A/N:
Damn... remember when I said I wouldn't make a new 12k chapter? Me neither XD
Well, this is it. We are bringing Jennifer home, and Gods decide if it is a loving home of a junkie-cave.
Homecomings
November 28th
Low orbit over Scandinavia
Shuttle LV-4, Alliance Public transport
16:22
Apart from when I had looked at Scandinavia on Google Earth once, this is the first time I see it from orbit. Or, well it's not exactly orbit, but we are higher than most planes go, hence it is orbit. Or at least low orbit. Doesn't matter though, we're not here to discuss... whatever genre that belongs to.
"It looks like a dog." Jenny says, her face pressed against the window. She has been like this pretty much since the Charon Relay, where the shutters were retracted from the windows and allowed us a view of the void outside the shuttle. Not that it was particularly comfortable, knowing there was only a thin wall between us and the endless, cold void.
"What does?" I ask, joining her by the window. Luckily, both the German diplomat, named Franz Hoffman, and the French/American Du-something, departed the shuttle when we reached the famous Titan Sprawl. Well, again, famous and famous, I just know of it from Ash that some crazy people have their own church there, and not really much else.
"Scandinavia, of course." She says, pointing at the landmass consisting of Finland, Sweden and Norway. Technically Denmark belongs to Scandinavia as well, but it doesn't take part in Jennifer's picture of a dog.
"I can't see it..." I mutter, squinting my eyes as we come in through the atmosphere. Most of what I can see is the land stretching beneath us, with mountains and oceans, lakes and dark forests painting the landscape.
"Look, that's the head, and that's the front leg" She says, once more pointing. Ahh, could that... ah now I see it!
"So Norway is the head and Sweden is the leg?"
"Precisely!" She exclaims, satisfied at last that I figured it out. Instead of commenting on her ability to see an animal in a collection of countries, I ruffle her hair, causing the brown strands to stand like she had been electrocuted.
"All passengers, this is your captain speaking. We will be making a landing in Stockholm in ten minutes. Collect your luggage and prepare to disembark." The intercom says. I grant the surface one last look as we fly over the land, crossing what I recognize as Copenhagen. Damn, it got big... Where the Capital of Denmark once covered a little of the Eastern side of Zealand, it now covers half the island in a sprawling city, stopping only at bodies of water.
"I wonder how many people live there now..." I mutter as I dump down next to Ash.
"Where?"
"Copenhagen. Back in my days, around a million lived there... looks like it's grown quite a bit since then." I say, then shrugging before kissing her on the cheek, my lips gently nipping their way towards her ear, until Ash herself gives me a light shove in the chest.
"Keep it together you animal, we have a job to do. Remember?" She says with an evident smirk on her lips.
"Right... and she'll be pissed if we kiss while she's around." I whisper with a grin, noticing how Jennifer seems to enjoy her role as chaperone of the shuttle. In any case, she seems to mirror the smirk on Ash's face, standing with a hand on her hip. Okay... she is seriously reminding me too much of Shepard when she does that
"Admittedly, the resemblance is a bit uncanny."
"In other words "yes", am I right?"
"...Yes"
Fifteen minutes later, we're soaring through the air in a rent-a-cap. It's a vehicle not too different from the ones on the Citadel, except for it being the first of the caps I've seen where you can program it with the destination, and then the bill amounts to the distance flown. So when the bill is drawn on your bank-account, there's enough in place to discourage people from trying to steal these things.
"Crap-car, it's too small..." Wrex mutters as he fills the entirety of the backseats, forcing Jenny to sit on my lap while Ash is driving. Heck, I don't trust myself with these things, no matter how much they look like a regular car on the inside. I wasn't taught to drive a hundred meters above the street.
"Well, maybe you're just too fat Wrex." Ash mutters, causing both me and Jenny to crack a grin.
"Hey, it's all muscle, just so you know. And besides, it's not because I'm too big, you humans just build your things too small. Like the piece of crap Mako. If Fixer hadn't bought it, I'd have kicked his ass for smashing a tank." Wrex mutters, clearly not liking the fact that Ash just called him fat, and that if he tries to do anything about it, the car crashes. So, he takes his revenge the only way he knows how: He jumps in his seat. Well, jumps is a word for it. He really just readjusts, but with his nearly one ton of Wrex'ness, the car notices. How the flying fuck did they have Grunt sit in the same seat as Tali in the game? Krogan are huge!
"Designers liberty..."
"Bullshit, that's... disappointingly plausible actually."
"Are we there yet?" He asks, then turns his attention to the window, and the city below us: Stockholm. If I ever thought Sweden was a backwater country, now's my time to see my wrongs. The area beyond the Baltic sea is one huge city, easily fitting into what I had thought New York might look like now. How on hell would we ever find her home without the GPS?
"Easy, we wouldn't."
"No Wrex, for the fifth time, we are not there yet... Christ, I thought Jennifer would be the one to ask that. You know, since it's something kids ask, not old Krogan?" Ash mutters, pressing the pedal as another air-car speeds past us, then flips the driver off. Note to self... get a driver's license, and get Ash away from the wheel.
"Actually" I say, looking at the GPS with Jenny; "We are there in under a minute. Wrex, you haven't sat on the luggage, have you?"
"No"
"Good... alright Ash, take us down at thát street... no that street... the one with a big yellow building, like a brick-tower." I mutter, pointing at the streets below us.
"Jesus... Thomas, first thing after we kick Saren in the balls, you are getting a driver's license." She says, giving me a flat stare. Note to self, version two: Don't piss off Ash while she's driving.
"Yeah, I've had that idea myself." I muse, giving her a smirk as we dive towards the ground. A combination of the new version of Google Maps, and a phone book, has us pointed to the exact house her parents are supposed to live in. Or, house and house, it's a building with apartments, a five-story brick building in yellow stone. We set down on the ground, Ash killing the engine while I let Jenny jump from my lap and onto the ground. Even I can see the effect being back here has on her.
"I'm... I'm home?" She mutters, her voice being the most astounded since Teltin. She sounds and seems so little and fragile, as if she is afraid it will all be ripped away now that she is so close to her goal. I put a hand on her shoulder, trying to provide what comfort and support I can.
"Yes, you are." I say, not being able to keep my voice level as I had wanted to. Instead it comes out more as a hoarse whisper than the strong words I had hoped to say.
"They do know we're coming, right?" Wrex asks as he rounds the vehicle, the eyes of the Krogan examining the block; "Weird, this kind of building would have trembled within a month on Tuchanka, yet here they are... everywhere." He mumbles to himself, a mixture of wonder and disbelief.
"No, they haven't been informed Wrex." Ash says as she exists the car, shutting the door before locking it. Jennifer turns from Wrex to me with confusion in her eyes. I knew this would come, and I have no idea how to explain the reasons for it to her. I mean, how do I tell her that we need to make sure her parents haven't become junkies who would just emergency-clean up their apartment when they were told in advance that she was alive and on the way home?
"They don't know?" She asks, sounding hurt. I can feel my heart ache at the sound and sight of her being this emotionally confused. I kneel down in front of her, my hand never leaving her shoulder;
"Jen... we needed to keep it a surprise. I know this sounds cruel, but people can react in different ways when they lose a child. Some can even become bad people, and if they knew you were coming in advance, they might try looking like good people. We just hope your parents are still good people, which is why we didn't tell them." I mutter, ashamed really that it came to that. I'll be the first to admit it is and sounds like a stupid plan, but it was the only one that didn't include me or Ash calling up her parents and telling them we have their daughter, and then not provoking an emotional or mental breakdown on the other end of the phone.
"But I can see them now?" She says, as insecure as the day I met her. I nod, standing in front of her again;
"Yes, you can. And we are doing it right now. Ash, what story is it?" I ask, looking at her as she looks at the list of people living here, portrayed on the wall next to the door.
"There's no 'Nilsdottir', but we have a Susanna Petersen and her husband Nils Olavsen. Nilsdottir means 'daughter of Nils', right?" Ash says, looking at both me and Jennifer. The girl lights up at the names;
"Yes! That's mum and dad!" She almost cries, the runs to press the panel. She isn't tall enough though, so instead I press it. I then nod to Jennifer, giving her the symbol of 'be quiet'.
"Who is it?" A female voice asks, sounding like the business of even that is a strain on her voice.
"Is this Susanna Petersen, mother of one Jennifer Nilsdottir, ma'am?" I ask, resting against the frame. Behind me Jennifer is looking both distraught and overjoyed to hear the voice of her mother again.
"What do you want? More press? Well I don't have any more to say about your new 'biotic disease' so just... please go away." Her voice is a wreck, and if it was before, I just wrecked it even more. I stand a little taller, trying to make my voice sound as a official as I can.
"Ma'am, I am not the press. I am Corporal Thomas Fisher here on Systems Alliance business. I promise we will not cause you any distraught."
"Who... who are 'we', how many are you?" She sounds scared, almost as if I have threatened her.
"My associates and I, three people in total. One is a Krogan, but he is completely harmless. May we come up?" I can almost feel the scowling eyes of Wrex on my back as I describe him as harmless.
"Why? I mean, you are Alliance, what do you want? Is it Nils again? He's... he's not hurt, is he?" She says, the intercom doing a poor job of masking her emotions as anything but those of a broken woman.
"I don't know ma'am, I am not here on his behalf. This concerns your daughter." I say, trying to keep my voice from breaking. I mean, I know we're bringers of good news, so why does this feel so horrid? There's a short break in her voice, where only the sound of ragged breathing is audible through the link.
"Then... just come up." She mutters, and the door buzzes open for us. That is one thing the Swedes didn't change it seems, the radio-linked locked doors on apartment-blocks like this one.
"Why did I have to be quiet, it's mummy." Jennifer says, sounding both impatient and wary. I don't have an answer for her, as it seems my fears and doubts are being quelled with each word the mother said.
"I know honey, I know. Just let Thomas talk to her first, okay?" Ash says comforting to the girl.
"I'm confused, why not just kick in the door and deliver her?" Wrex asks as he takes careful steps up the stairs. Careful or not, had these been stonework like in my time, they would have cracked. Instead it's metal, and a fair amount of creaking takes place.
"Wrex, that's not how to bring back a child. Aren't Krogan supposed to value children above all else?" Ash says, sounding annoyed.
"We value fertile females above all else, but you are right though, children are more important than any kind of metal or resources we have." He admits, looking up the long stairs; "Hell, even my people have escalators and lifts, and we nuked ourselves time and time again... the hell takes you people so long?" He pants, trudging upwards.
"Swedes were never really known to be very focused on technological advancement in areas not vital to health or survival in general. Besides, they like to keep in shape, and what better way to do that than to eliminate lifts?" I say, leading Jennifer up the stairs by my right hand. She does the occasional skip of a step, jumping instead of taking a normal step.
"Damn... maybe this should be a torture device back home... force the clans to walk up stairs until their toes fell off..." Wrex says, sounding like his eight-hundred kilos are making it hard walking up stairs.
"We're here." Ash says, drawing my attention from Wrex back to the door in front of us. It's marked Susanna Peterson, Nils Olavsen and Jennifer Nilsdottir. Strange that the name had been removed from the list down at the door then.
"Wrex, maybe you should... move a bit back. People on Earth don't see a lot of Krogan, and you might just give her a heart-attack." Ash says, beckoning for the old Krogan to move.
"Why, she knows I'm with you?" He mutters while walking, standing behind us all and effectively barring passage for anything bigger than a kitten.
I knock on the door, listening to the footsteps coming from the other side. I give Ash a nod, then place my hand on Jenny's shoulder again. She gives me a look, and... I can't define it, but... I don't think I'll ever forget it. It's like looking at a life of hardship that just... evaporates from her soul.
The door opens with a slow creaking, showing a woman in a formal attire, yet her face is bearing the signs of long endured grief. Her hair is the same color as Jenny's, only with streaks of gray in them as well, plus wrinkles under and around her bloodshot eyes. She looks old enough to be Jennifer's grandmother. Damn... is that really her?
"Her body is no older than forty-one, but stress and grief has caused rapid degeneration of cells."
"So, she's been aged by sorrow?"
"In short? Yes."
"Come i-" Her mouth stops as she sees Jennifer, standing next to me and Ash, wearing her green clothing, as a replacement for the small SR-1 uniform. The mouth then keeps moving, but no words except for a hoarse whisper come out.
"MOMMY!" Jennifer screams, throwing herself, with all her thirty-seven kilos, at her mother, body-slamming her into the floor with a ferocious cry of happiness. Her mother on the other hand, just lies there, seemingly incapable of comprehending the situation.
Her face is grey as ashes, and her jaw is trembling while tears are starting to flood from her eyes. Her hands are shaking as they start feeling at the form of her daughter, the latter currently trying to hug the life from her body.
Her hands are touching the back of her daughter, almost tentatively, as if she fears the girl will just dissolve into smoke and leave her awake after yet another doubtlessly countless nightmare. Her face is starting to dissolve, the tears causing the mascara to flow down her face and into Jennifer's hair. Neither seems to care though, and the scene makes me need to lean against the doorframe as my chest starts heaving and choking me. A pair of arms catch me from behind, showing Ashley with her own eyes starting to leak while a happy smile if etched on her face.
None of them give a single look to the three soldiers in the entrance.
And I couldn't care less if they did.
Because we did it, we brought her home.
...
Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream
Shooting Range, Deck Five
16:27
If there was one fact Garrus Vakarian could, and would always praise himself for, it was that he was a damn good marksman.
It was not just his own opinion, but that of the small crowd of humans having started to gather around him as well. He shut all that out though, as he stared down the sights of his Vindicator rifle, the more precise weapon having replaced his old Lancer the first chance he got.
Taking a deep breath, he closed one eye, allowing only the world of the iron sight to be what mattered.
He squeezed the trigger, sending three slugs spraying from his muzzle. The first hit the target's crotch, the second his heart, and the final his head, making it not only lethal, but also humiliating. Of course, the target being only a cardboard figure, it was not as much 'death' as it was 'marking'. He squeezed the trigger again, this time thrice, sending three separate slugs downrange. Each hit their intended marks, leaving the target with three new holes in the head.
Allowing himself a satisfied smile, the Turian got up from his prone crouch, examining the results as they came in.
Shooting competition - eight hundred meters
1. Garrus Vakarian
2. Nihlus Kryik
3. Boris Tarkov
4. Niels Johnson
5. Jane Shepard.
It was, needless to say, a very satisfying result as he saw himself as confirmed to be a better shot than Nihlus. Being better than Shepard was no big surprise, as the biotic human was more into shotguns and warping people's bones to soup, than picking off targets from a long distance. Still, she had ended up in the top-five, meaning she did know what she was doing after all.
"I'm Garrus Vakarian, and this is my favorite shooting range on Arcturus!" He proclaimed, causing Nihlus to palm his face, probably due to him thinking the only other Turian on the station was sullying the image of the Turian people.
"King of the cardboard-shooters you mean? Glad to have you around Vakarian, we might face a cardboard revolution soon enough." Jane said from behind him, examining her own rifle.
"Heh, hmm... yeah well, you're better than I thought Shepard." He said, causing the woman to brush a few red strands from her face before giving him a cocked brow.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, you know, being a biotic and all... I figured you couldn't shoot for shit. No offence" He said, keeping his smile from turning into the smirk he knew had almost cost Joker a broken arm when the pilot had tried it on the Captain.
"Aha. Tell me Garrus, just how many humans have you actually tried fighting?"
"Fighting, Captain?" He said, not understanding the question.
"That's why I'm still better than you Garrus. Humans can adapt, I can both churn your bones into oatmeal, or... I can pin you down from five hundred meters away. The Turians I have met, no offence Kryik, have been so rigid, that if you came close enough to a Turian sniper, instead of trying to fight you in close range, he would just run away while he tried dodging my... your shots. Doesn't work." She said with a confidant smirk.
"Yeah well, then you haven't fought the right Turians. Besides, that was dangerously close to being generalizing." Garrus replied with a pair of mandibles spread in slight annoyance. It stood to reason that a sniper should run away if cornered, even he knew that.
"Maybe. Would love to see what you can do someday Vakarian." She said, then turned and left for the door, leaving him wondering just what she had meant by that.
He wasn't allowed to wonder for long though, as his Omni-tool flared up almost the instant the captain had left, leaving Nihlus the only other person in the room, and he was standing next to his target, seemingly examining his impacts.
Lifting the tool to his face, he opened up the mail he had just received, surprised to find it was not exactly named.
Garrus
Hey, I know we haven't talked in a long time, and I understand if you thought I just burned my bridges after the military and all...
Listen, can you find a connection? I need to speak to you, and I am not sure if I can say what I want to over this message. Send me a mail back when you have a connection of some sort, and I'll send the address.
-LS
Garrus scratched his fringe for some moments, trying to list the people he knew with those initials. The list grew shorter as he counted in the Turian military as well as people he hadn't seen in some time. In the end, the answer was rather simple.
Picking up his rifle, he placed it in his locker and locked it, then set out for the closest long distance connection device. He knew the QEC's were reserved for important people, so he went to find one of the more common, but also more jumpy connections that were the FTL-Relay enhanced communicators.
There weren't a lot of those things either, but there was at least one on each level of the station, and one was close by. Wringing his neck in the bowl of his armor, Garrus trotted down the corridors at a brisk pace, nodding friendly to the humans passing by. What had him more than a little confused, was that he saw multiple Quarians walk around the station as well, not all of them marines, but a few being civilians by the look of it.
Had the Alliance annexed the Quarians while no one had been looking?
If so, he couldn't find it in him to protest, to the winds with the punishment for the geth. If the Alliance had seen fit to take in the Quarian people, so be it. And they might even get their immune systems fixed. He had heard Quarians were quite attractive beneath those suits.
Of course, he had also been told they were cybernetic creatures, but having gotten to know both Tali and the Commander, as well as viewing himself as a skilled detective, he deemed that option out.
Finally he found one of the rooms dedicated to trans-system communication, and went inside. Having locked the door, he turned on the system, then sent the message. A few moments later, the address followed, and he punched in the numbers.
The air in front of him was filled with the projection of half a Turian, the lightly spread mandibles telling of obvious relief. It was only from the torso and upwards he was visible, making Garrus flinch at first, but quickly realize it was just one of the cheaper models used in communications.
"Garrus..." The Turian said, sounding hesitant, as well as embarrassed. Leaning forward, Garrus placed his hands on the railing in front of him, supporting himself for what he guessed would be a long talk.
"Lantar, where the hell have you been?" He asked, not so much demanding as simply asking in a worried tone.
"Around, I guess... I suppose you want to know why I've been off the grid for ten years?" Sidonis said, looking down.
"Damn straight I do, everyone thought you were dead!" Garrus growled, unable to restrain himself.
"Everyone but you..." The words were slow, as if the other man wanted to make sure they got through. And they did, causing Garrus to flinch, realizing that he had no right to blame Lantar for missing. He had known himself that his friend was alive, yet had kept quiet about it even so.
"What was I supposed to do? Tell them you deserted?"
"No... but I am thankful that you did not tell them I was alive. It was better... is better for my parents to think I perished in battle. That way they can at least be proud of me. As things are now... I'm not sure my father would approve of my situation." Sidonis said, looking Garrus straight in the eyes, a thing he had rarely done when admitting his screw-ups.
"Spirits Lantar, what have you gotten yourself into all these years?"
"Have you seen the news lately? Should give you a hint..." The Turian asked, his voice regaining some composure. Those words made Garrus reel back in startled shock and horror.
"You... Lantar, please don't tell me you refer to the Blue Suns Revolution!" Garrus could feel his mandibles almost crack clean off, his heart beating faster than was supposed to be good for a Turian. Then again, he had done a lot of things not seen as 'good' for a Turian.
Following the commands of a Quarian was one of them.
"Calm down Garrus... but yes, I was indeed part of it. I-" Sidonis started.
"But they are mercs! Criminals! How can you stand to be even near them if not to bring them down?"
"Garrus, listen to me, okay?" The other Turian said, his voice starting to be filled with more command, more sense of authority.
"You better have a Spirits be damned good reason" Garrus sneered in a low voice, his sub-harmonics sounding most of all like a human dog growling.
"I did, and I do! Listen, there are things set in motion Garrus. Things, that I need to tell you about, before all hell breaks loose. I need a favor, but I fear... I know, that I cannot carry it out. Not as I stand now." Sidonis pleaded, causing Garrus to feel sick with himself for reacting this way when his long-lost friend finally turned up.
"Alright... alright... what is your "standing now" then?"
"I'm a high level operative in the New Suns. I'm one of few people who get to know what is planned for more than a year before said plan is carried out. Garrus, I'm only asking for your help because I know you, and because I know you serve with people who have pull in high places." The tone of Sidonis' voice was going from firm, to desperate.
"Spirits... Lantar, I still don't know what you need my help on." He said, resignation in his voice.
"Listen. Two years from now, the Suns will begin a galaxy-wide campaign to wipe out the other mercenary organizations. It's planned to start on Omega, and the Citadel simultaneously."
"The Blood Pack and the Eclipse? What's so bad about removing them? One's a bunch of rapists, murderers and terrorists, the other is led by a madwoman."
"Yes, but... listen, when the war begins, it will be without warning. Civilians will be caught in the middle. I may be able to do something about Omega, but if it goes down on the Citadel, and no one but me knows..." Sidonis started, but it was clear he couldn't get himself to finish the sentence.
"Then countless Civilians and C-Sec will be caught in the crossfire. Not to mention collateral damage... you want me to talk to someone with pull on the ship? There are none, as far as... wait, there might just be one, but...I don't know if Nihlus will listen" Garrus muttered.
"I highly doubt you can persuade Nihlus Kryik of trusting the words of a lowly merc."
"Telling Nihlus might be the best card I have right now, but... if he decides to chase down the Blue Suns, you..."
"If Spectre Nihlus does intend to take us down, we will abide as much as we can Garrus. However it will be a waste of his time, there are bigger threats to the peace of Citadel space out there than us. I know the plans are unethical, much is these days, but the Suns... the New Suns, we want to help those who can't help themselves. I trust you to do what you find best, and if the Citadel fleet suddenly appears in the skies... I have made my peace, and will accept whatever judgment the galaxy deems me deserving off."
"Lantar I... do you want me to tell your parents you are alive?" Garrus tried, unsure if he could say anything that would lessen the shit-storm that had just been dumped on him.
"If what I want to happen, happens, they will find out in due time, on my terms. If I die against the other organizations, you will have my permission to tell them. If I die against the forces of the law... tell them nothing. It is better this way."
"Lantar..."
"Spirits be with you Garrus." And with that, Sidonis terminated the call, leaving a very disturbed, befuddled and worried Garrus Vakarian standing in the room, staring at an empty projector.
...
The main atrium of Arcturus Station was centered next to the Parliament, and was the largest room there was on the station. The Parliament might have the biggest governmental head quarters of any government on Earth, but the main atrium was easily twice its size.
Anna Fisher was not normally one for wearing dress blues, especially not when being around soldiers. But today she would have to make an exception to that rule. She stood tall, her eyes and lips set in firm, but thin lines that radiated resolve and anger, as well as frustration and shared grief. she had spent the last two days after giving Jack the Goliath-schematics, solely on a conversation with her brother, and writing personal letters to be sent to the families of those killed over Valhalla. A main issue was, that she had no way of knowing just how the individual aboard each ship had acted, except for captain Josef Amado, commander of the SSV Cataluña.
She knew how he and his crew had sacrificed themselves in a desperate attempt to break the Reaper ship, the massive dreadnought that measure almost four kilometers. They would all have died, or at least casualties would have been even higher, had Amado not rammed his frigate into the belly of the beast.
She could still see the message she had written to the husband of one Lucia Hernandez, a member of the engine-crew on the ship.
Señor Hernandez
It is with the greatest, and most horrid grief, that I have the heavy burden of informing you that your wife, Lucia Hernandez, has been killed in the line of duty.
I will be honest with you, as I have never seen the purpose in giving up false information and lies. I did not know your wife, I never even met her. I did however, know of her sense of duty and her courage in the face of death, when she and the rest of the crew of the SSV Cataluña decided to sacrifice themselves to save the lives of the tenth fleet.
I know words can never dull or soften the pain and agony this letter will no doubt cause, but maybe it would someday bring you a small measure of peace to know just how your wife fell in battle.
As the commander of the tenth fleet, I took the entire flotilla to the Midgard system to combat an unknown threat that had attacked Valhalla. When we arrived we engaged a pair of hostile ships in battle. These ships were of power we have never seen before, and our ships were being wiped out by the dozens. even now we are still accounting for all the dead.
When it looked as if all hope was lost, the SSV Cataluña decided to go out in a blaze of glory, the captain and his crew had decided in unison to give it their all. And so they did, and so they did.
With a war cry that will go down through Alliance history, the crew sent their ship towards the enemy dreadnought at ramming speed, cheering and demanding for its demise. When the ship hit, I can offer you the small solace that the crew was killed instantly, and that Lucia did not suffer. They also gave the rest of the fleet the window of chance to finally destroy the enemy, as the ensuing explosion crippled its shields.
Thousands of sailors and marines owe the crew, your wife included, their lives. I know this can never be enough consolation, and that my words will ring hollow to you the first time you read this message. I only pray that you will, in time, be able to move on with your life, and maybe, someday forgive me for the choices I made that cost the life of your wife.
I accept full responsibility for the death of each and every person under my command, and will not hold it against you if you most of all want to beat me senseless for robbing you of Lucia.
I pray that you may heal in time, and that you can find a small measure of solace and comfort knowing just how much your wife's sacrifice meant.
Admiral Anna Cologne Fisher, Systems Alliance Navy.
It was not a message she cherished having to send, as she knew just how painful loosing those you loved could be. She had never lost a spouse, but the deaths of her cousin on Mindoir had caused her to lose her mind in the moment she was told. Ever since, blind rage had filled the darkest corners of her mind, the lust for a burning Khar'shan never having dwindled from the slumbering inferno she could and would unleash the day the Alliance was no longer under the threat of the Reapers.
Now though, she was standing tall at the same podium she had used to speak from, more times than she could have counted even if she bothered. Her Dress blues was the only uniform she had never dared to customize, everything else having been fitted with visible or underlying plates of armor. In front of her, long rows with the entire tenth fleet were gathered, waiting to hear her words.
"Men... women, people of the tenth fleet. I will not lie, cannot lie to you about what we went through, as we all know it to equal measure." She said, taking a new breath before she continued.
"We all saw what we encountered over Valhalla, we all remember it. We all know, that it was like nothing none of us have ever seen before. We have served together for more than twenty years now, and I view each and every one of you as a member of a large family. A band of brothers and sisters stretching in the tens of thousands." She said, then had to stop to breathe again, the sheer memory of how many souls had been lost briefly overwhelming her.
"And... as a family, I believe honesty is important. The Alliance will tell you otherwise, but what we encountered out there... it was not of this galaxy. I know, that this sounds ludicrous, and maybe it is, but... what we fought, what we killed and hauled back in small shards and streams of data, it was not a ship. It was a creature, a living being. It was a Reaper." She said, then fell quiet to gauge the reaction to her words. It was true that many had known about the term "Reaper" even before the battle, but until that point, they had just been scary stories, like the troll under your bed, or the vampire in the darkest part of your closet. The dead silence urged her to continue.
"A Reaper... most of us know the words, either from fiction, or from theories about how the Protheans came to go extinct. But... but none of us truly understood just what the words really meant until just a few days ago. We went out with more than two hundred ships, and returned with just above a hundred. A Reaper, and believe me, even I dread the very use of the word, is what we believe to be a massive synthetic life form, an ancient evil. I will say it as it is people, as I have never understood the need to sugarcoat things: If you don't believe in Devil-stories, now's the time to begin." She said, then felt the dread from her words sink into even herself. She could see the evident fear in the faces of every man and woman standing at attention, rows upon rows of paled faces and trembling hands.
"They are Devils, yes that much is for certain. They are more than just one or two though, maybe even more than hundreds. And yes, when they come for us, it will truly be the Ragnarok, the Armageddon and the day of Judgment as all religions have foreseen. They will darken the skies of our worlds, they will terrorize our people, and they will no doubt kill us in scores, determined to never stop, to never show mercy and to never show regret, remorse or fear. They are Devils, yet... they are also machines." She said, fighting the hairs on her neck from standing in the thin rivers of sweat running down her skin.
The last words seemed to cause a few people to perk up, but the majority seemed too deep in the stupor of dread she herself had whipped up. See, this is why I don't do mourning-speeches... She thought with annoyance. Still, she had a card up her sleeve, so to speak, and it was all thanks to Price, that magnificent bastard of an AI.
"And machines... can be broken. I know what I just said makes them out to be immortal beings of evil, the Scourge of the Galaxy... but they are just machines. They are nothing more than AI's in big bodies... very big bodies with very deadly weapons, but machines still. And machines, as I said, can be broken." She said, tapping an option in her Omni-tool, causing the wall behind her to become a screen; "You just need a big enough set of tools." she finished with a grin, the surprised murmur and stir in the crowd being Price's cue to roll the film.
"Our tools, ladies and gentlemen, will be these babies. Price, show the first one!" She said, feeling her spirit lift as the image of the Dreadnought-grade turbo-laser turret became visible on the screen, in 3D even. The hall was silent apart from a few 'oh' and 'ah's.
"This here, boys and girls, will be our first wrench in their machinery. The first of many, mind you. This is groundbreaking science, right here, and we call it the B1-Turbolaser. It fires superheated spheres of plasma at a relative speed of 340 meters per second. That's the speed of sound, mind you. Each of these projectiles have no mass, and can therefore not be detected by shields or even barriers. When they hit, these things melt through any armor we have yet to test it against, making it our first weapon of choice against those calamari-fucktards. The drawback here though, is that due to the sphere losing a tiny amount of its magnetic pull, the weapon is not effective beyond twelve-thousand kilometers. This make this weapon suited mostly for close-combat. Each turret will, when fully developed and mounted, be the size of a small frigate's main gun, and fire projectiles each three seconds. This means, that if the Reapers wanna fist-fight us, we'll punch so many holes in them, they won't know which part is what." She said, ending the first presentation by smacking her fists together; "Any questions before we move on?"
A marine in one of the foremost ranks raised her hand.
"Name?" Anna asked, nodding to the marine.
"Sergeant Hannah Boyle, ma'am."
"Alright Sergeant, what is it?" Anna asked with her hands behind her back.
"How long till these Turbo lasers are ready, ma'am?" She asked, drawing a few chuckles from the surrounding marines and personnel. Anna stifled them with a raised hand.
"Currently we have a fully tested small-scale model in use for testing against different types of plating. I will also answer your question a bit more in the later presentation. Other questions?" None were asked, so she continued; "Price, next one."
The image changed from that of the Turbo laser, to that of the heavily modified Siege Walker, or the AT-TE. This time, more people than just a few started to let their wonder be heard. It was especially the legs that made them ponder aloud.
"Now... can anyone tell me what this is?" Anna asked with a cocky smile. An advantage to her mental state was that she processed feelings just as fast as Salarians, making her capable of going from the feeling of dread, and to feeling unbeatable.
No hands were raised.
Then one was.
"Yes, what do you think it is sonny?" She asked, not bothering with the name and rank this time.
"A... it looks like the old Big Dog robot ma'am... just with six legs and a gun strapped on." He said in a somewhat insecure voice. She didn't blame him. After all, this thing was not exactly of their world.
"Well, not really what I had in mind, but I understand your thought. No, this is not the Big Dog project. This, is the AT-TE Siege Walker. It weighs fifty-eight tons, carries up to twenty soldiers on the battlefield and sports several anti-infantry laser cannons, as well as a twenty millimeter mass-driver cannon, capable of dishing out whatever needs to be served. It can fire shells, slugs, plasma, rockets, heck even laser. It takes around five seconds to fire the main gun, and each projectile travels at 2,5 km/s. This is more than twice the speed of a conventional chemical reaction cannon, and can punch through the armor of any standard vehicle, no matter the armor. We have tested it against both a Grizzly battle tank, as well as an Apocalypse Heavy Tank. One shell from this thing, and no matter the armor, it went straight through. It has a problem with shields though, but when using the plasma-load out, this becomes irrelevant." She said, then took a break before taking a sip from her canteen of water, always hanging from her hip.
"The Siege Walker sports six laser cannons, four at the front, two at the rear. These are controlled by the co-pilot sitting behind the driver. A gunner operates the Mass Driver on the top of the tank, granting him the safety of the tank to work behind. The walker is equipped with just about everything we have on the table in terms of defensive measures. First, it has a solid ten centimeters of titanium P-steel alloys making up the armored hull. Coating this, the shielding is of Mithril-class, and meant to withstand punishment from a frigate. The underside of the walker is one of the few weak-spots, and is covered by an under mounted VI-controlled turret. Aside from being a powerhouse on the battlefield, this walker has two more uses that puts it above its peers. First of all, it has special magnetic grips in the feet, as well as strong deployable claws. This enables it to traverse extremely steep surfaces, as well as vertical walls if they are made of anything even remotely magnetic. In other words, it can walk on the hull of a ship, granting the crew of the ship an extra pair of guns.
The second advantage is that the tank is sealed and pressurized, enabling it to be used in vacuum. This will be a major advantage in any defensive battles against the Reapers. If we know where to defend, we can deploy a complement of these babies on any nearby bodies, be they asteroids or wrecks. In other words: this tank is the most versatile son of a bitch to enter the fray since the Mako. Questions?"
"Ma'am, how will we deploy these things? Will they be towed in on the underside of a gunship?" A voice asked.
"Not that far of the mark there. We have designed a special-made version of the Wasp-gunships, the Bumblebees, to carry these tanks into battle and around in space. Special clamps have replaced any chains needed, making it possible to simply swoop down and drop the tank, then swoop up again. Estimated time to deploy is under five seconds. Alright, Price, next subject." Anna said, enjoying the look of awe slowly settling in on the faces of her men and women. The last subject to be shown was not, as the two former had been, an image. Instead, the doors behind the admiral opened up, revealing a lumbering giant, standing three meters in height.
It was white, but adorned with blue stripes and patterns, as well as the Alliance Symbol on the side. With its three meters, the colossal thing was a sight to behold for sure. On its right and left shoulder, a pair of cannons were placed, long sleek barrels ending in a boxy stock in one end, and a cross-shaped muzzle in the other. Both guns wavered a bit, then folded down behind the back of the suit with a whirring sound, making it appear as if it had a pair of antennas extending from its back. On the right forearm, a set of dual heavy caliber guns were placed, both with an elegant, yet crude design of the ammunition-storages that would allow them to hold enough ammo-bricks to last ten minutes of non-stop firing. The left forearm had a thicker muzzle and barrel, extending into what almost looked like the barrel of a tank's main gun. Leading from the gun, a long bandolier of cylinders went to a backpack between the folded back railguns. Its chest was adorned with heavy and bulky armor, making it look more like a walking tank than a suit of armor.
As the thing came to a halt, a part that could be best described as the helmet, popped open and revealed the face of the pilot. The right arm came up in a surprisingly nimble salute, one which the admiral returned. the helmet then popped closed again, making the mech the same imposing figure it had been just before it was revealed to have a human driver.
"This, my friends and subordinates, is the H-1 Juggernaut Crisis Battlesuit. It weighs a few ten tons and carries a single driver or, as some would designate it a mech, a pilot. On its right arm, you will see a pair of dual-mounted 7.62 mm machineguns, both with their own independent supply of ammunition from a block of Tungsten beneath the more bulky gauntlet here. On this arm, you will notice that there is just one barrel. This is a rocket-launcher, capable of launching both point-and-shoot rockets, as well as heat-seekers and missiles with the ability of locking on to a target, both on land and in the air." She said, patting the rocket-launcher with the affection of a little girl patting her puppy. Guns had always been her puppies, and her kittens had been tanks and ships.
She did have a hamster once though, but it died, something she had not been capable of understanding at the time. Now though, she was as familiar with death as an old man was with annoying kids on his lawn.
"The armor of the suit consists of ten millimeter lightweight, Duraplast P-steel plating, as well as reinforced, bullet- and heatproof synthetic tissue to make out the airtight undersuit, as well as the space between the armored joints. On its shoulders you will see a pair of 14.5 mm railguns, each capable of sending a slug towards the bad guys at twice the speed of sound, making it more than capable to take down what we have come to know as a Brute, the heaviest yet seen type of unit deployed by Saren and the Reapers. A system of coolant-supplying tubes run the length of the gun, making sure it doesn't overheat after a single shot. The magnetic rails are powered by a powerful, compact hydrogen-fuel cell battery, and can sustain up to fifty separate shots from each gun before an inbuilt system of solar panels are needed to recharge the systems. When deployed in defensible position, a pair of supportive appendixes will extend from behind the legs, allowing the pilot to, for the lack of better word: dig in." As she spoke, the suit stomped the floor, then went a bit on its knees before a pair of pistons extended from the backsides of each leg. When the pistons had placed themselves on the floor, the suit leaned backwards, the pointed both shoulder-mounted weapons forward.
"Each hand also sports five fingers capable of picking a flower, as well as bending a rod of steel. If any of you have seen the HAS-mechs used by the Turians, well then this is our way of saying: Your move, Primarch. The pilot himself is protected in the interior of the suit, with absolutely no exposure to the outside. The suit is pressurized and can work in a vacuum if need be, but will have the best functionality in atmosphere's and in the gravitational well of a planet. This suit is not only a heavy weapon though, as it can also be used to carry heavy loads and sprint up to fifty kilometers per hour. This suit is a prototype though, so don't go signing up to be the next Juggernaut. We only have five ready so far, but hundreds in the making, as well as a variant with a flamethrower in the place of the rocket launcher. Questions? Yes?" She said, pointing at the ensign marking for a question.
"Ma'am... just where did we get all this new technology from? As far as I was informed, we didn't have anything even close to that sort of plasma-weaponry, and even the geth don't have much more than a crude version." That was a question Anna had dreaded and prepared for as an eventuality.
"We have had the best minds of humanity on ways to bypass shields and barriers for decades now, but it has been classified so far. Ever since the First Contact War actually, where it was made clear that we had to find ways to break a dreadnought even if we couldn't get its shields down. Other than that, this is classified to this date, so... sorry, no more info there. Now... Price, bring up the big screen, high-res and give it the designs first, then the exterior view." Anna said, then turned to the big screen as the Juggernaut walked back out the way it came. The next thing to enter the screen was a ship.
At first sight, it just looked like a new design for a dreadnought, maybe a bit less broad, and a bit taller. It looked a bit like a column parted in two, then put back together with a thinner middle-section, and then a turret of some sort had been placed on the top. A few voices mumbled here and there, discussing if the new design was as good as the old one. Of course, there had been a few rumors from Earth, about a new type of Dreadnought having been launched, but no one really knew much.
All that was silenced when the new ship was compared to the size of the Everest, the flagship of Admiral Stephen Hackett, and the biggest Dreadnought yet built by human hands. Before she started speaking, Anna could pick up a few "Holy Shit..."'s from the front-rows of men and women, eyes wide as they truly grasped just what they were looking at. Anna chose that moment to act;
"This, is the pride of the Alliance, the new bad boy on the block. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Goliath-class Dreadnought. It is, with its three-point-five kilometers, the single biggest ship ever built, not only by human hands, but by any race in Citadel space and beyond. While I can't speak for before the Protheans, and the Protheans of course, this thing is the biggest ship built in the last fifty-thousand years. It comes complete with the hull carrying multiple strategically placed Turbo laser emplacements, the top-side carrying most of them. On top of the close-encounter turrets, we also have two separate main guns placed side by side, cooled with an experimental Bose-Einstein coolant only recently allowed to leave the labs. This allows for a circumvention of the old problem with waiting for the guns being ready to shoot. Both guns have the five-second delay between their shots, but now they can fire in shifts, allowing the twenty-five kilo Ferris slugs to be fired each two-point-five seconds. So that's increased firepower and speed, right there. Also, if you will take a look at the turret on the top of the ship, we have the, to date, biggest plasma cannon ever made. Capable of being turned 360 degrees, the turret can hurl out a sphere of superheated plasma with a diameter of ten meters, a rate of fire that is one shot per ten seconds, and an effective range of twelve-thousand kilometers, the same drawbacks as the Turbo laser turrets. Lastly, if you can contain your orgasms, we have the HCB, or 'Heavy Cutter Beam', as we have dubbed it. As those of you operating the Wasps have no doubt discovered, the gunships can fire a concentrated beam of particles, also called 'Ion-repeaters'. These are not lasers, but instead a thin or thick beam of concentrated ionized particles shot from the muzzle of a specially constructed device. Further details will have to come from someone else, I'm not thát great a technician that I can give you all the details. And finally, as what some would call a step back to the era of the wooden galleys of the seas, eight broadside guns, each the side of the main guns found on a frigate, are located on each side. In the case of a knife-fight, or managing to turn the side to our enemy without him being able to punch at us, all eight can be unleashed with the collective power of a dreadnought. Other than that, we also have several systems stocked with Archer-missiles, as well as a future version that will hold hydrogen-missiles... damn, that was a lot to remember..." Anna sighed, taking a new drink from her canteen.
"Other than the Archer-pods, the Goliath-class dreadnought will be stocked with the new Mark-IV plasma torpedoes. You all saw the effect those had on the Reapers over Valhalla. They were some of the only things we had that were capable of damaging the fucker. Ten separate sites on the hull of the Goliath, plus five underslung barrels will hold twenty torpedoes each, enough to wipe the Citadel Defense fleet from the face of the galaxy alone. Also they should be able to strain the fuckers' shields once deployed in sufficient numbers. For protection the Goliaths will be armored with fifty centimeters of solid Titanium, then an outer shell consisting of a special P-steel alloy that will try to deflect a projectile instead of absorbing its impact. Inertial dampeners will also make sure the ship isn't shaken apart whenever the guns are fired in unison. All that, plus Cyclonic barriers, a gift from our Quarian friends, as well as improved Mithril-shielding. All in all, this ship is one bad motherfucker. So rejoice, we are not out of the fight yet, and by the collective amount of Gods mankind has ever worshipped, we will proceed to kick so much ass the Reapers will run back to their dark holes while crying for their mommas!" Anna shouted the last part, punching the air as she always did when delivering a battle-speech.
They were much more to her taste than the sad speeches you gave to the dead. Even so, the dead must not be forgotten, and she had no intention to do so;
"But remember, and remember well, that we owe our lives, that we owe standing here today, to the fifty-one thousand men and women who gave their lives above Valhalla. They gave their lives in the face of a foe thought only to exist in the most horrible tales known to humankind. And yet, they stood fast, and they did not waver. We may rejoice now, but remember that we owe it all to the brave men and women of the rest of the tenth fleet. I ask you, that we hold a moment of silence to honor and remember them, and give whatever prayers we have to give for the loved ones lost to the Reapers. Thank you." Anna said, then bowed her head and closed her eyes, signaling that the silence had begun.
...
Coruscant, Republic space, Andromeda Galaxy
The Senate
"Kasumi... Kasumi, wake up." Senator Chuchi reprimanded, standing over her student, the latter in the process of lifting her head from a comfortable position in one of the armchairs. They were just so soft, and the Pantoran could understand somewhat why the younger woman had found it fitting to sleep in n as fitting place, but the time was most definitely not well-chosen.
"Hmm... just... just five more minutes Keji..." The ambassador muttered, her eyes not even close to opening. Instead she just rolled over, ending up with her chin pressing against the shoulder of the even younger Togruta Padawan, Ashoka Tano.
It had been three days since they had started the education in Republic affairs and the handling of political and diplomatically advanced matters. Or, as Kasumi herself had dubbed it 'Hell in a soft seat'. They had been through first a basic evaluation of just how much Kasumi knew of how to handle herself in the company of diplomats and senators, using Ashoka as a mock-version of the Togrutan Senator, despite the fact that said senator was an old woman with long tails down her body, almost like Medusa.
The thief-turned-ambassador had done surprisingly well, demonstrating that she had a more than basic know-how on what to do and say in the company of finer people, while also retaining a charming wit that the Pantoran senator could not help but adore. In many ways the human reminded her of herself, just in a different way. It was difficult to say if she reminded her of a younger or older version of herself, as Kasumi was in her late twenties, while Riyo herself was in her early sixties. It was difficult, at times, being the only race in the galaxy with a lifespan of seven-hundred years. Mostly because it shocked people just how old she was, a fact she took as a compliment.
"Kasumi, you are drooling on my shoulder..." Ashoka remarked, using a light swipe of the Force to send the spittle flying down the center of the enormous hall. Someone else would get that problem, but she didn't care as long as it meant she wouldn't have a wet shoulder. The comment caused the ambassador to open her eyes with a snap, looking beyond embarrassed at the fact.
"B- baka! I... I guess I just slipped away... I wish." Kasumi stuttered, wiping her mouth as she sat straight in her seat again. She had had to discard of her favored hood and suit, and instead dress up in the far more open attire Ashoka and Padme had chosen for her. Said senator was seated in the meeting as well, albeit not in the same booth. Currently she was actually floating towards the middle of the room, her booth proving just how advanced these people were. There seemed to be no real system of propulsion in the craft, simply a defying of gravity. If there was one interesting thing in the Senate to look at, it was the booth of choice used in it.
"Hush Kasumi, Ashoka. Look who's about to speak." Chuchi said, directing the younger women's attention to Padme. Neither Kasumi nor Ashoka had been told just how important this very specific session was, but the first few lines got their attention.
"My friends, senators and ambassadors, Chancellor. I come before you this day to tell you off a discovery that will make our very understanding of ourselves seem insignificant. Three days ago, we experienced what can only be called, 'a first contact' with a new faction." It was easy to hear the abrupt disagreement and bickering that broke out in the other booths. Padme, however, didn't seem bothered. In fact, she seemed to take it as encouragement, and a large holographic image. Only as it cleared did Kasumi recognize the face of Anna Fisher. Her first thought was that the admiral had somehow beamed a message to the Andromeda without using Kasumi, making the ambassador feel a bit disgruntled. However, she was relieved when it turned out to be the same message played for the Jedi order on the third day of her stay there.
"Greetings, leaders or leader of your nation. I am Admiral Anna Fisher of the Systems Alliance, originating from the galaxy known as the Milky Way. By now I am certain that you have seen and heard the first message I gave Kasumi Goto, the woman standing in front of you. And therefore I assume that you understand the situation hers and my galaxy finds itself in. To chalk it up, we are about to be invaded by a race of sentient machines known as the Reapers. Currently we are not evolved enough to take on these beings with our own technology. Our galaxy will burn for sure, if not for the actions of Kasumi. Through means I prefer to keep a secret of state, she has the ability to travel between our separate dimensions or galaxies. Currently, as I am making this speech, I do not know if your home is in the same dimension as ours or not. To explain, I have her employed to simply scavenge any sort of useful technology that will enable us to survive the Reaper-onslaught. Therefore it is of great importance that she is not to be harmed. In a way, I suppose you can consider her my ambassador to your people, since she will by now have met with the leaders of your people." The entire room had gone quiet by the time the admiral took a breath, the spoke on;
"I am going to attempt and keep this short. We need your technology to survive, and if the possibility arises, we will repay you for any aid you can lend us in this matter." Kasumi could remember the reaction the Jedi had had, and didn't look forward to an entire senate of either accusing or panicking people. Or, and that would be the worst part: People who wanted to meet her for themselves. She cursed at Padme and Ashoka at that moment, for not letting her install a cloaking device in her new dress. And, she would have cursed a lot more had she actually followed their rules, and not installed the cloaking device anyway.
"As useless as it might be, I, Anna Fisher. Admiral of the Systems Alliance, extend the hand of friendship on behalf of humanity everywhere in my galaxy. Understand that I preferred to keep that part from the initial video, as I was still unsure of your intentions. Still, if this vid is being played by an unscathed Kasumi, I consider your people to be humanity' friend far far away. Should it ever be possible to travel between our people, I would like to offer a diplomat or representative from your people to visit my galaxy" That caused Kasumi to widen her eyes as she shot Padme a look. they had removed the part saying that Anna would like to send someone more permanent to represent the human race of the Milky Way. In other words, they had chosen her to be the permanent ambassador.
She was so much going to rob both Padme and Anna of all their underwear, then sell it on the webs of their respective versions of E-Bay.
"I will now go back to the point of this message. Our galaxy is going to burn if help is not lent. We are by no means weak or powerless, but the scale of the threat is too grand for even our combined forces to take on in our current state. Therefore I would like to petition you for any and all military technology that your people is willing to share. In turn, I will have Kasumi share any of our prominent technology with you on her next return. That is all. God bless you, and may you decide in the favor of life in the trillions." The file played out, to the complete silence of the senate. Looking to Chuchi for advice, Kasumi saw that the blue lady herself was astounded, her face as pale as blue could get.
Then, the chaos broke out, for a short time deafening even Padme's voice over the speakers. Countless voices and cries sounded at the same time, some declaring the video a fake, some declaring instant intent to instead seek aid from the Systems Alliance to defeat the Separatists, and even some shouting for a war against the Alliance, as they most certainly had to be Separatists in disguise.
"Order! We will have order!" A blue man with horns on his head shouted, hammering a staff against the floor of the booth in the center of the room, holding the old man Kasumi had been told was Chancellor Palpatine himself.
"Senators, I do believe we should at least let Senator Amidala lay forth her arguments and evidence for this case. After all, if we simply dismiss it due to not wanting to believe, then are we even fit to rule the Republic?" Palpatine said, his voice both stern but also surprisingly persuasive. Kasumi couldn't put her finger on what it was, but she doubted she would disagree with anything he said. Especially because he didn't just dismiss the message. She then looked to Padme, the woman standing firm on her platform while she waited for the chaos to die down, and the chancellor to give her the word once more.
"Thank you Chancellor." She said, then turned to the rest of the Senate; "Senators, we did not only find this message, but also the woman mention in it. Kasumi Goto came here to us, from our neighboring galaxy. We have seen her evidence both in the form of this message, but also in her personal tools and the technology she carries. The scientists of the Republic, the very best there are, have been hard at work with the technology she has given us as a show of good will. No one, not even the Techno-clans have this kind of highly advanced computers and technology." Padme said, and before Kasumi could say or do anything, she, Ashoka and Riyo found their booth floating towards the center of the room. Kasumi threw a look backwards, and saw the blue woman standing at the controls for the platform. Feeling the fear of being seen by so many, she sent the blue senator a glare that spoke death in painful ways. What she also saw, was that a man in a grey uniform had stepped onto their platform. He was dressed in the same manner as the man by the name Wolfe on the big ship, but looked nothing like him. Instead, he had brown hair, a thin, well kept moustache and a pair of stern blue eyes. He gave her a look which she wasn't sure how to understand, but it wasn't hostile.
"With us in the Senate today, Kasumi Goto will speak to you, and Admiral Wullf Yularen will give testimony to the effectiveness of the new technology." As their booth passed that of Padme's, Kasumi caught the eyes of the young senator, and mouthed "I'm going to kill you for this" at her. If Padme understood it, she didn't let it show, instead just tipped her head at the ambassador and the Admiral. Before Kasumi could jump from the platform, and hopefully escape the death that would come along with it, the booth stopped, and the entire Senate fell quiet, as well as Kasumi's heart. For a moment, she was both afraid and hopeful that her heart would stop and give her the excuse not to talk to an entire assembly of hundreds of senators and diplomats. However, no heart-failure came, and so she stepped up to the plate, in more than one sense.
"H-Hello! I am Kasumi Goto of the Sys-systems Alliance. We are a faction compromising solely of humankind, but we share our galaxy with countless other races." She said, bringing up her Omni-tool. At least they had let her keep it, instead of insisting on some trivial piece of equipment far inferior to it. The first image to be broadcasted on as big a holographic screen as possible, as the symbol of the Humans' Systems Alliance, as well as a picture of Earth.
"This is Earth, the homeworld of my race, the human race. We amount to about ten billions of Earth alone, but we also have lots of colonies that house millions of lives too. We are, as my superior Admiral Anna Fisher just said, based in the galaxy we call the Milky Way, which is the galaxy closest to yours, I guess." She said, not sure if what she said was being well-received or shunned. She then drew up a picture of the Citadel station. This in turn, caused the room to erupt in choirs of disbelief.
"We share the galaxy with many others, and most of them can be found here. This is the Citadel, the seat of galactic power. It houses more than 12 million inhabitants, as well as the Citadel council, our equivalent of the Galactic Senate." Kasumi said, then opened the file showing a picture of the three councilors, then ambassador Donnel Udina, making his case to the councilors over holographic contact. the images them became Councilor Sparatus. The image of the Turian councilor caused some to stir in their seats, clear discomfort evident from them. Kasumi could even see it in Riyo.
"This is one of the main councilors, Councilor Eatais Sparatus, the Turian member and representative on the Council." She said, then changed to Tevos;
"This, is Councilor Tevos, current representative of the Asari Republic. Her race is monogendered, so if you ever spot an Asari male, call the news." She said, not being able to help herself from it. It was something she had always wanted to say, but everyone already knew the Asari, so the joke had been pointless until now. Before she could be shouted down, which she would have wished for, in all honesty, she changed the picture to that of Valern. the Salarian made a few people show mild discomfort, the image probably reminding them of their versions of frogs and toads.
"And the last one here, is Councilor Valern, representative of the Salarian Union. He is the one who will probably be there for the shortest time, as his race has an average life-span of only forty years." Kasumi said, waiting for a bit before changing the picture to that of the Citadel Defense fleet, choosing deliberately not to show and tell more about the human ambassador. This was something Padme had told her early on, that she should not tell more than what was necessary if it made them look less important.
The pictures became a video-file, showing the fleet from the inside of the station. the Destiny Ascension in particular was emphasized as the giant warship floated by, its cross-like appearance probably fooling a good portion of the senators into thinking it was a peaceful work of art, not the still most powerful warship in the Milky Way. At least, the most powerful built by the good guys. Kasumi had no real clue as to how big those 'Reapers' were.
Kasumi stood in silence for a while, allowing the sheer size of the Ascension to fill the room, then resumed.
"The Destiny Ascension, which is the ship you see on this film, is the so far biggest ship in the Milky Way. It is built by the Asari Republic and is the flagship of the Citadel Council. It's also the strongest ship known to us, and its main guns can rip through the shields of a standard dreadnought in one go." Kasumi said, allowing the members of the Senate to keep looking at the ship a while longer, then continued.
"At points, it seems my galaxy have technological advantages over yours, but in other you hold the high ground. Trade, would be beneficial for the both of us, and I have already given the schematics of some of our technologies to your militaries." She said, then noticed how Chuchi beckoned for her to sit. The uniformed man had stepped up next to her, giving Kasumi a respectful nod.
"May I take over now, Ambassador Goto?" He asked in a very polite voice, revealing himself to be significantly younger than she had thought at first.
"Sure, ehm... go ahead officer, I mean Admiral... Yularen, was it?" She asked, recalling the introduction Padme had made while the booth was on its way through the empty air.
"Correct Ambassador, now, let me give a big speech of just how well your gifts worked." He said with a smile, then walked to the top of the platform. Apparently not a lot of people had been told that Kasumi had already brought home more than a few pieces of technology, and she saw no reason to let him know of it now anyway.
"Chancellor and Senators, I have the pleasure of telling you that the technology brought to us by Ambassador Goto has completely turned the tables for our fleets. For one, the shielding she has provided has proven to be far better than what we have ever been able to come up with, from fighter up to Venator-class warships. It's only above those that what we have can compete. Also she has given us samples and schematics of computers that surpasses what the Grand Army of the Republic had, by centuries. Our efficiency has been improved by more than hundred percent in fleet-wide operations, and the civilian sectors stand to gain tremendous bonuses from this as well, we..." As the Admiral kept talking, Kasumi found Ashoka to be looking at her with a smile entirely too self-satisfied to be a good thing.
"What?" She asked, giving the Togruta a small smile, but also trying to keep her voice as stern as she wanted it to be. Not an easy thing when you had just presented your entire civilization to alien powers like a project in High-School.
"Now, was that so bad?" She asked with that cocky smile of hers, causing Kasumi to lose the sternness she had tried portraying. Instead she just sank into her seat, sighing with all the tiredness that had been building up ever since she had been shoved into the role of 'Ambassador Goto'.
" I was stared at by thousands, probably broadcasted to the entire planet, will be chased by reporters, I can't go anywhere or do anything without the press butchering me and if I say anything, anything at all, it will be used against me in some way... so, I feel perfect." Kasumi said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Excellent, that means we can finally go have fun. Just the two of us... unless Barris can come too?" Ashoka said, clearly not having caught the sarcasm.
"Well, that would require me to know this Barris... is it a boy you like?" Kasumi asked, well aware that Ashoka was not allowed to have a boyfriend. In a way, it was the ambassador's way of getting back at her friend after the Togruta had seemed to enjoy the squirming she had done when being forced to speak to the Senate.
"Damn... I knew you would use that one... and no, it's not a boy. Barris Offee is a fellow Padawan, and she's a good friend. I think you'll like her." Ashoka said with a smile, giving the Ambassador a light punch in the shoulder.
And of course we end with something lighter :)
Kasumi is the best way to end a chapter, and her story is difficult to pinpoint due to the bigger size of Andromeda, as well as different time-measurement of Coruscant.
Well, review the heck out of this one, cause Jenny isn't coming back to the Normandy with us. In other words, we will be sad for the lack of cute biotic, but smut will then be back on board :)