for some time. Asking Tela about her interests, romantic life, and other things personal trivia. After a while the Spectre got annoyed. Wondering when her superior would get to the point.
'Either Tevos is trying to flirt with me-and I'm pretty sure that she's better at it than this-or she wants to discuss something with me so awful and disturbing that even she doesn't know how to talk about it' Tela thought as the babble from her boss continued.
"Madam Councilor, I know that you wouldn't waste a Spectre's time just to gossip, so with all due respect, could you please tell me why you summoned me?" Tela bluntly asked, though she was being far more polite than she would be with virtually anyone else under similar circumstances.
"It is a rather...complicated issue" Tevos answered ominously.
"Complicated as in 'STG' backroom deals or 'Aria T'Loak' flexing her muscles again?"
"Justicars" Tevos replied, her voice barely above a whisper.
Tela didn't answer for a moment, just staring at the Councilor before she finally said, "Justicars...Goddess be damned Justicars…" She muttered. "Well considering you aren't dead, just what did you do?"
"I asked them for help and they said...they said…" Tevos words simply trailed off.
"What? Just what exactly did the sanctimonious whores just tell you?" Tela pressed.
The asari Spectre held a grudge against the Order. As a young maiden (her head filled with dreams of adventure and glory) Tela had tried to join the legendary Justicars. But they wouldn't even let her undergo the Trials that all potential Justicars had to (in order to prove their dedication and worth). Dismissing Vasir's motives as petty and her dreams as childish, the Justicar Tela had talked to had even suggested that the (at the time) young and naive Vasir was too weak and foolish to ever be a warrior of any kind.
Tela Vasir had never forgotten nor forgiven the insult.
"It would be easier just to show you" the Councilor replied. Hesitant (even in her own office, alone with the Spectre she intended to confide in) to speak the words aloud. Hoping that once Tela saw that memory she would tell her boss that it wasn't as bad as Tevos thought. Reaching out to the Spectre as Tela allowed their minds to merge, showing Vasir the thing that had increasingly consumed her thoughts for months.
'So...the decrepit hags think that they actually can take what doesn't belong to them, do they?' Tela thought to herself as the Meld deepened. 'This is what has you afraid then?' if the Spectre was honest with herself, were it anyone else, she probably would have assisted them in changing the asari. The asari had grown soft, in her opinion. Weak, relying on the turians and krogan to do all the fighting while they negotiated the treaties. If Tela had her way, the asari would never have grown so weak. But if it was the Justicars who wanted that change, she would first see the asari burn, or preferably, the entire holier-than-thou Justicar Order.
As the Meld continued one thing that really struck Tela was how much older Tevos was than her. Despite her still youthful appearance Tevos was nearing the end of her natural life span (she would probably be dead of old age in less a century, and lose her looks and health long before that). Tevos was set in her ways and the kind of radical change that the other Council Races wanted (and the Justicars too for that matter) frightened her. At the deepest and most primitive level, the old Councilor still wanted to pretend that everything was alright.
So even though it went against the grain, as the Meld ended Tela hugged Tevos whispering. "Shh...everything will be alright." At the comforting words Tevos wept onto the younger asari's shoulder. Releasing the tension that had been building up for half a year as Tela continued to murmur words of reassurance. Oblivious to the fact that Vasir actually looked down on her for her show of weakness.
"But...but what can we do?" Tevos said pitifully. As she thought 'they are our greatest warriors and were bound by no asari law. Why did our foremothers let this happen?!"
Tela was silent as she considered the question. Just what could she do? What could be done? Politically, the Justicars were untouchable. And there was no legal recourse to be taken against them. It wasn't like they could just wipe them all out? Could they?
Unknown to the Asari Councilor, Tela was also a Shadow Broker Operative, having traded favors for favors with the galaxy's best (and most infamous) information broker. And Tevos had access to resources most could only ever dream of. 'Yes,' she thought, 'maybe we could…'
Placing a palm against Tevos face and turning so they were looking eye to eye, the Spectre answered, "Simple. We can eradicate them."
"But they're our greatest warriors and everybody loves them." Tevos replied, not so much in denial as disbelief.
"Not quite everybody, Tevos...Not quite." Tela whispered softly. "There are many who would kill for a chance to end the Justicars, and I know all of them."
A hand slinked down the Councilor's body. "All we need is time," the hand moved down her chest, giving the Councilor's breast a feather light caress "and patience..." She stopped just above Tevo's navel before pulling away. Staring into the matriarch's surprised eyes with an arrogant smirk. A pleasant tingle going through her body as she took control.
Then she embraced Tevos and pulled her boss into a kiss. For the briefest moment it seemed as though Tevos would resist. But the Councilor was lonely, scared, and Tela seemed like she was the only one on her side at this point. So she gave in, and then Vasir realized that she she could convince her supposed superior to do anything.
**APUFMKII**
Back in the Hegemony, on Khar'Shan, Jella Korragan was having a quiet moment to herself, a rare commodity for her as of late. Even her lover was asleep in the small cot that they shared. Since the fact that Council Special Forces were hunting for the Rebels, she and the others were always constantly on the move. Going from one safe house to the next to avoid discovery.
Most would have taken this time to get some sleep and rest. But as the leader of the Rebellion, along with the lessons that John had ingrained into her, she felt it was her responsibility to keep up to date with the Rebellion and any information that could relate to and possibly aid the effort.
Currently, she was going over the assets available to the Rebellion; both what they had 'liberated' from the Hegemony and what they had been given by the UNSC. They weren't going to running low on most anything any time soon, that was for sure. Even if they did not have the resources given to them by the UNSC, that which they took from the Hegemony would have held them over.
Setting the documents aside, she picked up another tablet and began reading. It was a general report on the ambushes being conducted against the Hegemony. But the words began to blur and their meaning faded as she lost focus, until finally she just let the thing fall from her fingers. 'I thought I knew who the monsters were...how did that change so quickly?'
The rebels had recently began to conduct raids (including storming apartments and killing all the slave owners) in the relatively upscale district of Overseer City known as Pardek. But there was something strange about the people there.
One of the many religions banned by the Hegemony had apparently spread widely throughout the neighborhood. This faith taught that all sentients (including slaves) had souls and were (in a spiritual sense) brothers and sisters. Instructing its followers to treat everyone (especially those under their power) with generosity and compassion. According to rumors, these particular slaveowners in the area treated their slaves practically like family, and many of their slaves obeyed out of genuine loyalty (instead of the more common fear and apathy that motivated most slaves).
Jella had thought these rumors to be just that, rumors. Maybe something that was spread in the hopes that the Rebels wouldn't come anywhere near their district or homes. Jella had personally lead the raid against Pardek District. What they had expected at most was a small security force of perhaps a dozen batarians at most, maybe some security mechs.
But to the shock and confusion of the rebels, when they had invaded the neighborhood the slaves themselves had fought in defense of their masters. Especially the children under their care, doing their best to keep the little ones safe. The Rebels had been forced to kill nearly every slave that they had come to liberate. Even the ones they had managed to disarm and subdue didn't give up fighting. Doing everything they could to stop the Rebels. Not that it had made much difference.
Thinking the Masters and Mistresses had somehow broken and indoctrinated the slaves, many of the Rebels showed no quarter. The old were killed in their beds, the men tortured and killed, the women used then murdered. And the children were not spared. The abuse many of them had suffered over their lives, the suffering that had been ongoing for centuries and generations, driving their hate and anger. In truth, Jella had lost control of her people for a while, as outrage over being forced to fight their fellow slaves pushed them over the edge.
Jella was incredibly glad that she had not sent Cara T'Val on the Pardek raid. She was sure her asari lover would have been shocked and horrified by the actions of her fellow rebels. And might even have tried to stop them (and would have all too likely gotten injured or even killed as a result).
For Jella herself though, what got to her wasn't the slaughter, and it was, it couldn't be called anything else. The deaths of many of the children and teenagers was appalling yes, but she seen and endured far worse. No, what got to her personally was their interrogation of the three slaves they had managed to take alive out of what should have been dozens.
By the Gods, even the good news that she had gotten couldn't distract her from that raid! The Rebellion wasn't just isolated to Khar'Shan anymore, it was spreading throughout the Hegemony, independent uprisings across a number of worlds, from the Core to the Outer colonies. John had even told her about replacement Spartans were to arrive soon to replace the ones who had been injured and sent home. And by his words, some would be just like him in terms of skill and ability. But the interrogations, the Pardek Raid just kept coming to the forefront of her mind. She still couldn't shake what those three prisoners had told her.
They had said the rumors about Pardek District had been true. Every single damn one of them to the last. The slaves HAD been well treated, and genuinely loved their masters, the sort of thing the Hegemony always claimed was the norm throughout their territory but that the experiences of most slaves bitterly contradicted.
The slaves in the Pardek District had not seen the rebels as liberators. Merely as monstrous murderers. The survivors she had spoken to had promised vengeance for their murdered families. By the vitriol in their words and their fanatic defense, she knew that those slaves would never turn. As a result, their captors felt they had no choice but to kill them.
After she had killed the prisoners personally (because now that things had calmed, her followers' bloodlust seemed to have universally transformed into shame) Jella had heard quiet sobbing as she was leaving the apartment building. Leading her to a little girl's bedroom, filled with toys, gadgets, and everything a spoiled child could reasonably expect from middle class batarian parents. The mother was dead on the bedroom floor, her face frozen forever in an expression of surprise. The noise was coming from under the large (and thanks to the mother's many bullet wounds) bloody bed.
Drawing her pistol, she peeked under the bed to see a surprising sight. Survivors, two of them. Young girls, one a batarian, the other asari. She had tried to coax them out but they refused to. At that moment, she would have loved nothing more than to have been gentle and had them come to her, but time had not been on her side.
Before anything, she had taken down a curtain and tossed it over the mother's body and then called for another Rebel, making sure it an asari that came before crouching again. Reaching under the bed, she grabbed one of them before pulling them out. Taking care not to injury either of them as she did so. She handed the first one, the asari to her subordinate before taking the batarian girl in her arms. The two of them struggling the entire time but eventually, exhaustion, both physical and mental, claimed them and they fell asleep.
Now, they were both in her quarters at the hideout. The two girls cuddling with each other and Cara hugging both of them. They looked surprising cute, and for a moment Jella imagined that they really were her and Cara's kids (perhaps adopted or even the children that they had each given birth to, she thought the asari looked a lot like Cara, but Jella hadn't actually seen that many different asari so she might have just been imagining it).
Then the batarian girl opened her eyes, her four eyes seemingly dead as they stared at Jella. Reminding Korragan that she had killed the girl's mother. That she would probably always see Jella as a monster, and if she was anything like the rebel leader, she might seek vengeance one day.
She had stared down Spartans, but Jella couldn't meet that accusing gaze. So she grabbed a bottle of wine that they had taken from one of the homes they had raided that night and began to drink. But she couldn't quiet her thoughts, and despite drinking enough to kill a lesser woman, Jella got no sleep that night.
**APUFMKII**
"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. For if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
— Friedrich Nietzsche
"There is a difference between you and me. We both looked into the abyss, but when it looked back at us, you blinked."
-Batman
