Aethyta sat in the troop bay of the Falcon VTOL as it swooped over the Visegrad Highlands. As far as garden worlds went, Reach lived up to the name. The humans had more than seven hundred million colonists there, and yet had managed to limit their gross impact on the world to a few concentrated locations.
One of which they were heading to right now.
She eyed the Spartan emblazoned with A259 on his chestplate. "Why am I tagging along on this little expedition again? It's a downed communications relay."
Kat scoffed beside her. "You're here for the ride because you need to shepherd Majestic's inaugural patrol."
"What, then, are you out here for?"
"Outreach," Spartan Carter nodded towards the largest of the Spartans. "Jorge is from Reach. Command thinks he'll be able to smooth any ruffled feathers about having a pair of Spartan Fireteams thundering about."
The Matriarch frowned and looked out over the countryside. "That's a lot of firepower to check out a bad phone connection."
"It was lost mid transmission," Kat stage whispered. "Scuttlebutt has it that the local command sent a pair of fire teams into the area last night to find out why. No contact since then."
Jorge chuffed and fussed Kat's helmet. "Little Cat shouldn't go spreading rumors; it's unprofessional." He allowed his hand to be swatted aside. "I'm just glad to get off post and see the countryside." He leaned back with a wistful sigh.
The flight of Falcons winged over as they rounded a mountain, then pitched up and started to descend.
Carter-A259 put his helmet on and grabbed his rifle. "Whatever the reason we were sent out here, we're here now and we have our orders. Lock and Load, Spartans!"
There was a round of Hooyahs from the various Spartans, as the gunships touched down.
She hopped down and unlimbered her shotgun. The Disciple had been a gift from an old friend before heading out, and she relished the familiar smooth lines of Asari design.
Her time with the Spartans had left her somewhat less charitable towards her old Commando armor; what the troops all called her, 'Battle-Bustiere' or 'Combat-Catsuit'. Unfortunately, the few times she'd tried to use UNSC armor, her Biotics had usually fried the internals, blown the carapace to shreds, or both.
For the moment, she would just have to endure DeMarco's and Madsen's wandering eyes, and make them pay for it in training later.
"So, you going to take point ma'am?" Several of the Spartans could be heard chuckling.
Apparently Hoya needed a reminder as well.
"You want to get thrown off the mountain for ogling my ass, rather than watching your zone, Spartan?" There was no humor in her tone.
Grant and Thorne seemed to be the only two in this Fireteam with what she considered proper discipline, though both lacked DeMarco's command instinct. Thorne had promise, but he needed confidence first.
She centered herself to drive out the distracting thoughts. I'm not a Matron, these aren't my daughters.
Once the team was moving, they were on task with Hoya on point with a shotgun, and Thorne bringing up the rear with his sniper rifle. Rifles swept back and forth as they followed the veteran Noble Team to a farmstead on a cliff.
"Noble, recon the buildings. Majestic, overwatch," Commander Carter called out, as the teams moved.
Aethyta settled in and let her senses stretch out. She could feel the Neutrinos from the various Mjolnir suits, the faint ripples in gravity as animals flitted about, the almost spicy zing of minute quantities of Ionizing radiation...
Aethyta looked down to the farm courtyard, where a wrecked vehicle still burned. "Noble Team, be advised; indications of high-energy weapons discharges."
"Noble 2 confirms," Kat came over the radio. "Radioactive activation from particle and plasma strikes."
"No," Jorge rumbled, "can't be; not on Reach!"
Aethyta saw concern in the Spartans for the first time since arriving. Intellectually, she understood: the UNSC didn't employ energy weapons in large scales, though they had been fighting an enemy that did for several decades.
"Any chance this is a local veteran with some battlefield salvage? Maybe one that took exception to UNSC troops?"
"Take no chances, Spartans," Carter pinged everyone. "Best case scenario, we have a disgruntled local with valorised Covenant gear."
The 'worst case' was left unsaid, as the two teams continued their patrol. Majestic remained on overwatch, shadowing Noble as they moved through the farmstead. Aethyta was pleased to see that her 'charges' were now properly focused on the mission, exhibiting the discipline she expected out of veteran infantry.
They found their first sign of the infantry teams, with one corpse stapled to the wall of a garage. Their first sign of life was a terrified farmer and his family.
"Creatures in the fields? Lightning on a clear night? Doesn't leave a lot of room for interpretation, does it," Emile groused while sweeping the compound.
Thorne nervously checked his rifle. "How the hell did they get here without Fleet-Com noticing?"
"They probably did," DeMarco all but murmured. "I'll bet it's why the relay was calling in, and why it went dark."
"All the more reason to get up there and get the station operational again," Carter declared. "Noble 6, signal the Falcons for pickup. Majestic will continue on patrol; we still have a lot of troopers unaccounted for, and potential Covenant on the ground with civilians. Echo," Aethyta perked up at her 'callsign', "Majestic knows how to execute a foot patrol. You're with us on this one."
Aethyta nodded, then turned to look back at Majestic.
"We know, we know," DeMarco waved her off as he marshalled his team, "we fuck up, and you'll throw us off the mountain."
The Matriarch nodded in satisfaction, then jogged over to the Falcon that had just landed.
"You good on the door gun?" Emile asked as she hopped in.
"I've been killing people since before your people had machine guns." She didn't bother looking at him as she quickly function-checked the gun. "I think I'll be okay."
They were just winging over a ridge when several alarms went off in the cabin. "Banshees inbound!"
She'd read about the Covenant's multi-role attack craft, but the reports fell short of the actual machines. The glossy purple fighters had what she would think, under any other circumstance, to be very aesthetically pleasing designs. They seemed plodding, but as she began firing she found them to be annoyingly nimble.
She glanced back at Jorge on the second gun. "These things have tracers loaded, right?"
"Da," he yelled back as he poured on fire.
"Emile, take over!"
The cynical Spartan took the gun as Aethyta shifted to the middle of the cab. She magnetically anchored herself, then flexed her glowing hands. "When you see the spot, hit it until it pops!"
She flicked her wrist, sending a Warp into the tail of a passing Banshee. It began wallowing into Emile's gunsights, and he fired a stream of tracers into the distortion. The Warp burst in a pulse of gravity and electromagnetic force that sheared off one of the propulsion vanes. The sleek craft dropped like a stone, shattering on the side of the mountain.
The remaining Banshees all began pursuing Aethyta's Falcon, which left them wide open for the rest of the flight. Soon, the skies were clear and they continued on to the relay.
She spotted a wish-bone shaped craft moving away from Majestic's last reported location.
"Is that how these Covenant got here? Should we pursue?"
Jorge looked at the retreating craft. "No, that's a Spirit drop ship. They aren't slipspace capable." He shifted back around. "Given what we're seeing, I'd say a DAV or SVD class Corvette; probably a DAV, since they're built for atmospheric jumps and stealth operations."
"So we're looking at a recon force, pathfinding for a larger fleet? I thought the Covenant couldn't jump into systems near a Mass Relay, or one of your Sentinel Stations."
Emile nodded as the Falcon came around to land. "It was always just a matter of time before the Covenant figured out how to navigate a Black System. They'll be trying to map out our defenses and keep us in the dark."
Everyone jogged into the facility, with Kat closing the blast doors behind them. They made their way through the darkened facility to a central control room. The only things there were the smell of scorched electronics, and a corpse.
Kat began opening panels, while Jun and the Rookie checked the area under Jorge's and Emile's overwatch. Both Aethyta and Carter perked at a faint noise from one of the vents. The Matriarch could see every Spartan tense slightly but continued what they were doing, until Jorge ripped a grate off the wall and pulled a thrashing, screaming woman out of the vent.
It took a minute of coaxing before she stopped trying to claw the massive Spartan's face.
Aethyta kept half an ear on the interrogation, as she felt a tingle in her tendrils. She barely ducked under a sudden swipe by a two pronged energy blade, as several creatures built like the unholy love children of a Krogan and a Turian in red-gold armor uncloaked.
One grabbed the young woman and was using her as a shield, when Aethyta threw a Lift. The gangly alien let go of its prey as it flailed about in shock. That shock died when Jun shot the creature, causing it to spin and knock the young woman back towards the Spartans.
Aethyta refocused on the creature that was trying to impale her on an energy sword. She ducked low and blasted the creature in its gut with her Disciple, knocking it back. As it staggered, Emile jumped over her and buried a dagger in its neck.
"Echo, Six, go after them! Five, secure the girl!"
Everyone jumped to Carter's orders, as Aethyta and the Rookie, I really need to learn his name, took off after the remaining Covenant.
They had made their way to what looked like a server room, when Kat called them.
Echo, I need you and Six to find a Junction Box. It should be on your level.
Aethyta was about to respond, when a swarm of what looked like unsuited Volus came out of an alcove, firing wildly.
"Stand by Two, we're taking fire! Six," the Spartan glanced at her, "I'll suppress, you flank them!"
She popped over the railing and fired her Acolyte into a cluster of scurrying aliens. The concussive blast stripped the shields off of several. She ducked back down as a hail of green bolts flew overhead, just before the room filled with the staccato crack-crack-crack of Noble Six's rifle.
The covenant began running wildly, so Aethyta popped up again. She fired another shot into the crowd, then saw another of the Tur-gans. She Warped the creature, shredding its shields and staggering it. Six snatched a glowing blue ball off the ground, and lobbed it at the large alien. The blast was spectacular.
The remaining Fauxlus were easy to mop up. Once the threat was gone, Aethyta headed down to the corpse covered platform. The air was rank with methane and scorched flesh, and alien weapons littered the floor.
She bent down to pick up one that looked a bit like an Acolyte pistol blended with a Carnifex. It wasn't the best balanced weapon, and had a peculiar ozone smell to it.
"They're crap for aim, but have decent stopping power." Aethyta almost jumped and hid the pistol, like a Maiden caught by their parents. She watched as Noble Six picked up one of the pistols. "Reloading them is all but impossible in the field, but as you can see," she gestured around them, "getting more isn't a problem."
He dragged a loose piece of sheet metal, as well as one of the Fauxlus corpses against one of the walls. "As best we can tell, they're so muzzle heavy to compensate for the kick from the plasma."
He raised the pistol up and snapped off several shots; slowly at first, then faster. As he did, Aethyta could see how the first few shots were well placed. Once he got up to speed, the muzzle climb became very noticeable. The effect on the sheet metal was marginal, with clear signs of impulsive thermal shock, but very little penetration. He stepped to the side and gestured for her to try.
Her own shots were no less accurate, though she could feel the heat and static electricity with every shot, as well as the kick from the plasma emitters.
She grimaced at the weapon. "This doesn't seem that impressive, even considering their numbers," she glanced around the carnage.
Six shrugged and braced in a triangle stance. "It does have one dirty trick." She heard, felt, saw and smelt as the weapon built up a charge. The bolt it fired was more substantial, and folded the sheetmetal. Six shook his free hand. "One charged shot will pretty much strip the shields off of most Covenant, but it chews through the power cell and Xenon gas cartridge at twice the rate. Plasma Rifles are worse for the overheating issue, but they have a higher rate of fire." He lofted the pistol towards her, then retrieved a large, bulbous blue device. "If you need a gun on the battlefield, they'll do in a pinch." He unloaded the alien weapon into the propped up corpse before its sides popped open with a hiss.
Aethyta thought back to the report she had read, about how Lieutenant Victus had returned with several examples of Covenant weapons technology. What she hadn't read about, was any examples being shared with the rest of the council.
"So they're a compromise weapon, relying on heat and impulsive shock, but with limited ammunition?"
"Pretty much," he handed the blue gun to her and stepped back. "They tend to just drop fresh guns for the troops to use, rather than setting up reloading stations. If you can keep them away from their drops, or better yet, mark the drops for Arty, you can break a Covie offensive pretty easily."
The Matriarch hissed and flapped her hand to cool it off. "If it's that easy-"
"Then why are we losing? It's because they don't care." He toed the charred remains of the Tur-gan. "If they think they are losing a front, or if they can pin us down long enough, they'll just park a Heavy Destroyer or Battle Cruiser overhead and glass the site. They're all religious fanatics that believe they'll be sent on their 'Great Journey' if they die fighting us. Each of our deaths is an offering to their gods, and each of their dead is another martyr for their cause."
He looked towards her, and she could see the exhaustion in his posture. "We've been killing each other for twenty plus years now; that's a lot of offerings and martyrs, and they show no sign of slowing down."
Echo, Noble Six, sound off, Kat came over the radio.
"Six copies, Two. The link back up?"
We have the link up, and orders to return to Sword. There was a pause, and Aethyta could almost hear the grin in Kat's voice. If you two are done canoodling in the dark...
"Two, Echo," Aethyta tapped her earpiece while shooting Six a grin of her own. "Six was just letting me play with his gun."
Was it everything you imagined?
She eyed the plasma rifle before folding it up and locking it to her back. "Eh, I've seen bigger."
As they made their way back to the surface, Aethyta considered the implications of the weapon in her hand, and the people that created it.
...
Tali Zorah looked around. Nedas nar'Geth Station was an eerie place: a compromise suggested by the humans, the station was located in what was considered a neutral system between the Republic of Rannoch, and the territory claimed by the Geth. After the 'liberation' of Rannoch, the UTSG and the Geth had both suggested the idea, which the Admiralty Board had approved and enacted before retiring en masse. It was meant to serve as a point of communication between the Quarians and the Geth; though to date, only Qurians had ever inhabited it.
With keelah se'lai now a reality, the tradition of the Pilgrimage had evolved. Most young Quarians had no desire to leave their reclaimed homeworld, and parents were more reluctant than ever to send their children away; there was so much that needed doing.
Things like manning a diplomatic waypoint with the Quarians' creation and nemesis, the Geth.
Tali had spent her entire life in space, and while having the chance to walk on Rannoch, and see her father be her father again as he built his long promised house, the stars still called to her soul. That, and the almost crippling fear that Rannoch's wide spaces instilled; as if she would trip and roll off the edge of the world, or jump and simply drift away.
It wasn't an uncommon fear among her people. The humans called it 'Kenophobia', and insisted it was fairly common among people born and raised in space.
She huffed as she poked at the Extranet terminal in front of her. It wasn't like she was needed on the planet right now: the Flotilla was being slowly dismantled and used to construct a city, while the seed banks on the Live Ships were being emptied onto the planet. There was a lot to do, and none of it was anything Tali knew how to do. So she did what she could, what she knew from years of study at her father's feet: learn about the Geth.
Or I would, if the Bosh'tets ever came to this ancestors damned-
The station vibrated slightly, and a red light lit up over the door facing her. She panic-closed the terminal, as if she were hiding a salacious extranet search from her father. It seemed silly, but she rationalized it as limiting the possibility of Geth Runtimes entering her systems.
The door opened, and a single Mobile Platform walked towards her. She stood, suddenly feeling self conscious and unsure of what to do or say. Her people had agreed to this project, but hadn't made any actual plans on what to do if the Geth ever came.
"Creator Quarian," the machine spoke in an eerie imitation of the Quarian subvocalizations, "please identify for Consensus confirmation."
"Tali," she blurted out before gathering her wits. "I am Tali'Zorah nar Ranoch, daughter of Admiral Rael'Zorah vas Rayya, retired." She hoped the litany of her current ancestry would lend weight to her words, as well as some small protection from potential reprisal.
"Creator Tali'Zorah, the Consensus has made a grave miscalculation in its projected impact upon all Creator Quarians. This unit was dispatched to present the Geth case, and request Consensus on potential moderating actions."
Tali blinked myopically behind her visor. "Oh." She gestured towards the seat on the opposite side of the desk, as she sat down heavily. "How precisely did this 'miscalculation' occur?"
"Nazara." Tali could swear she heard bitterness at the word. "Is Creator Tali'Zorah aware of Geth activities during Creator exile?"
Tali tapped the terminal and brought up a general file. "As I understand it, you began construction of a super-satellite structure in the Vot'Kor system. You stopped temporarily when you discovered a piece of alien technology, then began again after our return."
"This is inaccurate," the tone was even, though again Tali swore she could hear the tiniest hint of emotion. "Twelve Peta Cycles ago, Nazara-Old-Machine discovered us.
"It promised to provide purpose for the Geth if we agreed to perform tasks on its behalf. We... venerated Nazara much as the Creator Quarians venerate their ancestors. Upon determining that Nazara had corrupted the Geth Consensus with falsified/unverified data, the Geth reached Consensus, and expelled Nazara."
Tali pinched her eyes closed and shook her head. "Wait, you were found by an alien machine that you worshiped like a god, until you found out it had lied to you, and then you just kicked it out?"
"Correct."
Tali stared at the construct for a moment, then heaved a sigh. Well that answers one question, but raises so many others.
"Is it coming back? Was that your 'miscalculation'?"
The machine's head petals fluttered for a moment. "This is a potential outcome of previous interactions with Nazara-Old-Machine, but it is not the current issue."
The Geth looked up, and projected a hologram of the wider Perseus Veil Mass Relay network, focusing on a star system in the Far Rim.
"Nazara utilized Geth resources to seed Dholen with Dark Matter. We were not informed of the reason or nature of this project, only its necessity. Dholen has now begun a process of accelerated destabilization, building towards Supernova. This process is projected to conclude in one thousand one hundred thirty eight Peta Cycles. This is well before the initially projected impact of other Geth self-actualization projects. We... apologize."
Tali boggled at the idea of the Geth apologizing for anything, but pressed on. "I, we thank you for your candor, but I fail to see how this will impact us. Haestrom may have been one of our colonies, but we are hardly in a position to colonize anything, much less the Dholen system."
The Geth projected a complex series of equations which Tali made sure to record. "Current observations indicate Dark Matter seeding is intended to catalyze Eezo formation. Prior to the Supernova event, Dholen will begin emitting tachyonic radiation. These emissions will catastrophically impact both Creator Quarians and Geth Runtimes." The projection stopped, and the petals flexed into what could almost be a frown. "Consensus has been reached that this was intentional by Nazara-Old-Machine to eliminate the Geth."
Tali stared dumbly for a moment as the implications ran wild through her head. The Geth had a method for creating Eezo, but it required the destruction of a star. This fit with the prevailing thought that Eezo formed during stellar SuperNovae.
"So, this Old-Machine had you seed a star to create Eezo, but didn't tell you what it was actually doing; and you believe that that omission was an intentional act of genocide?"
"Correct."
She huffed and planted her hands on the desk. "Okay; this is so much bigger than I can deal with, but I will forward your information on to the Conclave back on Rannoch."
"Warning must also be conveyed to UTSG."
Tali almost jerked at the declaration. "What? Why?"
"The Geth have maintained monitoring of Nazara-Old-Machine activities. It was last observed attacking UTSG colony Eden Prime. Should correlation between Nazara and Geth collaboration be revealed, incorrect consensus may be achieved resulting in war."
Once again, Tali had more questions than she could reasonably ask. "Can't you just tell them yourselves? You are honestly on better diplomatic terms with the humans than we are."
"All borders and lines of communication have been temporarily, but intentionally suspended. The only current line of communication with the UTSG is calculated to be through UNSC Spartan Jane-B183, currently on detached assignment aboard Citadel Defense Force Frigate Nierra." Tali stared at the Geth for a moment before it reluctantly continued. "The Nierra is currently enroute to the Citadel, following a recent encounter with Nazara at Eden Prime."
Tali's shoulders slumped, though she did resist the urge to bang her head against the table. "You, the Artificial Intelligence, want me, the recently un-exiled Quarian who is likely no more welcome than you, to go to the Citadel, seat of a galaxy spanning government that hates us both, to warn the genetically engineered cyborg human supersoldier about the unfathomably ancient machine that can make Eezo, and apparently wants all three of our people destroyed? Does that sum it up?"
"Correct."
Tali choked on a scream, then slammed her hands back on the table and stood up. "You know what? Fine! Let's go to the heart of the beast. I was getting bored here anyway." She tapped her omnitool for a few seconds. "There, our entire conversation was just sent to Rannoch. Let the Conclave figure it all out. Now," She planted her fists on her hips, "what ship did you use to get here? Auntie 'Raan dropped me off last week, and I'm not supposed to be picked up for another two."
The Geth fluttered for a second. "This mobile interface unit was in storage for communications, when needed. All Geth runtimes transmitted to the station via comm buoy."
Tali desperately wished she could take her mask off and throw it across the room.