A/N: Hey folks! Another chapter, another day.
As always, leave a review!
The Citadel Council stared at the Human Councilor, Donnel Udina, as he gave them the startling news within their council chambers. Councilors Valern, Sparatus, and Tevos listened with rapt attention, seeing as they had all been gathered here by Udina's claim of an important development.
"Commander Shepard, and the SSV Normandy, have been lost in the Amada System above the planet Alchera. The reports from the survivors claim that the ship that attacked them was not a Geth vessel. After seeing the log of the ship in question, I am inclined to believe them. I've sent the log to each of you for your perusal. If I may, I'd recommend each of us look over the log together."
The other councilors agreed without hesitation, opening their omnitools to look over the report Udina had sent. The first person to frown in displeasure was Councilor Sparatus.
"This ship came out of nowhere, they say? Were they not running constant scans as they should have been?"
"They were scanning for Geth, Sparatus." Valern interceded. "We all know that different scanners are used for them. No body heat, no organic signatures. Electrical pulses are the primary form of detection. It may be that the crew had focused too much on these scans and neglected other forms."
Tevos cleared her throat.
"Regardless of all these scans, the dimensions of the aggressor indicate a large cruiser. That isn't something you can easily ignore visually."
"Depends on the ship's orientation. This came from behind, so it's more likely nobody even could see it, Tevos." Sparatus stated.
The Asari nodded in understanding, but it was Udina who spoke once more.
"I would like to put forward that we should be searching for this ship that attacked Shepard. It is clearly no Geth vessel."
"As much as we would like to, Shepard was operating in the Terminus Systems. Anything that happens there, even to our own, cannot be met with armed fleets. I am sorry and deeply saddened by the loss of our Spectre just as you are Udina, but there isn't anything that we can do." Came Tevos's reply. Udina's reaction was, by this point, expected by the rest of the councilors.
"Bullshit! You would leave one of our Spectres to the wolves and not seek their pelts in retribution? If this was Saren and he hadn't been a proven traitor to the Citadel, you would be moving entire worlds to find who had perpetrated this!"
"Calm down, Udina." Valern moderated. "There is nothing that the Council can do. However, there may be something that I can do for you."
The other councilors looked at the Salarian with interest.
"As you are all aware, Dalatrass Linron sent an STG team to Virmire to verify both Captain Kirrahe's report, and Spectre Shepard's. You are also all aware that Lieutenant Tesh's report confirmed their reports, and the use of Kirrahe's Mass Effect drive to create a weapon of mass destruction was warranted. However, Lieutenant Tesh kept something out of the report submitted to the Council, and the full report was sent only to Dalatrass Linron. One of my agents was able to retrieve this full report, though I have no doubt that she will be coming forward officially with this knowledge in but a few more days."
The other councilors frowned in displeasure.
"This is highly irregular." Sparatus fumed.
"This entire situation is highly irregular, Sparatus." Valern retorted. "Tesh met with another being on Virmire, one that doesn't match any of the known species that are part of the galactic community in one form or another. It also didn't speak a language that was able to be understood by his translator."
The entire council was silent for nearly a minute as they processed. Then, Tevos finally spoke.
"Agent Tesh made first contact with another species, then."
"Potential first contact. There's more to this report. Tesh's team identified the Kodiak it had been traveling in as a Blue Suns transport, with a Human piloting the ship. It is Tesh's belief that the Blue Suns may have initiated first contact with another species. But there is even more to this report."
Valern maneuvered his omnitool's screen and brought up an image. It displayed a blurry figure, seemingly covered in gold, holding a crushed Batarian in one hand and a blade in the other. More astonishing was it's size; the Batarians in the background were dwarfed by this golden creature.
"Tesh was able to hack into a former Batarian Hegemony ship's camera system. The ship, identified as the Harsa's Shadow, arrived just as Tesh was beginning to leave the system. It has been recently employed by the Blue Suns for slave raids if some records are to be believed. Tesh and his team followed it to Nemata, a planet within the Hoc system beside Virmire. There, they found several things to be noted."
The Salarian put up several new images to be displayed. The first was a facility of some kind on the surface of what was assumed to be Nemata. The image was clearly taken from orbit. The second image was of a strange golden ship heading towards the unmistakable shape of a Batarian cruiser. The image was centered on the golden figure that stood on top of the golden ship. The final image was in reality a repeating video, sped up for convenience. The video itself showed the new creature leaping from its ship onto the cruiser. From there, it was able to penetrate its hull and enter. After the lights on the cruiser shut off, the same creature was seen disembarking the same way it had boarded, leaping to its ship.
"Lieutenant Tesh confirmed that the Harsa's Shadow had been placed into geosynchronous orbit prior to the creature returning to its ship. Furthermore, it returned to the facility seen in the first image on the planet Nemata. Prior to the boarding action of the cruiser, scans indicated at least a couple hundred life signs. There were only roughly twenty left to be detected when it left, all located in the slave hold. In effect, one creature was fully capable of boarding, eliminating the crew, and commandeering a cruiser sized vessel."
The room went silent as the various councilors reviewed the displayed data and processed what had been said. It was a minute later when Udina broke the silence.
"And how does this connect to the attack on Shepard and your being able to help?"
Valern smiled.
"Simple. I'll dedicate Agent Tesh and his team, as well as multiple others, to scouring the Terminus Systems in order to find where this individual came from, starting with any known Blue Suns black sites. The arrival of not one, but potentially two new species simultaneously while being unconnected to each other, to the galactic theater is slim to none. Whoever this is, I'd take a guess that this creature and those who attacked the SSV Normandy are connected. And if the Blue Suns have indeed gone ahead and made first contact…"
"Then I will ensure that they will have no business within Citadel territory, and declare them a rogue agency no better than pirates." Sparatus finished. "I have enough dirt on them to make sure none of their clients would trust them either."
Tevos hummed to herself, drawing the attention of the other councilors. Seeing their questioning looks, she began to reveal her mind.
"This new species will need a name. The one in the gold."
Valern nodded quickly multiple times with a smile.
"Ah, yes! I nearly forgot. Agent Tesh referred to the gold titan as a custodian, for taking care of the Batarian slavers. Trash, I believe he called them specifically in his report. It seems to have stuck within his team. I therefore put forward we call it the Custodian, until we know for certain what it calls itself."
Magos Lexus moved away from the partial Mass Effect drive that had been pulled from Harsa's Shadow. The ship had since been renamed and signature replaced to the Dutiful Claimant in the near month since it had been captured by the Lord Custodian, with most of the damage to the hull and interior having been repaired. The few Batarian heads that remained intact had been repurposed into servo skulls, which even now went about performing a multitude of tasks that left Lexus with more time than the Myrmidon Lord had before.
Time which had been dedicated to creating a working prototype of the Magnus Drive, the fusion of warp and Mass Effect drives. And it exceeded expectations.
The Orion had already been fitted with the initial working prototype, its size taking up most of the space that all of the Magos' tools and resources had occupied before Nemata. It was small in scale, just large enough to function with the heavy dropship. The drive that had been taken from the Dutiful Claimant was much larger, and had provided the Myrmidons with much more technology to work and experiment with. The Quarians had proven themselves to be an effective catalyst in understanding this galaxy's technology. The drive had been no different.
Lexus's own variation of the Magnus Drive would have left it unable to use the Mass Relay network; it was one of the younger Quarians, a female who called herself Lefa Koris nar Ruudra, who suggested several improvements that allowed for the network's use with experimental drive. Lexus had boarded the Orion alongside Lefa and Arcturus to test the Quarian's improvements once the Magnus Drive had been installed to show the Myrmidon Lord's confidence in the drive's stability and capabilities. Travel through the Warp had been seamless, and the Relay transition went without issue. Even more importantly, the Warp seemed… quiet. Lexus was certain that had they been in the Imperium, the drive would have fared at or below expectations. The Magos wouldn't lie about being relieved about the highly unlikely possibility of any Warp entities existing here. Even ahead of the Magnus Drive's initial installation steps, Lexus had gone about the installation of a void shield generator to project the shield below that of the kinetic barriers that this galaxy relied upon. It was thankful that the ship was so small; it only had enough materials to create the one small generator that was intended to provide safety to wherever the Magos had set up shop within the Impossible City. Anything larger wouldn't have been fully covered by the shield.
Lexus gave Lefa a role among the Myrmidons for her ingenuity and intelligence in response to her role in their development goals. She headed up the other Quarians, as well as the few other xenos that displayed knowledge of engineering.
Even now, the Quarians and one of the lesser Myrmidons were busy on board their liberated ship installing the larger variation of the Magnus Drive. It was expected to be operational later that day, which was possibly the most important thing that the Magos needed done. Lord Arcturus had plans, after all.
That led Lexus to look away from pieces of the large Mass Effect drive and instead focus on the updated Thallax frame, possessing the mind of a formerly crippled human who was among the freed slaves of Nemata. The volunteer for the new Lorica Thallax.
The man had suffered a grievous injury when a gas pocket had been breached with one of the mining tools that had been fabricated for their use. He had either ignored or not understood the safety features of the new equipment, prompting another mandatory meeting and explanation of the new equipment's safety features. Nothing had happened since then, leading the Magos to believe that the injury and repeated demonstration had made them understand that just due to its much more efficient ability to crack minerals, did not mean it was foolproof in the safety of its use.
Lars, the man who was injured, had no hope in recovering fully. Thus Lexus offered him a way to keep serving Lord Arcturus and provide for his family that lived on a planet named Eden Prime, with a substantial bump up in his wages for what he would be losing in the long term. In the two weeks since the implementation of the new frame, Lars remained fully cognizant with no indications of mental instability. While he did require more nutrients than the older Thallax cohort, it seemed that the use of the modified L3 biotic amp he possessed was proving to be the key in preventing the deterioration that the older Thallax were known for. Careful watch had been kept on Lars, with tests being performed with consistent results. Lexus was more than pleased with this outcome, and had begun production of these newer Lorca Thallax to replace the current Thallax and Ursarax cohorts, and in preparation for new volunteers. Volunteers only, Lord Arcturus had said. And thus it would be.
Slavery was abominable. Indentured servitude could be tolerable, if the living conditions were still amenable. Arcturus was clear on this matter. This meant that the former slaves' living quarters had been overhauled, and turned into barracks much like those used by the Imperial Auxilia. The humans and quarians that worked in the primary facility were admittedly more comfortable, though the quarters of the xenos in the other two facilities were by no means horrid. Another thing that Lord Arcturus had demanded, fair treatment of the xenos. Lexus didn't agree with the Lord Custodian on this matter, but it was more than intelligent enough to keep such thoughts to itself. After all, it knew that Humanity was most definitely not the superior race in this galaxy. Not yet. And so they were provided the same amenities, though priority still went to the humans.
A notification in the noosphere alerted Lexus to the completion of the Magnus Drive aboard the Dutiful Claimant. It was time to begin bringing the crew and the cohorts aboard.
Arcturus watched the final Kodiak board the Dutiful Claimant with what he decided was contempt. If anyone had told him more than a month ago that he was about to embark on a raid with little more than himself, a Myrmidon Lord, and a small cohort of Thallax, then he would have ignored them for the idiot they were, even if it had been one of his brothers or Null sisters.
But here he sat aboard the Orion, experimental technology waiting to be activated with a Vultarax and a Castellax in its hold.
No matter. There was no true danger to himself so long as he kept doing as he did best: waging war with no limitations. And there was nobody who did that better than him, even among his brothers. He is the thirteenth Custodian, a warrior crafted for this specific purpose by the Emperor's hand. His brothers had taken his advice in warfare many times, for good reason. And where Constantin could easily best Arcturus in hand to hand combat, there had been multiple occasions where their brother-like rivalry had found the First of the Ten Thousand at his own mercy.
Arcturus' specialty was not personal combat. It was, instead, the ability to construct and execute carefully laid plots in the midst of warfare. To be the unexpected force that would turn the tide of battle. Where Valdor could best any of the Ten Thousand in combat and perhaps even one of the Emperor's vaunted Primarchs, it was always Arcturus's task to interrupt him when he had victory in his grasp. It didn't always work, but the Thirteenth's ingenuity had always taken him by surprise.
Thus, Arcturus Magnus the Thirteenth had gladly joined the ranks of the Tharanatoi among the few Sagittarum Guard. From a distance, he could see more of the battlefield and form plans. Even among the Ten Thousand, he held a degree of independence to act as he saw fit in the midst of battle with the confidence of his brothers and the Emperor Himself.
But the Emperor wasn't here, and neither were his brothers or Null sisters.
He was alone in this galaxy. There were none who would challenge his ideas, point out a flaw that he had overlooked that any others that weren't one of His own would consider inconsequential. None who he could trust to put him in his place when he had perhaps acted too far out of line when he himself doesn't see it. None who he could spend days discussing the minute details of even something as simple as the length of one's name.
And that, he decided, was why he now felt something that he had never before felt. Alone. And perhaps afraid of what was to come.
He recalled Valdor's fight with Ushotan, and the First's explanation of the conversation they had had before the final blow was delivered. Ushotan had stated that Valdor was void of all emotions and humanity, save duty. Prior to Arcturus's unplanned venture to this galaxy, he agreed with Valdor. Duty to the Emperor was absolute.
But now… What was he to do with no Emperor to serve? So far as he found, there weren't even psykers. The Magnus Drive was likely this galaxy's first foray into the Warp as a whole, and even then it was oddly quiet. As if there were no creatures of the Immaterium that existed, trying to batter down the Gellar Field.
There was an obvious answer. Serve the Emperor's ideals as best he can, bring forth the future of Humanity that the Emperor had sought, to claim the many stars as its own. Daunting as that task is, Arcturus would serve it to the best of his abilities. It was his duty.
But he still felt the isolation, the fear that he would never again meet his own match or one that surpassed him. Fear was something that he had never experienced, and indeed was confident that he shouldn't have been capable of feeling. And he had no idea how to handle it.
He shook his head free of such thoughts. There was time enough after their raid upon a Batarian slave colony world named Lasac. According to the files taken from the Dutiful Claimant, it housed several hundred slaves and only possessed a small garrison of Hegemony troops. Most of them were stationed on the orbiting cruiser and its frigate escorts, but deployed planetside to ensure the slaves were performing their duties. He would take the Orion and board the cruiser as he had before, while the Dutiful Claimant destroyed the frigate escort and deployed its Thallax and Ursarax complement, as well as the Myrmidon Lord itself. Sheela would deploy the Vultarax and Castellax as needed after he had boarded the cruiser.
This would leave Nemata almost entirely unguarded, save for the few newly recruited guardsmen. They had only just begun their initial trials, but they would have to do if anything came to the planet while Arcturus was gone. An acceptable risk, for now.
He hummed into the vox channel, stopping any idle chatter as he began to speak.
"The Batarian slavers are not the foes we are used to facing. They are weak, they are disorganized, and they are few. Despite this, they still outnumber us. Great care must be taken in our operations. A single loss for one of us will be a setback we cannot afford at this present time. Myrmidons, take care with your cohorts. Let us erase these xenos from existence and free those that are chained to their yoke of slavery. Prepare for Warp travel."
Short. Simple. To the point. Maybe not the most effective, but it outlined the most important goals clearly. It would suffice for now.
He had a comm buoy to find and destroy. Then he would make the Batarians feel the wrath of his might.
A private communique came from Lexus the moment they exited the Warp, which Arcturus opened without hesitation.
"Lord Arcturus, a scan performed by Lefa indicates that there seems to be a significant stockpile of rations within the primary settlement. Recommend procuring this stockpile for our own use, rather than destroying it."
"See it done, Magos. May the Omnissiah grant you victory."
"The Emperor and Omnissiah protect Their own, Lord Custodian. Victory is assured."
The communique ended, prompting the Custodian to redirect the Orion slightly to fix his course. Five minutes until he would once again be performing his craft. He nodded to himself and stood, making his way into the Orion's hold. He had one last check to perform on the Vultarax and Castellax.
On Lasac, the sun was just beginning to rise. Sergeant Dulak of the Batarian Hegemony had just roused himself from slumber, as his squad's shift was just beginning. Twelve Batarians altogether, which would be transporting a group of thirty slaves up to the fields to begin their tasks for the day. Most of them would be tending the fields, but there were several other tasks assigned to them this day as well.
Part of Dulak wondered how he had managed to land himself on a backwater slave colony as security. He had served the Hegemony honorably, did everything that was expected of him before he was transferred here. Another part of him didn't particularly care. At least the planet was decent, and not a total shithole where they were fighting off flora and fauna constantly.
It took him all of two minutes to arrive at his squad's muster point, though he would admit that he was likely a minute late when he saw the rest of the squad and their charges gathered already. The point itself was nothing more than the cluster of shacks where the slaves slept and ate, muddy and fairly downtrodden from the nearby Makos that were used for the transportation. Most were unarmed, with the exception of three that had a cannon mounted.
Dulak took a quick head tally of both his own soldiers and the slaves before nodding to himself.
"Everyone's accounted for. Start loading into the transports, we have a larger quota to meet today and a few maintenance tasks that need to be fulfilled before the next shift."
His soldiers obeyed immediately, as did the slaves. By this point, there was little in the way of a rebellious spirit. If it wasn't by the punishments administered by out of line behavior, then it was by the collars within their flesh. Their hope had dwindled to nothing, making for the perfect servants.
As the last of the slaves embarked in their respective Makos, Dulak opened his omnitool to confirm his squad was on their way out. He mumbled to himself when there wasn't a response from command.
"Damn lazy bastards. Least they could do is acknowledge my message."
With a sigh, he boarded his own Mako where three of his squad members sat waiting for him.
Dulak dove around the corner of glowing cherry-red slag that used to be a Mako as he attempted to get away from whatever had brought his squad low. The sun Lasac orbits had fallen several hours ago.
His shift's portion of the fields had been tended quite well. Everything they needed done had been finished. Dulak could claim that the first thing he felt about something being off was that his squad and batch of slaves had not encountered the next shift to work the fields that night before they departed; it ultimately wasn't his problem if the next shift was late. Everything his had done was documented and sent to command. Once more, he had cursed their laziness for not bothering to send an acknowledgment, but it hadn't been the first time whoever was handling the deskwork decided that they had better things to do.
Now, he understood what had happened. Lasac was under attack, and judging by the lack of response from command, had already fallen to its invaders.
The ride back to the colony took an hour, in which the sun had fully sank beneath the horizon. Normally he would have encountered the night shift at some point between that transition. Instead, they had come to the outskirts to find craters, melted prefabricated colonization units, and the corpses of Batarian soldiers placed on planted rebar. Grotesque, but the message had been clear. The moment that the Sergeant had identified what remained of Lieutenant Barsah's upper torso and head, he had ordered the Makos to turn around. Unfortunately, whatever had attacked Lasac had left a response unit to take out any stragglers.
That was Dulak's hypothesis, anyhow. It was supported by the fact that the moment his orders had been issued, both of his accompanying armed Makos had been utterly annihilated in two ways he had never before seen.
The first Mako went via a blast of electricity in that took the form of a triple helix pattern. The Mako's physical shell seemed to take it well, but anyone inside had been fried instantly. He couldn't even interface with the Mako's cannon remotely; the entire system had likely been fried.
The second Mako had simply partially ceased to exist as a blue projectile came from… he wasn't even sure where. Even from within his own Mako, his proximity to the blast had ensured he felt the overwhelming heat. What remained of the second Mako was nothing more than slag.
He turned the Mako around as fast as he could, only to find that the heat had melted the rear left set of wheels.
"Everyone out!" Dulak ordered. He had been the second one out of the Mako, his head roving what he could see to spot the slave Makos. He found them off to the side, each of them pulled off the road by something large. None of them had been destroyed, nor had the slaves tried to clamber out. He began to motion towards them when something out of the corner of his four eyes made him duck and roll towards the slagged Mako, the screams of what remained of his squad coming through his comms clearly. He muted them without second thought as he made it around the corner.
What had he seen? Massive sickle-shaped claws? Clearly they had cut clean through his soldier's shields and hardsuits with little effort.
He attempted to move further around the glowing slag, only to run directly into a red-robed figure. Dulak wasn't even sure if it was humanoid; the cloth covering it was too thick to see through, and the large cannon that was glowing the same shade of blue as the explosion earlier was placed on what he assumed was its shoulder. The eerie blue glow the cannon gave off illuminated the figure enough for Dulak to make out something metallic beneath the robes at least, even if the five glowing red eyes or optics beneath its hood hadn't given away that this creature was at least partially mechanical or armored.
A sharp pinch blossomed in his gut at the same time as the glow of his kinetic barrier overloading made itself known, then in his shoulder. All four of his eyes blinked, trying to comprehend what had just happened. He glanced down, seeing the strange mechanical tentacles that had pierced his body. He didn't even realize a third had gone through his lungs. An attempt to step away was foiled as he was lifted off the ground and dragged closer to the figure. It didn't speak, but instead made several clicks and blips.
It was only as the tip of one of the tentacles that had pierced through his body maneuvered its way around his head and aimed at his uppermost eyes that he finally began to scream in horror. Unfortunately for him, his body had finally began to shut down.
Lexus discarded the Batarian corpse he had performed the in-field vivisection upon. The Magos was most pleased with the outcome, with several notes made about their circulatory and nervous systems under duress.
The Myrmidon Lord turned away from the mess and returned to the Ursarax that stood silently over the Batarians that had managed to disembark their transport. Through the noosphere, orders were passed on for the Skitarius to return to where it had been posted. Two of its brethren were already at work with one of the lesser Myrmidons among the former slaves and their vehicles, removing the implanted explosive collars.
The Magos ran through its memory bank again, making sure everything was accounted for in Lord Arcturus's liberation raid starting from the beginning.
The Dutiful Claimant emerged from the Warp close enough to the Batarian ships to engage them immediately, though it hadn't been needed. Arcturus had already boarded the Batarian cruiser and two of its frigate escorts, while the last looked to have been turned into scrap. Lexus had no need to verify that the Orion's Arachnus Heavy Blaze Cannons had performed the deed; the Magos had seen its handiwork enough during service to the Legio Custodes.
Having already acquired void superiority, the Magos didn't hesitate to begin sending the first wave of Kodiaks where they were needed once the Orion had transmitted the data it had mined from the cruiser. He had been aboard one.
Irritatingly enough, it seemed several groups of slaves had been transported away from the main colony. Among the reports received from the surface were the confirmations of transportation for shifts, along with how long they would be out. That would be helpful for laying ambushes.
There were no unfortunate incidents involving the Kodiaks. Each of their pilots were able to make it planetside without being shot down, allowing for the Thallaxii inside to begin removing the Batarians from this life en mass. Initial combat reports from the Thallaxii were more than promising. Throughout the entirety of the conflict, only one of them received enough damage to render the Lorica Thallax frame inert. The Skitarius inside wasn't harmed, rendering the loss more than recoverable.
The Magos' own weapons were more than adequate for this. A highly coveted Volkite Culverin rested over one shoulder, while a Phased Plasma-fusil rested on the other. One could never claim that Lexus wasn't greedy when it came to the wargear that the Magos wished to have on hand for various uses, and they continued to serve the Myrmidon Lord well. The addition of the Vultarax and Castellax had proven to be the final nail in the Batarians' proverbial coffin.
Once the primary colony had been pacified and the slaves freed, they had been redirected to begin boarding the Kodiaks to be taken to the Dutiful Claimant. Once they had been fully transferred, with the exception of those out on shifts, transportation of the stored food and crops had begun. This would be the start of Nemata becoming wholly independent once the underground plantation chambers were finished within the facilities. They were already being mined out and the appropriate technology to support the crops being built.
Lexus had posed the idea of nutrient paste being the primary form of nutrition to Arcturus, but the Lord Custodian had shut that idea down.
"If we wish to keep the favor of those we free," Arcturus had said, "then we need to provide to them reasons for them to stay beyond mere freedom. There will be no shortcuts here, Lexus. I know I would rather eat food than choke down paste. Not everyone is as happy to go along with what is most efficient as those of you from Mars are."
The Magos understood, but that didn't mean it fully agreed. No matter; it would do as the Lord Custodian requested. At least the credits favored by this galaxy were easily exploited. Local currencies held more value than credits, and were far easier to forge if needed. Which it wasn't.
To register a local currency into the galactic trade currency, it had to meet several criteria laid forth by the Citadel's Unified Banking Act. Fortunately, Imperial Thrones met every criteria and could be traced back far enough to give them legitimacy through records of transactions. While the more exotic sales records would not be shared, the use of records detailing sales of simple productions such as steel and concrete were harmless enough. All Lexus had needed to do was change the dates within the records, which was easy enough to do without drawing suspicion.
With Nemata being the only source of Imperial Thrones in this galaxy, virtual or physical, it would not want for credits with which to pay those that served the fledgling Forge World. But this tangent of thought was deviating from the Magos' primary objective.
They had waited for each of the shifts to return. All of them were eliminated without issue, the slaves unsure of what was happening beyond their former masters being eliminated. It was clear that all of them would need some form of habilitation, some more than others. Hope would need to be restored to them, trust in their liberators built and a mutually beneficial relationship created. Some of the former slaves would have families that were free. The first step would be finding them and offering them a better life than what they currently lived, with their liberated family members. The families would be carefully vetted, as some of the former slaves may have been sold by those very same family members.
With this last shift being taken care of and the former slaves being readied for transport, Lexus opened the vox channel shared between itself and Arcturus.
"Operation successful. All units are preparing for departure. Status?"
The Custodian himself had boarded the Orion once the majority of the dirty work was finished. Sheela had welcomed him back happily, almost reverently despite the addition he brought on-board. He would need to have a talk with her about her obsession, but there were more important matters to be dealt with. More importantly, he had found someone of considerable interest to himself and brought her aboard as well.
With the Warp as untouched as it seemed so far here, he had not expected to find one of this woman's kind. Truthfully, he hadn't even considered the possibility. Finding a psyker was far more likely than finding someone possessing the Pariah Gene.
The red-haired and extremely pale-skinned woman, no older than perhaps twenty Terran years, had been treated deplorably. That would be expected from a Null in captivity, if not being outright murdered. What had impressed him even beyond her survival in captivity was her grit. If the state of her guards and the logs kept regarding her were accurate, then this woman was a born warrior as well. Someone like her would have rose through the ranks of the Sisters of Silence quickly, earning the right to serve among the Talons of the Emperor. He had seen it before, and he could only hope to see it once more. But he wouldn't delude himself.
He had found her in the Batarian cruiser's hold, along with a rather ragged looking duo of Batarian guards. Even after he had dispatched them, the woman glared into his own eyes defiantly through his helmet's autosenses. That she bore the signs of abuse of many kinds and still possessed the determination in the emerald eyes that she had was quite remarkable. It had taken him multiple attempts to convince her that he was here to help. While he didn't mind the interactions, it had cost him one of the cruiser's escort frigates. Sheela was forced to destroy it before its weapons had reached full power.
Even when he had secured the Null's agreement to come with him, she had refused to give her name to him. It was no matter; he simply started referring to her as Sister. Through the logs he had recovered, it seemed she had been captured during a slave raid on the human colony of Mindoir in 2170. No name had been given, but the woman had been no older than eight Terran years old when she had been captured.
This information had given Arcturus the final bit of information he needed to make a decision on what to do. He would train her in the crafts of the Sisters of Silence himself. Twelve years under the yoke of the Batarians was a longer period in her life than she had been free of them. She would survive the trials. He had given her a sedative and placed her in the Orion's bay, tasking the lone tech thrall on board with keeping her comfortable and safe until she was able to be safely taken back to Nemata.
Arcturus had settled back into his seat in the cockpit, scrolling through incoming data relating to both the operation as well as logistics being sent by Nemata. He had been lax in his duties towards the logistics over the past several days due his attention being turned towards the planning of the operation and onwards, but it would have to be handled eventually. It may as well have been now.
It wasn't until he came across a report sent as the Orion had departed the Hoc system that one acquired his attention. Someone had made contact with Nemata, a xenos faction presumably that hadn't identified themselves beyond an insectoid head possessing four glowing eyes.
The message had been short, and clearly a probe to gain some insight as to who or what the denizens of Nemata were or could be through an offer of trade.
We would like to trade for information. Information and technology are offered in return.
Coordinates were included that were disturbingly close to the Hoc system, though not within any of the surrounding systems. Essentially empty space, in other words. A note had been added to the report, stating that whoever had heard it first wasn't certain what species the insectoid belonged to.
It was no matter. Arcturus would meet with them, and if they posed a threat to Nemata then he would eliminate them. The Custodian turned to face his female copilot as he sent the message to Sheela.
"Bring the Vultarax and Castellax back on board. We have a small change of plans."
"Sending the recall orders and setting a course now, Lord Arcturus."