Remember
Remember them, the fleets of Man
The fleets of Asari, Salarians
Steel of Palavan, the Turians
Sword of the Citadel, the Ascension.
Remember them, those who paid.
Those who down own lives laid.
Remember the terror, the fear given form.
Sovereign, as she took them with storm.
Remember words of valor, words of bravery, words of courage.
Remember the deeds they would birth,
The heroes who would emerge.
Unlikely sisters, siblings and kin
who a battle most dire, had to win.
- Francis Kitt, "Odes to the Fallen"
The Serpent Relay
December 7th
Faryar system, BSV Scorpio
Deck 2. Hangar and Engine room
16:02
This had to be some sort of dream. There was really no other way to explain what had just happened, what was happening right now. Magnus wasn't even sure where to begin describing the emotions and thoughts racing through him, how his heart was beating a hundred miles an hour and his head becoming lightweight, probably due to a helium leak or something.
And yet, as he ran his bare fingers down the exterior of Tara's suit, down her side, the trembling sensation didn't do much to prove anything but this was happening. He didn't know how long he had been here, locked in a strong grip beneath the Quarian girl, Quarian woman, he supposed. He could feel her on top of him, her head rested on his upper chest, her arms hugging his much more solid and muscular frame. She was silent, a content muttering was the only sound made. Like she was secretly professing or wishing for things he didn't know of. Of course, there was one thing he knew now.
She loved him… and, and he seemed to love her.
Gently, he pulled her head a little to rest her visor against his forehead. It was a bit like what he had done back then, on Zorya, when they had won the revolution. Only this time, he knew what it meant, and wanted to do it all the more for that single reason. The glass was cold, yet warm to touch, like it was alive. He supposed something so integral to Tara's life would sort of be part of her. He smiled as he saw her two light bulbs turn on, her silvery eyes open behind it.
"What are… oh Keelah, did I- I mean, I didn't… did… you?" She burst out, her eyes wide open. Magnus frowned, and wondered just what he had done, or what she had done that would make her react like that.
"Tara? What's wrong?" He asked, gently placing a hand on her shoulder, another at the small of her back. When he gently tugged her towards him, closer together, it seemed to confirm something in her mind, and she visibly relaxed.
"I… I thought I had dreamt it all. That it had… is this still a dream? I mean, is this… did you actually say… you know?" She said, insecurity heavy in her voice. Still, the fact that he was hugging her living form to his chest, an action so utterly unlike him, seemed to at least calm her down. Instead of immediately answering, Magnus touched his forehead softly against her visor, claiming a suppressed gasp from her; "You… you did?"
"Yeah…" He chuckled weakly, holding her a little closer. He felt like he had a lot to catch up on, and yet was desperate not to take advantage of her.
"You said you… and I just… oh… oh I did." She stuttered, sounding extremely embarrassed. Magnus chuckled again, touching his forehead to her visor and let it stay there. He gently took one of her hands in his own, interlocking the fingers.
"You okay?" He asked, a little concerned that she hadn't immediately responded to the gesture. Her eyes went to his, and he felt a bit more calm.
"Yes, yes I…I just don't know what to do now. I mean… oh Keelah, you said you loved me, didn't you?" She said, reacting as if the realization had finally hit her like a proverbial brick. Magnus nudged the side of her head a little, rubbing her shoulder with the free hand.
"I did. And I meant it, do don't go trying to make me take it back, alright?" He said with a warm smile. Dear gods, what was this woman doing to his head? Warm smiles, hugs and snuggles? What the Hell was going on in his head? Right, Tara was what was going on in his head.
"And I haven't even said the same thing to you, and I really wanted to because I've felt sorta that way since Illium and we just stayed together and you forgave and accepted me for keeping secrets and even knew about it and you didn't blame me and you told me the truth and your own secrets and I still kept mine from you and… oh Keelah, I… feel a little…" She muttered. Had Tara been standing, she would probably have collapsed from hyperventilation at this point.
"Tara, breathe. Breathe…" Magnus said, smiling as he did. In hindsight, it was quite obvious what those looks she had given him on Illium were, and the knowledge that she had ogled him while working, brought a very rare blush to his face.
"Right… right, sorry I just really didn't mean to start blabbering and it's a defense mechanism and it's really stupid and silly and doesn't really work well for defensive purposes and… breathings, breathing." She stopped herself, then audibly breathed before continuing;" Magnus… you were the only friend I really had on Illium. The first person outside the Suns to care about me, me… a Quarian. Most people would have just walked away when they saw me in trouble, but you… I didn't know what to do and I just… I love you."
She muttered the last part, yet it was muttered with a strength and firmness that almost took him aback. He pulled her a bit closer as they started to sit, keeping her wrapped up in their embrace. She responded in kind, wrapping her smaller arms around his back and leaned into his embrace once more.
"Tara, you're the best thing that's happened to me in this new time. I know I suck a bit at saying these things, mostly because I've never had to be good at them, but… you kept me sane through those months. If you hadn't been there, I'd have either jumped or poisoned myself with alcohol… so…" He said, rubbing her back; "I kinda need you in my life."
"I… you don't know how much this means to… I… thank you. I just…" She said, then sighed and looked away, causing him to worry.
"What's wrong?" She could tell him everything. Even before they had… before thís, he had wanted her to feel she could tell him everything. They had saved each other on Illium, and he would never betray her trust.
"I… don't want there to be more secrets." She finally said.
"Me neither, I guess. But, what secrets?" He knew he could forgive anything she hadn't told him yet. He didn't care how many she had killed or what she hadn't told him. He didn't mind if he was her number eleven in line or something. He would forgive her anything, which in hindsight was another thing completely unusual to him.
"I… do you remember what the Cerberus soldier called me?" She started. Magnus frowned as he recalled the scene that, in a way, had ended where they were now, floating back through space, bound for Zorya where Tara was going to give her report on their findings.
"Are you referring to the insults or the 'black widow' thing?" He asked after a moment of silence. Tara looked up at him, then looked away. He wanted to lead her face back to him, but at least understood not to force the issue. Finally, Tara nodded.
"In-between the time I spent on Omega and when I served the Revolutionary forces, I was… an assassin." She said. Magnus's eyes widened a little, being surprised that Tara had been in that sort of jobs. Of course, he knew she had never told him everything, but this was still a surprise.
"An assassin?" He asked, looking at her with slightly concerned eyes. She must have seen it, as she looked away again. He bit his lips, hating that he was hurting her in any way.
"Well… I wasn't hired, so…but yes. I didn't kill anyone innocent though." She hurried saying the last part, as if he would judge her by her past. Odin knew he himself had a stained one, so he should be the last to judge anyone; "I just… made it easier for the Suns to get more control on Omega, killed bad people…"
"Really? Like who?" He was genuinely curious but could see his question came out wrong; "Sorry, I mean-"
"No, it's… okay." Tara said, breaking him off by raising her hand; "I killed the leader of the Blood Pack on Omega, with a high-powered rifle… and some explosives."
"Garm?" Magnus asked, remembering having run across the name at some point, likely while chasing pirates.
"No, his predecessor, Gatatog Zan. Just as big and ugly, actually." She said, and Magnus could swear he could hear her mood improving by speaking openly of it. Good, because it was interesting to listen to her as well. He'd liked the sound of her voice, even before they had… become something more than friends.
"Still, you took out a Krogan? That's impressive."
"There was the Eclipse Leader as well, Jaroth. He was… my first target." Tara admitted, now almost sounding shy about boasting. Magnus liked that about her. The shy part that was. Well, the 'I've killed two separate mob-bosses' part too, but he really loved those little oddities about her, how she went shy and embarrassed about simple things. Of course, having dispatched a pair of gangsters with a sniper-rifle was anything but simple. Still…
"Jaroth… Jaroth… doesn't ring a bell." He muttered, idly scratching at the start of a scruffy beard on his chin. Tara tilted her head slightly to the side;
"Really? Leader of the Eclipse? Salarian with sadistic tendencies?" Tara asked. Magnus just shook his head.
"Never went against the Eclipse. We chased the Blood Pack a few times, but other than that… sorry, I'm talking and you wanted to tell me something important." He said, realizing he was leading them away from the subject.
"Well… after a while I was sent on missions against other organizations. Cerberus included."
"Ah, I think I'm starting to get the picture." Magnus muttered. Tara nodded;
"Yes… my trademark became slugs coated in the poison of the Black Widow. We had a steady supply of it, from Omega, and both Dextro and Levo die from it so… it was painful, I suppose. Which might be why that woman wanted me dead on Daratar" Tara slumped her head at the last words, which Magnus supposed could be interpreted as an admittance of guilt, or that the racist bitch had been in the right. Which she hadn't, just to clear that up.
"You think it was payback?"
"You heard her. She called me the Black Widow, and said I'd killed a lot of their soldiers over the years." Tara sighed, suddenly not seeming to want to look at him.
"And?" Magnus said, raising a brow; "Do you feel guilty about it?"
"Not really, no… I suppose that just goes to show what sort of person I am." She muttered, then turned to look at him again, her silvery orbs locked in his; "Magnus… what sort of person am I?"
"A sweet, kind and passionate woman. Even if you have killed it's, as far as I understand, been in the service of the poor. You're a heck of a better person than I am too. You have a really nice voice, a cute way of wringing your hands when you're nervous, and I think you are beautiful as well." What he had said, the words… they weren't anything he would have ever said otherwise. It just wasn't him, so why was he saying them now? Right, because it was true.
"You think that way… about me?" She said with a scared voice. No, not scared, but nervous. Magnus took her hands in his, making sure she couldn't bail out if it became too much. He wanted her to stay, even if anyone could come into the hangar at any moment. He didn't care.
"Of course." He said, then added a small grin; "Just don't start removing your helmet just yet to check. I can wait."
It was probably a good thing she was wearing the helmet, as it concealed the furious blush that spread across her face at the thoughts springing into her mind when he uttered those words.
Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream
December 9th
11:22
"…Ow" Thomas groaned, doing his best not to sleep on his front. His pelvis felt like it had been shattered at some point, and he had bruises all over his legs. Thát, along with his back still feeling heated from scratch marks and his mouth feeling raw, he wasn't feeling at the absolute top when he opened his eyes; "As in… ow, I'm sore."
Ashley snorted and giggled from next to him. The bed made a little noise as she leaned on her elbow, coming face to face with him. She was awake already, and had donned her bra, though everything else was still scattered on the floor of the small rented apartment. While soldiers' pay could only get so much, at least the bed had excellent accommodations, and was in perfect shape. Or, it had been. Now, it sounded like they might have broken a spring or two.
"You too, huh?" She asked with a smile that, despite her words, was simply content and warm as she leaned in and kissed him on the mouth. A kiss he wholeheartedly returned and deepened. Feeling arousal return to him, Thomas pondered if a little pain wouldn't be an okay price to pay for a new round. Nah, it'd probably leave him wasted for the rest of the day. As they parted again, Thomas let a hand wander up her cheek, brushing strands of filtered hair from her face.
"I could definitely get used to waking up like this." He mused, continuing caressing her cheek and face; "Even if it means feeling like I was run over by a train."
"Funny." She mumbled, resting her face against his neck, offering small kisses at every few seconds. Thomas pulled an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, allowing their bodies to warm each other beneath the covers. Covers… right, where were the covers?
In the small kitchen, most likely.
"I thought so." He muttered, kissing the top of her head before sighing contently, closing his eyes. Maybe another round wasn't really needed, as much as just relaxing in a bed that for once, wasn't a mattress meant for sports. It was soft, cushioning and had some great springs.
"I feel like a shower." Ashley muttered after some time, a suggesting smile on her lips. Thomas caught the message, having noticed that the apartment possessed a small but still very useful shower. No bathtub though, but the shower was easily spacious enough for two; "What time is it anyway?"
Thomas smacked a hand behind him, looking for the small bedside clock. Thank the gods the Omnitools hadn't monopolized the entire "watch" market.
"11:35… yeah, better get up." He muttered and retrieved his arm from Ashley's waist before sitting up. Yep, still sore… but sore in a good way. Ashley walked past him, her bra dropping past her naked buttocks as she progressed to the bathroom, one hand forming a 'come hither' sign. Shaking his head in amusement, Thomas stood and followed her.
The bathroom wasn't a very big one, but not really small either. Actually it was fairly big for the amount of credits they had paid for it. There was a towel-heater, a rug on the floor, a lowered section where the tiles made sure the water from the shower wouldn't floor the room. Ashley was already toying around with the controls for the shower when Thomas entered the room behind her.
"Having trouble, fair lady?" He asked in a joking voice, although he very much meant the last part. As she was right now, completely undressed and with a befuddled expression on her face, with long strands of dark hair covering a little of her face, she was simply the epitome of human beauty.
"Never was the best with these things… think you can be a knight in… well, a naked knight, and help me out?" She asked, eyeing his private parts with a creasing smirk on her face.
"Don't see why not," He said, stepping past her into the compartment with the shower. He heard the sound of the slide-door sliding shut behind him, but paid it no more thought as he looked at the controls; "This doesn't seem to have changed much since my days."
"Can you figure it out?" Ashley asked from behind, the soft padding of her bare feet treading the tiles accompanying her voice. Thomas grinned a little at that. Truth be told, he had never been particularly good at these things himself either, but he couldn't very well tell her that.
"Doesn't seem too hard…" He muttered, and turned on a valve. Nothing happened, so he turned another. Instantly, very cold water came out of the faucet. He jumped back with a yelp of surprise; "Fuck it's cold!"
Ashley just giggled. Thomas huffed and turned off the water. Right, so that first valve-thing had been the temperature…
The next time he turned on the water, it was a much nicer temperature, warm droplets raining down in his skin. It was the first real shower he had embarked on for… how long? The Normandy didn't have anything comparable. Considering the ship was often away from friendly stations for days on end, sometimes even weeks, it spoke of where military engineers had their priorities. Ashley's arms snaked around his shoulders and down over his chest as he enjoyed the water. He enjoyed her touch for a few moments before turning around, grabbing her by the waist and pulled her, laughing, into the shower with him.
Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream
Office of Admiral Anna Fisher
16:43
"Admiral, got an incoming call. Want me to put it on projection?" Price said. Anna looked up from her reports. Actually they were readiness reports for her collective military forces, consisting of the 10th fleet, the 15th fleet and the 20th fleet. Mostly Americans, though the 15th did consists of a good number of Japanese vessels, the Carrier 'SSV Stone Tiger' included. Carriers were, like the Goliath-class dreadnoughts, excluded from the rule of naming ships, and thus they were christened upon construction, after the personal wishes of the captaining officer.
"Who's it from?"
"Councilor Sparatus." Price said, no emotion to trace in his voice. He was dressed up with the lab coat over his usual attire, meaning he was probably fresh from working with Cole. Anna furrowed her brows. Why was Sparatus calling now? He had to be aware of her being pissed as hell at the Council.
"Right, fine. Put the bugger through and let's hear what he has to say." She muttered, leaning on her elbow as she observed the projection change, from Price to the visage of the Turian councilor.
"Admiral Fisher, am I-" Sparatus started. Anna cut him off;
"Calling at an incontinent time? Calling without being wanted? Had it been either of your colleagues, I wouldn't even have answered the phone. What is it, Councilor?" The emphasis she put on the last word wasn't exactly respect. Sparatus nodded, seemingly understanding her meaning. Good.
"I know. We're… not at the best of terms. Believe me, I tried talking Tevos out of it afterwards, but I didn't even find out about her plans until the meeting." He said.
"Just gloat and get it over with. I've got a few hundred warships to prepare." She scoffed, annoyed. Well, annoyed in this case was a good thing, seeing as it would have been pulsating with rage if one of the other Councilors had forced her way through the comms.
"I am not here to gloat Admiral. Gloating would mean I was happy with the outcome of the meeting. As it stands, I'm embarrassed with my colleagues. A rare thing to hear from a Councilor, I know, but there it is." He started. Anna sensed some bootlicking from his side was coming up, so she let him continue; "I never wanted Humanity relieved of Saren's capture. It was wrong, and I wish I could retract the decision, but two on one, I don't have a lot of pull." Okay, the bootlicking was dragging out.
"Get to the point."
"I want you to please reconsider joining the defense of the Citadel. Apart from Matriarch Lidanya and, for the moment Admiral Oleg Petrovsky, I am the sole military leader on the Citadel. If Saren… if Saren and the Reapers attack, I don't know if we'll survive the chaos." Was Sparatus pleading with her? Why, yes he was. Suddenly Anna's mood went up a few notches. Sure, she was going to save the Council and the Citadel, had to, seeing how they apparently sat on the controls for a relay that would allow a whole fucking fleet of Reapers to pour in and embark on a mass-rape of the galaxy. Still, Sparatus was going to be begging for her to actually give her official consent.
"And why, would I want to sacrifice human lives to save a Council that spat on us? Shat on a mass grave and already has a lot of fleets that you simply don't bother picking up from your own Homeworlds? I know for a fact that the Turian Hierarchy fifth fleet is just sitting around Menea. They have nine dreadnoughts in that fleet alone. Why don't you crawl to them for help?" The look of shame on Sparatus's face was just priceless.
"All Hierarchy fleets are bound at colonies or Palavan for protection of Turian soil…"
"And so Humanity must… what did Petrovsky call it? Oh yeah, 'be your dog' and sacrifice human lives to save a Council that never wanted us on it? Yeah… sounds like a great idea. I'll just do that." Anna said, smirking one of her best sociopathic smirks. Oh boy, had she failed officer-school, she could have taken Broadway by storm, she could.
"Fisher. Let's skip the bullshitting, I know when you want something. Tell me what it is." Sparatus growled. Anna idly tapped a finger to her chin, grinning as she looked to the ceiling. Sometimes she wondered just why Sparatus contacted her and not uncle. Right, because Stephen had loathed the Turians since a Hierarchy patrol had let the Batarian slavers hitting Mindoir slip through. Anna wanted to do so as well, but for once knew that common sense came before personal desire to tell the Turians where to stuff their fringes.
"You seem to be annoyed my dear Sparatus." She said with a sweet voice, playing the role of innocent and naïve. The annoyed and frustrated look on Sparatus, just gave her all the more reward for the performance.
"Millions of lives are at stake here, Fisher!"
"Trillions actually. But ah well, I suppose we could leave some records behind telling how the Council of this cycle didn't want to move their asses." Anna said, leaning back in her chair, gazing out the window. The sound of hands hammering hardware at first made her think someone had snuck in, but it turned out to be Sparatus who had punched his own terminal.
"Have you no decency, so sense of duty at all?!" He shouted. Alright, time to drop the act she supposed. Still, well-worth the recording she was going to have of this conversation. She looked briefly at the inactive disk housing Price, then back up at Sparatus.
"Oh I do, plenty in fact. I crap out Decency and I eat Duty. They're my D&D's. Alright, you wanna know my demands, which must mean you don't consider Hackett an option."
"He didn't answer the call." Sparatus said, his quieted tone betraying the fact that he probably knew exactly why the old man was picking up the phone.
"Yeah, because your patrols botched it, like they always do. Unless of course a new species tries activating-"
"Just give me your Spirits-be-damned demands!" Sparatus cut her off, his voice once more at a pissed level. Anna shrugged.
"Alright. First off, you will accept instantly if Humanity wants a permanent seat on your Council. If you refuse, we're leaving the Citadel altogether. In which case, you will recognize us as a sovereign faction, renew trading deals, recognize the Quarians as no longer under your authority… actually, that last part is redundant, since they are now Alliance. You will also give up any idea of reapplying the Treaty of Farixen to the Alliance." She started. Sparatus grew slack at the last part.
"You wouldn't have the authority to-" Anna cut him off;
"Oh believe me, I have the pull it would take." She said, then continued before he could say any more; "Also, full pardon to the Krogans for the Rebellions, as well as staying out of their attempts to overcome it."
"The Krogan? Admiral, what the hell are you playing at here?"
"I'm not done. You will also pay full reparations for the First Contact War. There, now I'm done." She said, leaning back with a small puff of satisfaction. Sparatus looked like he wanted to shoot his terminal, but Anna was, apparently, his best and seemingly only chance of getting some relief for the Citadel. God, she loved politics. Especially the type conducted in a time of stress and chaos.
"You seriously expect me to be able to convince the others of this?" The Turian demanded, seemingly aghast at the implications and work in store for him. Anna folded her hands behind her neck and leaned back in her chair;
"If you want Humanity to pitch in, you gotta learn we don't play Justice League for free. Call me back when you've agreed to the terms." She said, then turned to the figure of Price having popped up in his own smaller disk; "Price, end of transmission"
The AI nodded and waved his hand. Anna knew it was an organic gesture, as a mere thought from the construct would be enough, as well as faster than doing it "manually". The Councilor vanished, right in the middle of a protest.
Now, all she needed to do was to be ready when the call came to hunt her some squids.
December 12th
Arcturus station, Arcturus stream.
Storage section D-5
14:22
"Right… so… what now?" Thomas asked, looking between the members of the small, and unusual group standing around in the large, otherwise deserted room. Roku, green and unarmed, an order more than a request from Anna, Tequila, and Wrex were all standing around. Roku shook the head of the geth platform, then turned his 'eye' over the huge space of the section used for storing goods, materials and resources.
"Now, we split up. Wrex will take Corporal Aquila a bit away from the two of us, Thomas, and then we'll try drilling some actual talent into the two of you. Brute force won't do you any good if Saren really packs as much of a punch as you," He said, looking at the people in the room capable of shredding metal, and apparently rock as well, with their bare hands; "'say he does."
"I still wanna know why he can throw the floor at us. I mean, he's a Turian, not… whatever you actually are." Tequila said, looking at Roku.
"First, I'm an Aspect, Aquila. I embody fire, sometimes wrath and just sheer power. I do a bit of host-healing too, but other than that… Fire is my main profession, as you mortals would call it."
"And would you please stop calling us 'mortals'? It's creepy as hell."
"Second, I suspect Nazara has picked him as more than just a messenger, but also as a platform. Nazara is… different, as you might know. She belongs to-"
"She?" Wrex cut him off. Roku turned a silent flare of pedals to the Krogan before continuing;
"She, belongs to a faction of aspects and… things there aren't invented words for, that desire absolute power and chaos. My side represents order, and thus we have the conflict. It's really that simple. Anyway, Nazara is corrupted, which means she took more than what was rightfully hers before… departing, I suppose you could call it, taking a physical form."
"I'm so much not following." The corporal said, rubbing the bridge of her nose in obvious annoyance.
"Nazara took gifts originally bestowed to me, Kalros, Kynareth and Athane. Needless to say, that makes Saren a pissing-dangerous enemy if he has been given everything Nazara took."
"Kalros? As in the mother-" Wrex started.
"Yes, as in the Mother of all thresher maws, Wrex. What, you really thought they got that big through sheer age?" As Wrex responded with nothing but a shrug, Roku palmed the iris of his 'eye'; "Honestly, how do you think Krogan got the Gift in the first place? Looked at a worm and said 'hey, I wanna do that'?"
"Well, it's how the Shamans tell it. A bit more crude maybe, but yeah." The old Krogan said, not really sounding like he regretted being wrong.
"Master… Kalros is another Aspect, only she is of Rock, patience and hunger."
"Doesn't sound like those three have a lot in common." Thomas pondered, scratching his cheek.
"You'd be surprised at just how much they do. Anyway, Kalros took on form back in a cycle forgotten even when the Protheans learned to make fire. Back then the Thresher Maws were… different. More intelligent for one. They dumbed themselves down when the Reapers were winning, making it clear they were not an intelligent or spacefaring species."
"Surreal… wait, you said 'Kynareth'?" Thomas asked, suddenly one big gawk. Roku flared his pedals a few times, maybe in annoyance.
"Yes… unfortunately, or fortunately if you are me, Kynareth isn't in this dimension. So disregard her for now. Athane is the last one you need to concern yourselves with." Roku explained.
"Athane being… who?"
"Asari Goddess. Doesn't get much more ascended than thát." Wrex offered. Roku nodded;
"Yes, only she was actually of Prothean form, not Asari." The Aspect said. Thomas shook his head;
"Let me guess, not really a Prothean but just took on form at that time?" Roku nodded again;
"Yes. Thanks to being sealed in this walking prison though, I have no idea where to, or even if she is to be found." Roku sighed, tapping his metallic torso with a synthetic finger; "She's the Aspect of change, calm, fluidity and acceptance." Thomas did some counting on his hand;
"Let me guess… she could do magic with water." He sighed, rubbing his temples. Roku looked at him with what could be taken for surprised acknowledgement;
"Yes. Good guess." Thomas went from rubbing his face to palming it instead;
"Gods… this is Avatar all over again." He muttered. Roku didn't seem top deem that worthy of a response though, and sent Tequila and Wrex their own way. Thomas didn't know what exactly for, other than 'drilling some actual talent' into the corporal.
"Right… so what are the two of us supposed to be doing then?" Thomas asked, glancing at Roku. The platform looked at him, flapping the pedals a few times before speaking again;
"You are going to use whatever means you have, to outlast me. In that regard having a body is actually fairly useful." Roku said. Thomas was about to question just what the flying pancake he was supposed to make of thát, when the first ball of fire came his way.
Oh, this was going to hurt.
The ball of fire raced at him, visibly setting the air behind it on fire. Thomas cringed and jumped for cover, not wanting to be in the way of a super, fiery death.
"Running away is not the way to do this. Use your temper, rage, anger! Focus!" Roku shouted, hurling another fireball at him. This one came faster than before, leaving him no time at all to escape. Thomas covered his face with his arms and braced for the impact that would surely leave him a charred corpse.
Sure enough, the heat started making his skin blister as the fire closed in, and the pain was enough for him to yell out. Still, it was all that happened, and the fire dissipated on his skin, leaving his hurting, but otherwise intact.
"Come on! Fire is temper, wrath, focus and will! Fire is attack, not defense, offense, not cowering behind your arms!" Roku kept on berating. Coupled with the agonizing burns, Roku was starting to severely piss Thomas off.
"I'm fucking trying you piece of shit!" He yelled back. His vision was already starting to grow tinted with green, the same thing that had happened every time he would start glowing. But apart from what had almost happened when Anna grabbed him, he had only ever done so with Roku's help.
"Good! You are angry, or at least pissed. Strike out, use it!" Roku kept shouting. Thomas snorted in anger and pain, his skin still sizzling from when the fire had licked it. Following Roku's words to cause the platform damage, he punched at the geth, energy coursing through his veins. What came from it were bursts of fire, green emerald flames casting their unnatural lighting across the area.
"Like that! Do it again! Push! Breathe! Push! Breathe!" Roku's never-ending coaching was starting to get on his nerves, even if the rational part of his brain told him that the aspect was simply goading him on. Thomas balled his fists and breathed, pulling in fresh air. Before he could strike again, Roku beat him to it, sending out a copy of Thomas' own attack, a pair of fiery bursts. In response, Thomas held his hands up once more, but this time he kept focusing the energy in them, as if he was going to attack.
The resulting effect was that the fire dissipated a good distance from his skin, leaving it heated, but no further harmed. The initial surprise at this was quickly drowned out by panic as Roku threw more fire at him. Thomas jumped to the side, effectively avoiding the blazing heat, allthewhile throwing out energy in a rough punch through the air, sending a ball of green, glassy fire at the construct. Roku simply battered it aside.
"Why can't I hit you?!"
"Because you act like when I guided your hand in former combat. You are the only one in control now, so the energy will not simply abide by your will. You must force it, breathe life into it like you would a fire, then release it."
"In English?" Thomas growled, wiping sweat from his face. He really wished he had brought something else than his uniform, but he hadn't known he was going to be jumping around like a monkey.
"You should attempt to focus. Desire to strike at me, to burn me. Make sure you breathe. Your breath is what enables you to make the energy, the Chi." Roku explained, briefly halting his attacks.
"You know, this really sounds like a…" He panted; "…a cheesy version of Avatar."
"Not a bad way to describe it. They had the idea right, just needed the physics for it too." Roku said, pulling his arms through a backwards-going circle. Thomas had only a slight notion of what the aspect was going to do, until both robotic hands pressed forward, palms outward and unleashed a short but powerful torrent of flame. Yelping once more, Thomas rolled out of the way. He was used to being fired at, not set on fire by someone else.
"Really?" He said as he came to his feet, the sound of tearing metal the only other thing to pick up in the distance, followed by a string of Hispanic profanities. Thomas was already getting tired, and he hadn't even landed a blow on Roku yet.
"Quite so. You need plenty of air in your lungs to produce the energy, you need a full belly, believe it or not, to sustain the energy, and you need focus to project it. Those three are the main factors you need to worry about. Again." Thomas simply nodded and instead of bracing himself for the next attack, he ran forward, towards Roku, with a fist bathed in fire.
December 13th
Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream
Office of Admiral Anna Fisher
12:59
"Admiral, Councilor Sparatus is on the comms." Price said. Anna saved and filed her work, then turned and looked at the projector.
"Open up a channel." The AI nodded. Instantly, the visage of a visibly strained Councilor appeared, wearing formal clothes as per usual, though he seemed to have mismatched a pair of shoes.
"Councilor, how may I help you?" Anna said, putting on her most diplomatic and friendly face. Sparatus didn't look like he was buying it though. Wasn't supposed to either; "Alright, let me hear it then."
"The Council has… considered your proposition…" Sparatus started.
"It's perfectly fine if you wanna call it 'blackmailing', you know." Anna huffed, knowing that was exactly what Sparatus thought it was. And in a way he was right. Or, half right. From his point of knowledge, she would only help if they agreed to their terms. If not, she wouldn't. In reality though, she was going to be helping no matter what, as was Uncle, most likely. Of course, she couldn't know for certain what he would do. Yes, he had a strong sense of duty, but the Turians were indirectly responsible for the death of Megan's parents, his daughter.
"I don't care what you call it. The Council has considered your demands. I'm sad to say, as it is now, humanity won't gain a seat on the Council. I was in favor, but Tevos… argued that a lot of species have been waiting for decades and longer to get a seat. Esheel said winning a few battles wasn't going to earn a seat on the Council. I find myself… ashamed, of them." Sparatus admitted that much, which made Anna raise a brow. Her respect for Sparatus just went up at least half-a-notch.
"What about the rest?" She said, pulling her auburn hair back from her face.
"As you might have expected, Esheel was adamant and against the very idea that we let the Krogan overcome the Genophage. As you know, the Salarians developed it."
"And your people deployed it. That means you were against it too?" Sparatus looked away for a moment;
"I am, but that is academic. If war is coming, we can't afford to discard what resources we have on hand. Still, even when I voted for, Tevos and Esheel were aghast at the idea. Esheel even suggested we deployed a new version, to make sure the Krogan weren't going to… right. Other than that… the Council agreed to all propositions." Anna nodded, having not really expected much else. To be honest, she had expected them to be adamant that the Quarians were still to be considered exiles, and that the treaty of Farixen would resume after they had dealt with the Reapers.
"And… that is your Council's final say in this?"
"I'm afraid so, yes. I suppose this means you plan for the Alliance to leave the Citadel?" Sparatus actually sounded genuinely sorry that events had transpired as they had. Knowing that the man understood only two things, practicality and duty, Anna wasn't surprised.
"Possibly, yeah. Still… I'm actually kind of surprised they agreed to that much. I know I've not always treated you with the respect you deserve Sparatus…" Anna started, causing the Councilor to look at her with surprise; "But if we all survive this, maybe I'll start actually addressing you by your title. However, we need to survive some serious shit, and you have done the best you could."
"So, can we count on your fleets?" The Turian asked, hope in his voice. How odd, that the very species who had thought to take Humanity by storm in the first contact war, now looked to them for help. The universe was a funny place sometimes. Anna nodded.
"Yes. My fleets will be there in case things get too hot. Still, I expect your defense fleet to actually take the brunt of the attack, you know, do what their job entails." Sparatus blew a sigh of visible relief.
"Thank you, Admiral. I won't forget this, and I'll make damned sure my colleagues won't either." Sparatus said. Sensing the call was over, Anna nodded, then disconnected them.
She blew a long sigh, opening a drawer beneath her desk. Out, she pulled a small glass, as well as a bottle of Islay Scotch. An engineer back in the day, Samus Donnelly, had introduced her to the drink. As she poured the beverage, Anna briefly pondered what had happened to the man.
"So… will we be going to war then?" Price asked, popping up in his private projector. Anna took her attention from the glass, and to the AI. Price had scrapped the egghead suit and was standing, fully armed, as if he himself was going to be doing some shooting.
"Depends, how far are we with the Hammer?" Price tipped his hat at the question.
"Pretty much good to go actually. Still need to test-fire the engines while installed on the ship, and we don't know if the main guns will actually be able to function, but… yeah, we're good."
"The SOSNSA? Is it ready?"
"To put it in terms, the paint is just drying right now. Everything has been coated, the hull, armor, shields and armaments are all in place. Ammunition and supplied sufficient to last a crew of three thousand a month is being loaded as we speak, and crew enlistments have been started two days ago." Anna widened both eyes at that.
"I didn't order that. Who did? I mean, it's a brilliant thing, but who the hell gave the order?" She said, although she was almost sure she knew.
"Colonel Exar Kun and I worked together on getting the logistics planned. The man is a genius, even if he seems a bit… off. Also, the Migrant Fleet has proven more than able to supply us with crewmen, especially technicians and engineers."
"How many?" Anna asked. This day was starting to feel a little strange, like her legs were getting all giddy. Maybe it was just because things were working out for her for once. Whatever it was, she actually felt like smiling and donating to funds for homeless squirrels.
"Twenty thousand Quarians have enlisted in the Alliance navy so far, with one-thousand five hundred and two picked for the Hammer of Vengeance." Anna let out a low whistle at the number;
"Damn… if we can fill the rest with actual humans, it'll be a perfect example of a two-species ship."
"Going good on that front too. We're only two-hundred ensigns short. Arcturus Command has delivered the manpower you… I requested too." Now Anna cocked an eyebrow;
"Price… you faked my signature?" She asked with slight annoyance, though also amusement in her voice. Price blew a very organic puff at his hat;
"Give me some credit. I impersonated you entirely. Voice, appearance, everything. Only works with transmissions though, and people who knew you would see through it immediately." The AI scoffed, shrugging. Anna once more thought, just how different her AI was from the stories she had heard of the legendary SAS captain. According to history, John Price was completely foreign to humor and sarcasm. Obviously, the programmers here had taken liberties with her AI.
"Ah, well still impressive. So, how long until we can kick ass?"
"Probably a day, at most. In the meantime, I'd suggest testing out the engines and the main gun. The outer Stream has a good deal of asteroids devoid of proper materials, why don't we test the guns out there?"
"You think that's a good idea?" Anna said, slowly feeling the effect of the alcohol set in.
"Don't see why not. We might as well see what the guns can do, and the trip will be a good way to test the engines." Price shrugged. Anna scratched her chin, nodding as she though the idea over.
"Hmm… alright. Let's take the girl out for a spin. Have all available crew stand ready in five hours exactly, you got that?"
"Yeah, I'm not a VI. I'll issue the command and start going over systems, see if everything's ready for launch. I'd appreciate if you didn't tell those Quarians not in the know, that I'm an AI. Let them think I'm just an ED-VI for now." Price said.
"ED-VI?"
"An Enhanced Defense Virtual Intelligence. Used them on Spec Ops ships back in the UNSC. Apparently you have the same here, so we'll roll with that for now." Price said, doing a symbolic roll of his neck at the same time. Anna shook her head, sighed then nodded. Might as well get on with it.
"Alright, we'll roll with it. It's not as if the survival of galactic civilization hinges on it or anything… oh wait." She muttered, a little tired despite the time. One of the disadvantages of reaching the autumn of life was that you needed to take naps. And Anna had missed a lot of hers. Coupled with the latest days of struggling, she was dead-beat tired.
"Admiral, your readings tell me you could drop any moment. Take the rest of the day, at least the next few hours, and get some sleep. I'll run things with Jefferson, make sure the ship runs, and report as soon as we've tested out the ship." Price had a note of concern to his voice. At first, Anna wanted simply to say he could go stick his concern a certain place, but then the need to yawn, as well as the overwhelming need to shut her eyes betrayed how she really felt.
Fuck it, might as well obey the AI. Thát had never let to a crisis.
"Alright… but you better not scratch the paint." She said. Price nodded and vanished, leaving Anna alone in the office. She shook her head, scratching at the bottom of her hair before proceeding to pull off her uniform as she headed for the bed. It was damn handy to have one's bedroom in one's office, it really was.
System Edge, Arcturus Stream
SSV Hammer of Vengeance, CIC.
19:27
"Alright… take us ten-point-five Grid eight, six mark two." Jefferson said, standing proud at the helm of the newest, and by far the most powerful ship in the Systems Alliance.
"Just say 'go there' I'm perfectly capable of steering." Price said in his ear. They maintained a private channel for whenever Price wasn't playing the role of VI to the crew on the bridge, of which a good part was Quarian. Jefferson hadn't worked with Quarians before, but so far he had nothing negative on them. They seemed dedicated enough, they followed orders and were loyal so far. Also, it was because of the Quarians that the ship had even been completed when it was. Otherwise, they might still be constructing hull-plates right now.
"I know, Price, I was talking to the helmsmen." The officer bit back. While he was perfectly fine with Quarians, the idea of an AI co-operating the ship had him a little uneasy. Anna Fisher trusted it, which was the only reason he did, but at least it… he, had yet to apologize for Jefferson not being allowed to do something.
The helmsmen, a team consisting of both humans and Quarians, responded dutifully to the human officer's order, taking the ship on a slightly changed angle towards a lone chunk of rock, barely the size of Arcturus, floating through space. It was almost symbolic to test out the new guns here, as it was the site for the first test-shooting done with the SSV Kilimanjaro. Now, the biggest warship ever made by mammalian hands, Asari excluded, would be put to the test against an innocently appearing hunk of space-rock.
"Gunnery, what's your status?" Jefferson said, calling up the section of the dreadnought responsible for, and holding the controls and mechanisms for the twin-linked main guns, each spanning the length of the vessel's spine, positioned atop of each other with a set of dampeners to separate the weapons. Both three-point-five kilometer barrels would take up to a minute to full charge, and that was if maximum power was drawn from everything non-essential. Then again, each could fire a forty-kilo slug, delivering twice the firepower available to an average dreadnought. Take that and then the fact that they could, at their very best simulated performance, deliver a kinetic bombardment with just half a second between each shot, and you'd have a vessel that could easily compete with the Destiny Ascension.
"Gunnery here. Main gun is charged and ready, ammunition has been loaded in both rails, and all turrets are primed. Everything is green here." A Quarian voice said. It really felt odd to have so many aliens on an Alliance warship, but then again, the Quarians were Alliance now. Best get over any prejudice one had before too long.
"Scans, do we have a target?"
"Sir, target locked on radar, systems narrowing in at about… now. Target locked sir." A woman, human, called back. Scans were located on the bridge, easily available to the commanding officer in charge. For the time being, that was him.
"Gunnery, status?"
"Round 1 and 2 ready sir. Starting with Sabot-type ammunition. Ready to fire sir." A human answered this time.
"Good. Fire both rails and let's see what they can do." Jefferson said. There was a slight tremble, ever so small, and scans revealed first one, then half a second later, another streak of light speeding away from the bow of the vessel, headed for the doomed asteroid hanging in space.
A moment later, the slugs impacted with half a second in-between. There was a relatively small explosion, due to the lack of air as well as flammable materials, but the effect was visible from the pair of 74 kiloton bombs that hit the rock. A regular dreadnought had a main gun that fired a twenty-kilo slug, impacting with the force of a 38 kiloton bomb. It would have been doing the Goliath-class disrespect to have anything but twice the kinetic energy released.
"Scans, impacts and effect?"
"Sir, the asteroid has suffered a massive crack throughout its internal integrity. We almost cut it in half with the Sabot-slugs. Recommend change of target to test fission and plasma."
"Acknowledged. Find us a new turkey to shoot."
December 14th
Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream
Office of Admiral Anna Fisher
09:11
The chime of her alarm-clock stirred her awake from sleep. The fact that she had an alarm set instantly made Anna jam her eyes straight open and look around her office. Holy crap-fucks, how long had she been out?
"Ah, Admiral." Price said from his projection on her desk. Anna, disregarding the fact that she was wearing only her camouflage-underwear, swung her feet over the bed and jumped out, eyes narrowed and focused on the AI; "Good to see you are awake. Slept well, I hope."
"Price! Why the fuck is it-" She stopped, taking a glance at the clock; "-Nine in the morning? You were supposed to report the moment you had conducted tests, not let me doze off like a lazy teenager!" There was really nothing that beat being pissed off in the morning.
"Thought it would be a stupid idea to wake you at four in the morning. You've worked yourself half to death these past weeks. I decided you could use some extra hours. It was for your health, if nothing else, we need you at your peak." The AI said, defending his actions. Anna wasn't buying it, but decided to get the important issues out of the way first.
"Alright… fine. Report then." She groaned. Price snapped to a salute, then stood at ease.
"Reporting the engines are working to specifications. Power-core and fusion-plant worked seamlessly together, as did the human-Quarian crew. Jefferson seemed to distrust me a little, but nothing more. Main guns 1 and 2 turned out to be in need of calibration. Said action has been taken and they now function optimally."
"Tri-guns?"
"Tri… what?" Price asked, looking briefly confused; "Ah, the broadsides. They function as well. Aim-time is a little cumbersome, but they are far more effective than the original plans to have stationary guns mounted. Each locked, loaded and fired within a period of five seconds. All in total, all ten turrets function to optimal capacity. The SOSNSA has hardened and is ready. Shields are at the ready and… well, everything actually runs smoothly. The crew rounded the optimal number last night, so… we're just waiting for you actually."
"Just for me?" Anna muttered, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She pulled her uniform on, tied her shoelaces and considered breakfast. Fuck it though, she could dig into the cantina's supplies if she had to. She was excited, yes, but not in a hurry.
It wasn't as if the Citadel was going to be attacked today, just to fuck up her mood.
Citadel, Serpent Nebula.
Citadel Traffic Control.
15:27
Ayal Hiatus flexed her fingers, preparing herself for a new day at work. Working as a traffic monitor for Citadel control, as well as keeping track of the incoming and outgoing ships, was a dream-job, even if some might disagree with her. Her dad had always said that Turians would value any job that was productive and that she would fulfill her duty and make them proud. Her mother had always said that her father had a tendency to be dull, and that she should make some friends on her new job. So, she decided to at least give it her best. Still, being the only Asari on the job was a little lonely.
"So, new one on the job, eh?" A human operator next to her said, sending her a friendly smile. He looked like he was in the human Matriarch… or Patriarch state, since humans didn't have Matriarchs. He looked old, she decided.
"Yes, it's my first day here. Is it very busy?" She asked with a small tone of shyness. No helping it, that was her mother's side, right there.
"Not really. Mornings are the worst, but we don't get a lot of traffic in the middle of the day. Mostly the occasional warship coming in for repairs, or a freighter delivering late goods. Those guys are tricky, you should know, because they often tend to believe they are more important than the others, and tries mashing their way in. Just make sure no one dies, and you'll be fine." He said, grinning at her.
"Dies?" She asked, feeling like she might just have picked the wrong job. The human just chuckled;
"Just kidding. Haven't had a crash in more than a week now, so take it easy. You're not alone here, we'll help out if something goes wrong, okay?"
"Thanks. I'm Hiatus, Ayal Hiatus."
"Markus Donneltá, pleasure to meet you Ayal." He said, then looked back at his screens; "Huh… seems like I spoke too soon before. We've got a small fleet incoming. Counting… wait, why are they unmarked?"
"Unmarked?" Ayal asked, growing slightly nervous at her colleague's seriousness.
"Yeah… better call C-Sec, tell them… tell… Oh my God…" Markus gasped. Ayal followed his eyes, more accurately his scans, and looked at his displays. The Serpent Relay was spinning up, pulsating with blue energy. Whatever caused such a concentration of power, it had to be massive. Then, with the soundless flash of objects appearing in the void, a swarm of insectoid vessels appeared from the Relay. Markus turned to sound the alarm, while Ayal stared at the displays in simple awe and fright.
Behind the insectoid vessels, a new shape suddenly appeared from transit. It was huge, a hulking shape that bore resemblance to monsters from a horror vid. It dwarfed the vessels accompanying it, and it was headed straight for the station. The monstrosity did seem to strike a chord of her memory, and as the thing closed in on the Citadel, easily bigger than any dreadnought she had ever seen, she remembered the news broadcast from back when some human colony was attacked. The CNN had shown footage of a ship, a thing, that looked like this.
Goddess help her, she was starting to get scared now.
Codex Update: Goliath-Class Super-Dreadnought
Example: SSV Hammer of Vengeance.
The Goliath-Class warship, better described as a super-dreadnought, ranges from the two-point-seven kilometer warship on Earth 'Spirit of Eden Prime' to the hulking size of the SSV Hammer of Vengeance this report has been centered around.
The Hammer of Vengeance is measured to 3.510 meters, and thus outranges the 2.765 meters of the Destiny Ascension, to date the largest warship ever constructed by the current galactic civilization. The ship bears a general resemblance to a regular Alliance Dreadnought, although a set of traits, aside from sheer scale, sets it apart from the rest. While the angled sides of the Alliance ships have been preserved, the center of the vessel is far bulkier and spans a relatively far greater level on top. The amount of thrusters has also been doubled, to ensure optimal maneuverability for the ship, giving the backside the appearance that all thrusters have been amassed into a single engine. This can be partly attributed to the new drive-core that utilizes an amount of Element Zero that only surpasses Dreadnoughts by a factor of 1.6, and not the 3.1 that would be expected from a ship this size. A reason for this is the incorporation of state-of-the-art technology that allows for cold-fusion engines to deliver a staggering amount of power to the engines when not in transit between Relays.
The armaments of the Goliath-Class warship are also vastly superior to those of a standard Dreadnought, ranging from improved turrets, broadside weapons, improved GARDIAN-systems, groundbreaking plasma-weaponry and more. Furthermore, the main guns of the ship consist of a pair of cutting edge Bofors railguns situated atop of each other.
Armament:
2x Bofors IX 1400mm railguns. Ammunition: 40kg Ferris slugs, Sabot, plasma- and nuclear warheads. Rate of fire: 2 shots/second.
6x Bofors IV 600mm front mounted railguns. Ammunition: 20kg Ferris slugs. Rate of fire: 1 volley/3 second.
10x Hishuko broadside turrets, with three cannons of frigate-class firepower. Ammunition: 12kg Ferris slugs. Rate of fire: 1 Barrage/5 second.
50x Bofors top- and bottom-mounted 120mm turrets. Ammunition: Standard shells, Sabot, Nuclear, plasma-tipped shells. Rate of fire: 3 shots/second.
100x GARDIAN-system emplacements. Ammunition: energy weapon, fed by dedicated power plant. Rate of fire: 10 shots/second. WARNING: Rate of fire, accuracy, damage inflicted decreased when overheating systems.
20x Lockheed Martin rep. Ion-weapon emplacements along upper vessel. Rep. Ion-weapons project a stream of superheated plasma, allowing for bypassing of shields, melting of hulls and anti-fighter roles. Ammunition: Ionized gas superheated, then compressed into magnetic chamber, wrapped in own magnetic field before being projected at rate making it appear to be a solid beam, not singular pulses. Rate of fire: 1 shot/ 10 seconds. WARNING: Experimental plasma weaponry. Risk of overheating, malfunctioning and leak of gas or plasma-substances into ship.
- 20x Archer missile pods.
- 10x Javelin missile bays.
- 10x Mk. II plasma torpedoes.
Armoring:
50cm Lockheed Martin Dreadnought-class hull armor.
Arcturus Tech Mithril-shielding.
Quarian Fleet (QF-CBT) Cyclonic Barriers, improved by Alliance Engineers. Mk. III version installed upon Hammer of Vengeance.
(SOSNSA) Semi-Organic Synthetic Nano Ship Armor. Grown from carbon-molecules cultivated by addition of Hydrogen, Palladium and Oxygen, forms a 30mm layer of redundant carbon nanotubes coating the vessel in question in heavy armor, though rendering it nearly impervious to conventional fire, projectiles, plasma and to a certain degree, thermal weaponry such as lasers as well. Unfit for crafts below cruisers.
Deployables:
Space:
50x (QF) Hammerhead fighter drones. Armament: 10mm miniguns.
50x Wasp Gunships.
Planetside:
20x Apocalypse Heavy Battle tanks.
20x AT-TE Heavy Siege Walker Battle tanks.
1x Alliance Marine division. 2.000 units.
5x Recon Mako IFV's.
"Let Battle be joined!" - Cenarius, but I figured it fit here too.
Well, well, well... Anna has herself a new toy at last, and Sovereign has started the attack on the Citadel. This means the final chapters in the story are about to begin, and the battle for galactic survival is to be had between the forces of order, and the forces of destruction. (And for those claiming that the Reapers represent order... well, bugger.)
Let us see... what happens. Especially if you review and potentially toss ideas my way. I've got the battle planned out, but good ideas will be taken into consideration.
See ya :)