Hey Lana,
Yeah, I'm stranded in Arcturus for the moment. I'm not doing much other than being a consultant, so to speak. Can't talk about it on this channel (or any channels, for the matter), but you know me, I'll manage somehow. I did make some progress with the project we did talk about regarding the work I did back in the day with the quarians and the Geth, all blessed by the higher-ups. It'd be amazing if that one did work out.
Also, no, the Universe hasn't imploded because I asked Wahea out for dinner. You cheeky sod. Also, she couldn't stay for long, so there's that.
How are things over there? Are you keeping your eyes open at all times? This was one of those ops that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, so keep alert. Not sure what else is going on behind the scenes, but I don't like it. Always carry, okay?
Take care,
Roy.-
Being on standby wasn't exactly new to me, although it was starting to become a bit too much of a habit. I had been called to the Admiral's office a couple of times regarding potential clues and information, but sadly I couldn't offer much in terms of identifying potential Collector activity. I knew of them thanks to the simulation, and I knew who they were and where they lived. And some details about what kind of combat capabilities they had, too. Which was, of course, of great interest, but not a lot in terms of specifics, strategic thinking, or anything else. But as far as helping with what the Collectors might be planning? Diddly squat. All I knew is that they liked to collect people, and the tools they had to do so.
So, for the time being, I was stuck in Arcturus. It gave me time to put some hours towards my E3, which included residence, answering every single question the onery doctors from the local clinics saw fit to pose to me, and burn my eyelashes studying like crazy, because I needed to know everything by heart. You never know when the VI isn't going to be available to help. Other than that, hit the gym, hit the range, and otherwise did the exact same thing I'd have been doing in literally any Alliance base through the galaxy.
I hadn't heard much from the crew of the Einstein, Shepard included, regarding what they were up to. As far as I knew they were still in the Traverse, which on the surface didn't make much sense. The Corps of Engineering had probably finished all the heavy construction work, and there wasn't much else to do. I suspected it was just the excuse for the Alliance to stick around and continue investigaing the disappearance of the Chadwick. Which was just spooky. The ship was freaking huge, and had its own flotilla with it too. How could it just disappear like that? There was no debris, no black boxes, noting. I only knew all this because I kept asking, and Admiral Drescher seemed content to answer. Still, very weird.
Someone else I hadn't heard from was the Shadow Broker. I assumed she was content with all that she had gotten out of me regarding the current situation. She hadn't really asked much ever since she picked me up from the Cerberus base. She claimed I would work with her for the reapers, which she was probably right about, but she hadn't asked much afterwards. I assumed she was busy with the shell game that was trying to keep the galaxy at each other's throats without actually killing each other, which was the summary I had in my head about her plans. It kind of made sense, really. World War II advanced war technology quite a bit, but it was the Cold War that really did wonders in that respect. I just hoped she knew what she was doing. For the time being, it looked like she had been giving information to the Systems Alliance.
I was in my new, and much smaller, apartment when I got a ping in my omni-tool. A quick message from Drescher's office, calendar note. Nineteen hundred hours, her office. Huh. I wondered what she wanted. I had about two hours to kill until then, so I hit the gym, showered, and headed for the office at the exact time I was supposed to show up. Don't show up early, all you'll do is stand and wait for the proper time.
Ask me how I knew that.
When I was shown in, I found Admiral Drescher with half a dozen others standing in a circle around a holographic projector, which had what, to my untrained eye, appeared to be a sketch of a Collector ship. I stopped in surprise when I saw it, wondering how on Earth they had managed that. Had they found one?
"Ah, Chief," Drescher said. "I see you recognize it. Good, we're hoping you can fill in some gaps. Come in."
"Aye sir," I said, breaking my stupor and coming to salute. "I will do what I can."
"Of course you will. At ease. Allow me to introduce you. Gentlemen, Justicar," wait, what? "This is Service Chief Roy Morgan. N1, E2, and the only person in the galaxy who thought the geth could be talked to." She turned to look at me. "Chief, you remember Captain Rogers and Admiral Stepanic," she said, gesturing at the two high ranking officers, while I greeted them as she went. Yep, they had been with us during the negotiations wit the geth and the quarians. "That's First Lieutenant Jankovic," she pointed at a tall man, with a square face, small blue eyes, and a bony facial structure with a wide jaw. "And Lieutenant-Commander Baker," she pointed at is companion, a bit shorter, blonde curly hair, brown eyes, high cheekbones and with a scar across his left eyebrow. I then noticed they both had the N7 markings prominently featured on their uniform. "And this is Justicar Pathize."
Oh.
Yeah, now that she mentioned it, the recognition was instant. I had seen her before. From Shiala's point of view, when she showed me their assault on the Cerberus facilities on Pragia. The thin starburst lines on her face, the dark eyes, that was her all right.
"Pleasure to meet you, Chief," she said, her voice even and calm.
"Likewise," I replied. "May I ask..." I pointed at the projection.
"This is a reconstruction based on information obtained through SAI," Drescher said. "You recognized it immediately."
"Yeah, that's a collector ship, right?"
"Correct. Capabilities unknown, although you've given us some details before." Drescher looked at me and gestured at the others. Right.
"Yes sir. It's about two kilometers in size, Very strong shields, weaponry similar to our Thanix but larger and more powerful. Their usual M.O. is to use their seeker swarms to immobilize enemies and take them, so most of the time they're not really doing space combat."
"Seeker swarms?" Stepanic said.
"Yes. Some kind of biomechanical bugs they use which attach to organics and put them in stasis, similar to a biotic stasis."
"And the only known countermeasure, so far, is a large biotic barrier capable of sheltering a team inside it," Drescher concluded, gesturing at the Justicar. I looked at Drescher, at the Justicar, and I probably had the confusion drawn on my face because the Admiral explained immediately. "We are currently in the early planning stages of a possible assault on the Collector base. This is classified, Chief, so I expect you will not share this with anyone."
"Aye sir," I replied.
"We have some information on their ships' capabilities, but nothing on what's waiting on the other side of the relay."
"A relay from which no ship has ever returned," Baker said.
Drescher looked at me. "Yes, it requires the right IFF signal to be transmitted to the relay. If present, it allows transfer to the other side."
"And what's on the other side?" Drescher said. She brought up her omni-tool, waved it over the projection as she typed something, and the entire thing cleared up. "Could you show us?"
I looked at the terminal, looked at the assembled crew, and gulped. Oh shit.
"I'm... not very good with tech, sir," I replied, bringing my own omni-tool up and searching through menus. "But I can try. Might be a while."
There were a few chuckles.
"Perhaps I could be of assistance," the Justicar said. I looked at her, and she raised her open hand in an inviting gesture. "If you could show me what it is you want to present to the others, I am quite adept at model construction."
I gulped, looked around, and nodded. Ah well, here we go, and in front of everyone. She put her hand on my face, I took a deep breath, and with a whispered "embrace eternity", we were off to the races. The meld was gentle, slow, and soon I could feel her thoughts and mine intermingle. Not too deep, not too intrusive.
In your own time.
Right, just let me think for a second. This is what I saw back then, it's not real but it's based in reality.
I am aware of your situation, Chief. Do not worry.
Just Roy is fine. Also, hm... Nevermind, it can wait.
It's not exactly like you can see each other's faces while melding, but I could just feel her smiling at my thought.
Jack is currently waiting in our accomodations here in Arcturus. She is doing well, considering her situation. It would do her some good to meet you. We can share later.
Right. Thanks. All right, here we go.
My mind went back to that moment in the simulation when the SR2 started to approach the Omega-4 Relay. The arrival on the other side, the sea of scrap all around. Pathize took it all in stride, watching as a completely passive observer. Then came the overhead shot, showing the accretion disk around the black hole. Not even tat shook the calmness radiating from the Justicar. I kept sharing. The oculi. The cruiser coming to attack the SR2.
Armor upgrades?
Oh. They called it Silaris Armor. Some sort of upgraded hull armor that uses carbon nanotubes and diamond. I think?
Interesting. It is known to me, of course. How large is this SR2 ship?
About 200 meters? Somewhere between a regular frigate and a cruiser, really.
It would be prohibitively expensive to cover a ship that large with Silaris hull armor. But your information seems to indicate it can withstand the weapons of the Collectors.
At least for short bursts.
Interesting. It is worth exploring.
I wanted to ask questions, but I left it for later. Nonetheless, Pathize shared a few flashes to satisfy my curiosity. Expensive, and not easily available for others outside the Republics. Could potentially be used on a limited number of Alliance craft, or could be set up as a joint operation and used a mixed asari-human fleet. Or evaluate less powerful but cheaper alternatives using similar principles. There were possibilities. All this was done in the blink of an eye.
The simulation then moved on to the destruction of the Collector ship with the Thanix, and the crash landing on the Collector base.
How did the crew in your simulation defeat the Collectors?
Well, infiltration into the base and a well placed nuke. Nukes fix everything, you know.
She caught the humor I was trying to inject, but didn't laugh. Wasn't offended either, just let it slide and observed. So, I offered what I had. The initial planning. There was that three-dimensional projection of the inside of the collector base, which she took great interest in. We went over it several times. Assault in two teams, with a tech specialist to open the nexus of doors. Watching the crew of the SR2 being reduced to goo. That was quite disturbing, but as usual, she remained calm and observant. The segment with the seeker swarms and the biotic bubble.
Interesting.
What?
Samara. She's an acquaintance of mine. How curious that she would be present in this simulation of yours with such detail.
Yes, everyone in the simulation seems to be real, which is quite vexing. Everyone other than the main guy who I keep calling Shepard.
Shepard?
She's... a friend. And she's most definitely not him. It's just odd. Anyway, you have enough?
I believe so.
The meld broke, and I blinked a couple of times to get my breaings back. The rest of the assembled brass were still there, and didn't look like they had been waiting for long. I looked at Pathize, and she gave me a small smile.
"Thank you, Chief," she said. "I believe I have enough."
With that she turned to the terminal, and started working on it. Soon, things started appearing on the projection. The remains of ships were not detailed, just poligonal blobs. The relay was there, surrounded by the scrap, then the large collector base. As she talked, she explained. The derelict ships, some of them ancient. The size of the enemy ships. The oculi. She even mentioned the Silaris armor, and the possibility of using it against the oculi and the Collector cruisers. Then, there was the base. There were some details on the internal arrangement taken from the simulation, but not a lot. The problem was the seeker swarms. Even a Justicar would struggle to keep a large biotic barrier up. Countermeasures would be needed. Then there was the matter of the actual combat capabilities of the Collectors. They had advanced weaponry, and large numbers. I, myself, didn't even know how many they had. So went the discussion, as I rehashed for the... third? fourth? time everything I knew about the Collectors. And because it was all coming from my memories of the simulation, it kind of went into the discussion of getting a team of N7 operatives to conduct the infiltration and bomb the place to hell.
But the worrying part was that the discussion was framed as a "what if", so to speak. From the point of view of the Systems Alliance, they were suspected of an attack on an Alliance carrier, and destroyed it with no trace. It was possible, and I thought it likely, that they had actually kidnapped the entirely of the crew. But that didn't mean going in there and exterminating every single motherfucker in the place. Sure, they wanted to go in, big and ugly, and pose a proper threat, then give them a chance to surrender first. Not just go in and kill everyone. This was a contingency plan.
I thought about it. That was exactly what the Alliance did in Torfan, go in and kill ficking everyone no matter the cost, and non-Shepard got what seemed to be a pretty solid reputation out of leading the attack down to the last four-eyed bastard in the place. Maybe the Systems Alliance didn't have it in them to go that far just yet. Well, I hoped they did once the reapers showed up.
"We're going to need your input to set up the training scenarios, Chief," commander Baker said. "We need them as close as you can make it to what it'll be like in there."
"Err... I'll try, sir."
"Is there a problem?" he prodded.
"Well, as I said, not great with tech. I'm just worried I might mislead your team if I set it up wrong."
"We can adapt," he said, and tapped the N7 on his chest. "That's the reason we have these. But some training is better than nothing."
"Of course sir, I'll do my best."
"The other question is getting to the other side of that relay," Admiral Stepanic said. "Is the IFF the only way to navigate it? Because that would mean having to find one of their ships first on this side of the relay. No easy task."
"Afraid so, sir," I said. "As far as I know at least."
Benezia should have something on that, but right now, it was the least of the worries. I was pretty sure Drescher was in contact with someone, either directly with the Matriarchs or through someone Council-connected, assuming Tevos-
Did they ever take the Council to Ilos? Because I'd love to know the answer to that one.
We spent quite a while going over everything, and it was late by the time we left the office. Drescher kept me back to give me new orders - namely that I was still on deck for this op and, thus, not going back to the 9th any time soon - and to check whether there was something else I had been compelled to hold back. That's when I told her the Asari might actually have a way to navigate the relay. Apparently, she already knew, but I couldn't remember if I had been the one to tell her or not, and she didn't make any quips about it.
When I came out for air, I found Pathize waiting for me.
"Roy," she said. "It is late, but Jack is quite insistent on wanting to talk to you." She raised her omni-tool and pointed at it for emphasis. "Would you be kind enough to met her today?"
"Oh. Well, sure I guess. I'm not tired."
"Thank you," she said, and gestured to the side. "This way, we are housed in the main deck B."
"Right in the middle. Isn't it a bit noisy?"
"A little, but it is easy to filter out the noise with the proper training."
"Nice." We walked for a bit in silence, which I took to think a little bit. "I'm not sure what she wants me to say, to be honest."
"I am unsure as well. She has not shared that with me. I would expect for her to give you a torrent of questions, or to lash out in anger."
"Probably the latter..." I muttered.
"Did you ever meet her before?" Pathize said, eyeing me with the usual, calm expression on her face. Which I had no idea how to interpret. Samara was a lot like that, too.
"No, not personally. I mean, remember what I said earlier? How everyone turned out to be a real person?"
"Oh," she said, and nodded as if she understood. "In that case, I believe questions would do her good."
My favourite. Yay. We arrived to the place in question, one of the hotels in the station, and one of the nicer ones, too. Wondered if being a Justicar just paid that well, or if that was a perk from working with Aethyta. I didn't actually check to see where Wahea stayed. We went in, up a floor, and Pathize waved her omni-tool to open the door. She hadn't taken a step in when I looked inside, made eye contact with Jack, and even before I had taken in any of the changes I could see in her, she yelled.
"You asshole!"
The implants kicked in, probably because I had been half-expecting it. I didn't expect it that quickly though. I dove to the side instantly as a biotic push rushed past me, and hit the wall behind me with a resounding metallic clang that was probably heard through half the station. Wen I looked up, Pathize was gone, but I heard her speaking. Loudly, though not yelling.
"Young one!" she called.
"That bastard left me to rot in that-"
"Enough! Remember your training, the sutra of retribution!"
There was a muffled 'bomf' sound. I peeked through the door, and saw that Pathize was holding Jack down with one hand, the biotics flaring around her. I made eye contact with Jack, and saw the anger in her face. Her eyes looked wet, but more out of frustration than anything else I figured, that and the snarl on her lips. There were no tattoos, and she was much younger than I remembered her. Her hair had grown, though she kept the sides shaved, and it was tied on a small knot at the back of her head. She didn't try anything else to fight the Justicar. There was a tense moment, until it was broken by the calls of people coming out of the woodwork to see what the noise had been.
"It's fine!" I called waving at the coming people. Given the uniforms, probably MPs. "Just a little biotic mishap!"
"Go to your room," Pathize ordered. "We will discuss correctional measures later. Now."
Jack muttered something I couldn't understand, stood up, and after giving me one last lingering look, she stomped to her room. The MPs arrived then, and while it took a bit to convince them that nothing was wrong, they left us alone after only a stern warning.
And a very awkward moment with me standing outside the door.
"Roy," Pathize said. "My apologies. If you would be so kind, I would like to ask you some questions. Jack isn't ready to hear answers from you, but I think she needs them."
I looked at her, looked at the closed door behind which I expected Jack to be listening, and with a heavy sigh, nodded. She deserved some answers, at least what I could give. I knew a little about Pragia, after all. And she'd probably want to hear that we stomped all over Cerberus recently. Didn't quite catch the Illusive Man, so he was probably already up to something, but definitely set him back. Maybe I should put these two in touch with Maka.
"Thank you," Pathize said, closing the door. "Please, have a seat."
We sat on the sofa, she offered her hand, and with a chuckle, I took it and we started another meld. Not too deep it felt, but deep enough that it was easy to think to each other, not just talk.
Please allow me to apologize again, Roy.
No, there's no need. I kinda expected it.
She is angry, yes. I have been trying to help her channel that anger, or it will one day consume her.
She offered a few glimpses of her time with Jack. Teaching the basics of the Justicar code. The knowledge and wisdom that guides the lives of those who commit themselves to the path. It was a bit surprising, that. The code had rules for the Justicars themselves, not just for the law, but for how to live their lives.
The allure of apparently easily dispensed Justice lures in many who wish for vengeance, not Justice. The code contains much wisdom to guide the lives of those who harbor such anger towards dereliction of duty by their ruling authorities.
One hell of a failure, in Jack's case.
Hers, and others. But I believe we are making progress. She believes you responsible for some of her suffering. You... seem to think that is the case.
the thought hit me that this was probably why the meld was a bit deeper. A bit of annoyance at that, but quickly doused with the though that I was, in fact, talking to a Justicar. If someone could be trusted not to do something untoward, that'd be one of them.
I knew, but... I didn't think of it. Not until it hit me right before Shepard's 18th Birthday.
Could you show me?
I thought about it. It was during a patrol out at the edge of Alliance space. We had a few days at a station, but I had booked passage to Arcturus to be with Shepard. She was about to turn eighteen, and I was well on my way to convince her to go to a good University and leave the whole Mindoir mess behind. Then, Kim showed us her new tattoo. All over her back. It was spectacular. And it immediately reminded me of Jack, and the chain of thoughts that followed. Jack. Pragia. She had grown up there. She was probably there right now and I hadn't done a thing about it.
Mindoir?
Yeah. Batarian raid. Killed all of Shepard's family, and a whole heap of other people. I ended up as her legal guardian. Wasn't easy, I had no idea what I was doing.
I understand.She paused for a moment, pondering something. When you asked for help, for someone to attack that facility, what were you thinking?
What was I thinking? I mean, that I couldn't do it myself.
She laughed softly. Apologies. I meant to say, what were you thinking about asking for help. What were your thoughts during the event. Could you share?
My thoughts? Sure, I suppose. I remembered the moment I asked quite clear. Benezia had asked me what I was expecting her to do with everything I had shared. Was there something I needed in payment? Not really, well, there was something. Pragia.
It feels as if you were rather stressed at the time. Fearful, even. Were you in danger?
The way Benezia put it, I might have, yeah.
But what did you think?
Gently, Pathize prodded the memories. She didn't explore them, she wasn't getting the details of what I had discussed with Benezia. It was more like looking at my state of mind. Scared? You bet. There was a good chance I had fucked everything up if I had gone to the wrong person. Or the right person at the wrong time. Memories threaded together, until that day. The day Shepard left for bootcamp.
"This is a letter," I told her. "It's for you, but I need you to promise me something. You can't read it yet."
I felt my pulse quicken, that letter, that-
Pathize let go immediately. Apologies. She waited for a moment, helping me relax. But that was exactly what I needed for Jack.
What? What do you mean?
You knew of Jack's predicament, of the facility. You didn't act, not at first. Yes, you might have found another way earlier. But when you did so, you believed you were risking your life. You couldn't do that while someone depended on you. Someone you cared for. So thank you. And do not blame yourself. The galaxy has enough burdens without having us look for more.
She let go as the meld faded away, and I opened my eyes. Damn. That had been surprisingly intense. Pathize was looking at me with hat calm expression of hers, but a hint of a smile on her lips. Something I never saw Samara do during the whole time she was in that simulation. Then again, there wasn't a lot to smile about. I had expected an interrogation. I had gotten... I didn't know how to describe what I had gotten. While I tried to sort it out, Pathize stood up, headed for the back of the room, and came back with two glasses of pale blue liquid. She offered me one.
"Thanks," I said, taking the glass and giving it a sip. Slightly salty, some sort of asari fruit juice of course.
"Welcome back. I am Emily Wong, FCC News!" The camera panned to a shot of the woman, while an overlay appeared, containing a shot of a planet with the Breaking News ribbon underneath. "It has been twelve hours since the Illuminated Primacy declared their borders closed, and so far news have been slow to filter out. We at FCC News have been working hard to bring you up to date information, but so far, all we have are the testimonies of the non-hanar travelers leaving Kahje."
The shot changed to a pre-recorded interview, an asari talking to the camera in the middle of a very busy spaceport.
"I really don't understand what's going on. We had a visa for another year, but we got called to say that all visitor visas had been revoked and to prepare to leave. I didn't even have a shuttle booked!" the asari protested.
"But you are leaving?" the interviewer said.
"They sent me a ticket and shoved me in this flight, what could I said? I was supposed to be studying dance therapy at the University!"
The interview was cut short as the shot changed once more to show an exceedingly busy spaceport. As numbers rolled on the screen, Emily started talking again.
"It is estimated that approximately ten million aliens live on Kahje on a permanent or transient basis. While the majority are, in fact, visitors, a number of them are indeed long term residents. The Illuminated Primacy offered a press conference at the beginning of this extraordinary event, but so far there are a lot more questions than answers."
Once again the broadcast shifted, this time to display a pre-recorded piece of footage. A hanar was calmly floating in front of a podium, while a literal cacophony of noise could be heard from all the reporters trying to shout louder than each other. The hanar appeared unmoved by it all.
"It is not the intention of the Illuminated Primacy to undertake any actions that could be perceived as hostile by those who share the galaxy," the hanar droned.
"Why are you expelling all non-hanar?!" a reported yelled.
"The temporary situation calls for those who were gifted speech by the Enkindlers to gather for the future. This one humbly requests patience."
"You're turning the planet into a religious autocracy!" another reporter yelled, sounding more like he was posing for his audience than asking a genuine question.
"The words of the Enkindlers have guided the Illuminated Primacy since the day these ones were granted the gift of awareness. This one sees no difference, and sadly fails to understand the purpose of the statement."
The interview was cut short, and the broadcast switched back to Emily Wong.
"So far, there are no reports of violence of any kind, although many hanar seem to be as puzzled as we all are. The evacuation orders have even been extended to the diplomatic missions from other races present on the planet. The Council issued a statement that, between you and me, read more like a threat. The Illuminated Primacy's mission to the Citadel still enjoyed diplomatic status, and the Council expected the same courtesy to be extended to their own on Kahje. For an answer, the entirety of the hanar diplomatic mission left the citadel two hours ago. No other statements were issued.
"So what could have prompted all this? So far, there's a lot of rumors, but not a lot of proof. Scattered reports indicate that several cruisers from the Primacy's navy made their way to Ilos not long ago, and returned to the home planet shortly before these events started. We are trying to get in contact with the appropriate personnel to confirm or deny these rumors, but all our calls have, so far gone unanswered. If the silence stays, expect to see this reporter next time broadcasting straight fro the ground with a drone camera in tow. I'll get to the bottom of this, you can count on me."
Author's Notes: All right, as far as happenings go, this is a setup chapter. The Collectors are going to get a nasty surprise sometime soon, and I'm kind of playing in the middle since the two sides are not directly talking to each other. Well, Aethyta did send the Justicar, but that might been half because she might have wanted to bring Jack to meet me.
Didn't go overly well, that. But hey, she's an angry teenager, give her a bit of time (I think she was born in '61? Timeline fits).
And then there's the Hanar. Nice and vague to get you warmed up. I'm sure you have a pretty good idea of what's going down there, or at least a couple of clues. Let's just say a Bloom is coming, and it's going to be glorious. Or so they hope, heh.
So, will a team of highly trained N7s do better than Shepard and his crew did in-game during the suicide mission? And what will that suicide mission look like? We shall see!
Right, so, as per usual, and not wanting to seem too pushy, but if you want to support me as a pat on the reon, you can do so here:
tinyurl (period) com (slash) y2q9cop6
(FFnet and hyperlinks don't mix).
Reviews! Almost saying goodbye to 2020, so thanks for sticking with me! Not a lot of questions, but a lot of support for the Mordin style of chapter. It was fun, if a bit hard, to write haha!
RIOSHO: I'm pretty sure he'll meet Roy. If nothing else, thik about it: If I were sent to the Mass Effect universe and offered the chance to meet him, there's no freaking way I'd say no!
V-rcingetorix, SpecterXCove, 7thManiac, Tom712, BJ Hanssen , thanks for the support!
Next time, on My Effect: Divergence: Something special, because it's about time. Until then, thanks a lot for reading and supporting my work!