Ok all, Enjoy.
Clark couldn't help but let out a sigh as he stepped out of the airlock and back onto the Normandy, he really did want to think that the Admirals would be smarter than others he's had to deal with over the years. But no, it seems that no matter who you are or what you do, you get involved in government, you just become as stupid as everyone else "Alright guys" he said as he quickly moved towards the cockpit "disconnect and let's get out of here"
Joker didn't say anything back to him for a moment, but he did look up from his controls towards him, his face held a mostly neutral expression but Clark could see that there was a sadness in there "Yes sir" he said as he turned back to the controls and soon the Normandy gave a shake as the docking clamp was released "It's a shame about Tali's dad" he commented as the thrusters came alive and they started to move away from the fleet and towards the Relay "think she'll be ok?" he asked him.
Clark looked away from the window and down towards him for a moment "speaking from experience, the death of a loving parent is not something that just goes away" he started, his mind briefly going back to himself when he lost his own dad "it will be long and painful but she'll get better eventually"
Joker didn't say anything back, just turned his head forward and looked back out the window "well, I guess it's fair to accept that she's going to need a couple of days off, you know" he added.
"To be fair, I don't think she's technically employed" he said but then frowned as he tilted his head "now that I think about it, I don't think I am either" he simply let out a shrug "either way, she's about to have a massive distraction soon anyway" he added.
"What do you mean?" Joker asked back.
Clark simply looked down and let out a smirk "that would ruin the surprise now, wouldn't it?" he turned around and started to walk down towards the CIC "for now, set a course for the Sol system"
"Sol system?" the pilot asked back as he looked over his shoulder towards him "We're going to Earth?" he added, his voice getting louder in order in order for be heard by Clark.
"Get us to the system!" Clark said back just as loud but unlike Joker he had to speak louder in order for Joker to hear him. He started to make his way towards Mordins lab as he had to admit, he was curious to see where Miranda was in her little experiment. Though as he moved, his mind couldn't help but flash back to his conversations with the Admiralty board.
There was a tense silence as Clark looked at those in front of him, the last civilian left a moment ago and it was now only himself, the admirals and a handful of guards that were stationed around the plaza. He knew that moving to a smaller more conference like room would have been a better call but it wouldn't have worked, after his little display with the table they were still scared of him. Not to surprising that they wouldn't want to move to a smaller place, in here they can keep their distance from him.
"Well" Koris began as he crossed his arms and looked at him "what was it you wanted to discuss?" he asked with an air of annoyance in his tone, no doubt not liking how Clark acted before or what he said. He had to admit though, Clark did respect the man's lack of fear.
Clark's hard demeanour left him and he looked to the ground for a moment before placing his hands on his hips "listen, I know how I acted today wasn't the best first impression but I do want you to know that I truly want what is best for your people" the sudden statement definitely caught them off guard as they all turned to face each other "it's because of that, I highly recommend you listen to what I'm about to tell you. Going to war with the Geth is at this moment, simply not an option" he did make a note of how both Gerrel and Xen rolled their eyes and even seemed to take an annoyed posture as well, though Koris did seem happier than before "but neither is peace" Clark quickly added.
"While your opinion is appreciated Mr. Kent" Raan began from the top podium "I do not believe that it is your place to offer council on Quarian matters or affairs" she said clearly trying to play the role of diplomat, though Clark did get the hint that she was doing this to prevent the others from getting into another argument "especially when we do not ask it of you" she added.
"I understand where you are coming from Admiral" he nodded back to her "but I'm trying to save you from extinction"
Extinction. That one word often has the most effect on people. Especially when it comes from a source you cannot simply move against or ignore "what do you mean?" Gerrel asked as he crossed his arms "the Reapers?" he asked with a disbelieving tone in his voice "one of the very few things we and the Citadel council agree on is the topic of the Reapers"
"I'm sure you do" Clark nodded back at him "and I'm going to tell you the exact same thing I'm going to tell the council if ever get round to going back there. They're real and they're coming" the certainness in his voice seemed to catch them by surprise and while not just yet, they were starting to show the signs or nervousness.
Xen looked to the Koris for a moment before turning back forward "if that is true then it seems that attacking the Geth as fast as possible in order to have a more defensible position would be the best choice, if I could get some help to finish my research and get them back under are control. We would have a much better chance of..."
"Stop" Clark interrupted her "I am not here to solve all your problems, I'm trying to teach you how to save yourselves and your people"
"Then what would you recommend we do?" Koris asked as he leaned forward and placed both his hands on the small railing in front of him.
"You cannot attack the Geth" he started "going to war with them now guaranties two things. Number one: you'll be incredibly weakened by the time the Reapers arrive, assuming you can win which to be perfectly honest, I find very unlikely. Number two: you give the Geth reason to think the Reapers have the right of it in wiping out organic life" he listed, then he quickly turned to Koris "and making peace with them would A: take too long and B: there would be too much suspicion for you to stand together against the Reapers without a lot of friendly fire"
And that was the crux of it for peace. Clark wanted the Geth and Quarian to make peace with each other, he really did but it would take time and this wasn't a movie, you can't take two groups of peoples and think that a common enemy would make them work together. It just didn't work like that, they'd end up in a three-way battle where the Reapers come out on top.
He could tell that they were all coming up with different ways to counter his argument, but it seems they were unable too. Which was good, it showed Clark that they were capable of not talking complete bullshit when backed into a corner. Raan took a step forward, placed both her hands on the railing in front of her and allowed her head to drop, letting loose a loud sigh as she did so "then what would you recommend we do?" she asked him.
"The only option you have. You have to fight" he told them and though none of the recoiled in fear at the idea, he could tell that they didn't like it "you can't run, the Reapers have incredibly advanced technology, so they'll be able to find you were ever you go. You won't be able to survive on your own, so you need to do something that Quarians have been unable to for a while. You need to get some allies. You need to move to the Sol system"
"Haha" Gerrel couldn't seem to help himself from letting a sarcastic laugh escape him "and you think that the Alliance would be alright with us just bringing the largest fleet in the galaxy to their home world?"
"Oh no" he quickly shook his head "They'll most likely hate the idea at first, but when you tell them you're there to help them stand against the Reapers. I'm sure they'll be much more cooperative of the idea then" which in truth was completely true.
"Why would they do that?" Xen asked him.
Clark looked down to his Omni-tool "because at the moment, Admiral Hackett is a few hours away from a derelict Reaper... oh wait, that's a much better idea" that last part seemed more to himself then others "here, I'm giving you all some coordinates" all their Omni-tools lit up as he spoke "at that location is a dead Reapers body that's been there for millions of years. Go there, see the Reaper meet up with the Alliance force and tell them you want to form a military alliance with them in order stand stronger against this enemy. They won't refuse you"
None of them said anything after that and Clark didn't feel the need to get into why the Alliance would accept such an alley. It went without saying that it would be easy for Clark to figure out that when the Alliance starts building its military and breaking the treaty of Farixen, it may find itself in need of some allies.
"But what about all our civilians?" Raan interrupted "we will not be able to help fight off the Reapers effectively if every ship we have is protecting the Live ships"
Good thing he already had a way to help them in mind "Ok" he nodded at her "I'll say this. If you agree to aid the Alliance in fighting the Reapers and I give you my word that I will take your Live ships away from the Reapers reach, I will take them to a world that you can use as a colony to finally move on from the fleet and start again. When the Reapers are beaten, I'll take the rest of you there"
There was complete silence after the offer was made, all of the starred at each other and he could see their hearts beating a mile a minute. While some of them started sputtering, Raan decided that she would be the one to speak "thank you Mr. Kent. We will take a moment to think about what you have told us and will message Tali when we have our answer" she said.
"Don't take too long" Clark said as he turned around and made his way out "your species is on a timer now"
He really hoped that he got the point across to them because he did not want to see them die off, but now he would just need to have some faith that they would see reason on the subject. He wasn't going to force them to think clearly. When he made it across the CIC and towards Mordins lab, he quickly looked through the door and saw something he did not except.
Miranda was there, that much was certain but so was Mordin and Legion as well. All of them where hovering over the middle table which is where his blood sample was being held and had at least four different scanners pointed at it. Legion looked the same as it did last time they spoke but Mordin was pacing back and forth with his hand to his chin, a look of determination on his face. Miranda on the other hand looked as beautiful as always though he had to admit her hair was a little messier then normal, and she had stains of coffee running down her suit. He didn't think she noticed that.
Around the room where four different holographic whiteboards that where full of equations "No" she started looking over to the machine "that doesn't work. If all Krptonians had his level of power they would have conquered the universe by now, he has to be a special case, a one off, a fluke" her voice echoed into his ears.
Knowing that I might be best to leave them to it, he turned around and headed towards the elevator instead "Sir" he didn't turn in order to know Kelly was coming up to him "I wanted you to know that scheduled session later has to be put on hold"
"Good" was all he said back as the door opened and he stepped inside.
"I just thought it best that I try and speak to Tali about her father's passing" she continued just before Clark pushed one of the buttons on the control panel... well, he was going to push it but stopped and turned to look at her.
"You really think she'll talk to you about that?" he asked her.
The yeoman gave him a shrug "probably not but everyone on this ship is under my jurisdiction, I have a responsibility to them. I need to let her know it's an option" she told him.
Clark looked back at her for a moment before giving her a small nod "is there anything else?" he asked her calmly.
She gave him a small smile before responding "Mr. Krios has asked to speak with you about something important, but he also claimed it was confidential and before he left for the Quarian ship, Garrus wanted to speak with you as well. Might want to wait until he's away from Tali before you go for him" she warned him.
Clark nodded at her again before he pushed a button that would take him to the crew quarters "guess I'll go speak to Thane then" he said just before the doors closed and he could feel the machine taking him down.
It didn't take more than a few seconds for the doors to open and he started to make his way outside, for a brief moment he thought about turning the corner and heading to the crew bunk rooms when he could hear the sounds of crying and knew immediately that it was Tali but stopped himself. He what she was going through and he also knew that the crying and feeling down was a process and it wasn't going to change no matter what someone else, it was the mind coming to terms with the loss and that was definitely not going to change with him saying the usual. He didn't look but based on what Kelly said, he would assume that Garrus was in there as well, he briefly thought if it was even aloud for him to be in the women's sleeping room but he shook his head when he remembered that he didn't care all that much.
Instead, he made his way to the life support room where Thane was currently staying. He knocked on the door with a loud bang and it opened a moment later, he walked in to see Thane sitting at a small table looking out of a small window that gives a good view to the ships core "Clark" he started as he turned to look at him "I mentioned to you before when we met on Illium that I was dying. I've started to realize that as I face the end of my body's time here, I find myself dwelling on my mistakes" he walked over to the small shelving unit that held his weapons "I had a family once. I still have a son, his name is Kolyat. I haven't seen him for a very long time"
Upon hearing the information, Clark took a step forward and stood beside him "how long as it been since you last saw him?" he found himself asking.
"Ten years" Thane answered as he turned his head to look at him "he showed me some of his schoolwork and asked if we could dance crazy. We did that when he was younger"
He was about to asked what dance crazy meant but thought against it, he could come up with a basic idea of what it meant "you said 'had' what happened to them?"
"I abandoned them" the response was quick but Thane quickly looked away with a look of shame on his face "oh, not all at once. Nothing dramatic. No sneaking out in the middle of the night. No final argument or slammed door" he listed, and Clark did admit that his mind did just go there before he said that "I just... did my job. I hunted and killed across the galaxy. 'Away on business' my wife would tell people. I was always away on business"
"Has something happened?" Clark asked knowing that he wouldn't be bringing this up for the fun of it.
"In the last couple of weeks I used my contacts to trace Kolyat. He has become... disconnected. He does what his body wills" he said.
Clark didn't know much about the Drell philosophy but from what was said, he got the feeling it was something around the topic of a teenager doing something they really shouldn't be "and where has his body willed him too?" he asked back.
"To the Citadel. I don't know where, exactly. I only know that he travelled there and has contacted the criminal element of the station" he looked down and let out a sigh "he has been hired to kill a man. I would like your help to stop it"
Clark crossed his arms in thought "The Citadel, what made him go there?" he asked.
"Years ago, I prepared a package for him. A relic of my ill-spent life. I had Volus bankers store it and arranged for delivery when I died. He acquired it early. I don't really know how. I did wet work on the Citadel around the time his mother died. That may be why he went there" he spoke calmly "I am aware that you going to the Citadel would create a fuss, but I am equipped to sneak us in, if you agree to help me of course"
He knew he was going to do it, that much was clear within a handful of microseconds. But that didn't mean he wouldn't let out a tired sight before nodding "don't worry, we'll make sure your son ends up ok. We're just gonna need to modify the plan slightly" he turned and started to make his way out "it's gonna be ok Thane" he said calmly as the door opened and closed behind him.
He was about to take the elevator back up to his room but stopped when he saw Garrus make his way towards him "she ok?" he asked the Turian who could only give him a small shrug and a tired sigh.
"Not really, can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked him.
"Sure" he said as he turned and followed Garrus to the place where he set himself up which was the forward battery of the ship. The two entered and the doors closed behind him, Garrus was quite for a moment before he turned around and leaned back against the main console.
"Back on Omega, I wasn't working alone, I had a team" he started and Clark gave him his complete attention "we did good work, we started to really make a difference on that god damn station. I started to care for those guys, started to trust them" his voice started to get more and more angry.
"And since by the time I got to you, you were on your own. Something happened?" he asked with a tilt of the head and a gentle voice.
All he did in return of the question was shake his head "is name was Sidonis, he betrayed the team, gave up information on them and I've been looking for him ever since. I've just found a lead" he walked forward until he was right in front of Clark "there's a specialist on the Citadel, his name is Fade. He's an expert at helping people disappear. Sidonis was seen with him"
The second that Garrus mention the word Citadel, the plan started to form his head, a very convenient one "when you find Sidonis, what are you going to do to him?" he felt it best that he ask, his plan does depend on the information.
"You lived with humans for a long time, they have a saying right?" he said back quickly "an eye for an eye. A life for a life. Well, he owes me ten lives, I'll just have to make do with one"
"You know, there's another part to that saying" he said back with a tilt of the head.
Garrus nodded back at him "did you listen to that part when your wife was killed"
Silence.
Clark looked right into Garrus's eyes and the alien could clearly see the red hue forming around his iris, but the Turian did not back down in fear from them. Because he was right "fair enough" was all Clark said before he turned to leave "I'll let you know when we're near the Citadel" he added before the door closed behind him.
He turned his head to the right and saw the image of Lois as she walked beside him "not now" he said to her before he looked back forwards, not noticing how the idle crew starred at him slightly as he said that.
He made his way to the cabin, feeling that it would be best to take some time to himself. Maybe do some extra research to kill time until they made it to Sol.
He was difficult for him to wipe the smile off his face, he stood just behind Jokers chair they neared the exit of the Mass Relay "Ok, we enter the Sol system in a moment" Joker as he looked at Clark from over his shoulder "still don't want to ruin the surprise for me?" he asked.
"I'm not spoiling this for anyone" he said back quickly as he looked back out the window "oh and when we enter the system, open all the front blast shields" he ordered.
"Understood captain" EDI said as her holographic form appeared on a small pedestal next to the pilot's chair. That didn't mean much, just that when they entered the system the front window would get a lot bigger so one could see more.
"I must say, this uncharacteristic, even for you" looking over his shoulder he could that Samara was walking towards him with the same narrowed angry eyes that she always looked at him with. She wasn't there to just talk to him of course, she was there because he asked her to be "you are never normally this... aloof" she commented.
"I know right" another voice called and Kasumi decloaked herself as she leaned against the wall to the side "if I didn't know any better, I would say you look excited"
"I am" he freely admits, his smile not going anywhere "this has been a long time coming"
"Ok, now I'm getting really curious" Jacob spoke as he himself started to walk forwards towards them and he didn't need to turn his head in order to see everyone else make their way forwards.
"Must admit, unexpected, what reason do we have to come to the Sol system" Mordin asked aloud.
Turning his head he could see Mordin, Miranda and Legion make their way forwards towards the rest of the group. Upon seeing them, he turned around to great them all "and how has your project been coming along?" he asked with a teasing smile knowing exactly how well it went.
Miranda narrowed her eyes slightly as she tucked one of the many lose strands of hair behind her ear "a couple of unexpected hiccups but we will get there eventually"
"Exiting Relay in ten seconds" Joker commented from his spot at the front of the ship.
"All hands, prep for Relay exit" EDI's voice echoed throughout the ship.
"Clark" a quiet and timid voice called out from the back of the group, looking back he saw Tali standing there sullenly with Ashely standing close behind her, a hand on the small of her back "what are we doing here?" she asked.
Instead of looking back at her with an understanding or sorrowful look, he instead gave her a bright smile and lifted an arm towards her, gesturing her to come forward and after a moment she slowly started to walk towards him "ever since I stepped back from the from my... hero work" he began as Tali stepped next to him but everyone else was listening to what he was saying "I had a lot of free time on my hands. Well, after I got over the depression of course"
There was a slight jolt in the ship as it left FTL and started to float in the void for a moment as the blast shields around the front window pulled back, giving the group a much better view. Clark lifted his Omni-Tool and started to type "EDI, head to these coordinates" he ordered as he turned back to the others and opened his mouth to speak again.
"Sir, these coordinates would place us right in the middle of Saturn's asteroid ring" EDI's voice came up from behind him.
Turning over his shoulder, he looked at EDI'S hologram for a moment before speaking "Don't worry about it EDI, it'll be fine" he said before turning back to the group.
"Wait" Joker said this time "you want us to fly into a planet sized asteroid field?" he asked him, looking over his shoulder at Clark with wide eyes.
Clark let out a sigh as he once again turned back to look over his shoulder "during the battle of the Citadel you flew at a Reaper, you're fine. Do it" he said with a firmer tone before he turned back to the group "ok, where was I? Oh yeah, anyway, I had a lot of free time on my hands. I had a lot of different projects, some lasted longer than others and some others where more important and so on" he started to explain as the ship flew through the void towards the ringed planet of the Sol system "But there was one that always took priority for me, one I didn't want to rush, one that I wanted to be as perfect as I could make it"
As he spoke, all those in front of him paid complete attention to him, only ever glancing at the large windows behind him to see Saturn get larger and larger "and it's a project that's only ever been completed recently"
"You've been working on one project for a hundred years?" Jacob asked "you?" he stressed with raised eyebrows.
"Honestly" Clark gave him a shrug "probably more than a hundred, this has been a long time coming and it's why I'm so excited" the planet behind him started to get bigger and bigger until the many rings around it started to come into view "and well... let's just say this is going to make the mission so much easier for everyone"
"You know we're flying right towards a large asteroid right, this things over a seventy Kilometres long" Jokers voice came back again from behind him.
"And this is why I want you at the front" Clark continued looking at Tali "because I've got a feeling it's gonna cheer you up a little" he said.
"Flying right towards it"
"I'm just going to place my hand here" he said reaching up and placing a hand flat on Tali's chest just above her breasts, then reaching out with his left hand and doing the same to Miranda who simply raised an eyebrow at him, all he did was smile.
"EDI, why are you still flying?! We're gonna crash!"
With the alarm in his voice, the entire group started to look concerned at Clark who just smiled back at them.
"... That's not an asteroid" was all EDI said as the view out of the front window was almost entirely replaced with the greyish brown rock colour of the asteroid.
Though it wasn't until EDI said that, that some members of the group quickly moved to the side of the walkway and made to grab something to hold onto. Namely Garrus, Mordin and Thane. Samara placed a small Biotic field around herself.
The others were not so lucky.
The ship stopped completely in place. Keep in mind that the Normandy was traveling hundreds of thousands of miles pair hour, even with the shields, even with the artificial gravity onboard. Stopping that suddenly did cause some... discomfort. If it wasn't for Clark, Miranda and Tali would have been thrown onto their stomachs by the force. Which is exactly what happened to Kasumi, Jacob, Grunt, Ashely and Legion. The other managed to hold on themselves though there was a lot of swinging and grunting with effort as they did so. Clark himself of course remained perfectly still, as if he didn't even feel it.
"What the hell!" Ashely shouted from the ground as she started to pick herself up. Looking behind the ground, Clark could see that everyone else wasn't doing much better, thankfully most of the crew seemed to be in good shape if a little surprised by the stop. No-one was hurt at least, which is the important thing.
"EDI..." Joker started as he placed his hands on his chest, trying to ignore the pain coming from there as his brittle bones tugged on his restraints "what happened?" he asked.
As all the others began to either let go of what they were holding onto or standing up from the ground "I do not know, we are stuck in some kind of tracker beam. I am doing what I can but we are locked in place" the A.I replied causing most to immediately turn to Clark instead.
"A little warning might have been nice" Jacob said with a frown as he patted himself down, Kasumi doing the same next to him.
"EDI, can you get us out this?" Joker asked as he started to type away into his controls.
Before EDI could answer however, a bright light shining in front of them caught the attention of everyone present "unknown contact detected!" the Legion voice sounded alarmed.
"What is that?" Garrus asked as he made his way forward.
Clark didn't answer, a bright orange beam of light shined through the window and like a wall of light it pushed forward towards them. As it passed all the controls and electronics, they sparked and turned off. The entire ship was rattling as a loud screeching was heard around them "we are being scanned" Legion said as it took a step back as the light washed over him "unknown source, does not match any known patterns"
By now, most of the ship was starting to panic as many of the crew stood up from their workstations and looked around in a panic "I've lost control"
"I've been locked out"
"EDI!" Joker said as he started to scramble on his own controls "what's happening?"
"...unknown" EDI's hologram started to flicker in and out "losing control... something's …... here" was all the A.I said as the everything turned off.
The lights switched off causing the entire ship to be shrouded in darkness. For a moment, no-one said a word, the silence was deafening to some people. However, before anyone could say anything, Legion beat them too it "visual optics for organic teammates impaired, attempting to counter" when he said that he stepped to the side of the group until he was up against the wall. Looking forward, the Geth's primary optic became a lot brighter giving a lot of credence to the nick name 'flashlight head' "does this help?" he asked them all.
"awe" Kasumi cooed as she looked at it, somehow able to remain her usual self despite the circumstances "yes Legion, that helps a lot. Thank you" the thief said to the Geth.
"Clark" Miranda spoke as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow "what's going on?" she asked him.
He opened his mouth to answer but before he could, all the lights switched back on. Everyone looked around themselves and some even let out a sigh of relief and Legion powered down his light and it went back to normal "I have been given back control of the ship" EDI spoke "captain, while I do appreciate the spirit of a surprise. I think it would be better to give a warning in the future" it commented.
While some of the more perceptive members of the crew looked at EDI's hologram with a more uncertain look, no doubt due to the more... informal way she spoke to the captain of the ship. Clark simply turned back around to her and gave her a smile "sorry EDI, I'll do that in the future"
"Enough with this suspense" Grunt said from the back of the group and let out a small growl as he looked at Clark with narrowed eyes "what is this?"
To others, they would think that Grunt is angrier than he would be but Clark knew better, and it was only him getting slightly annoyed. He didn't answer though, he knew it didn't have too "Ah Master, so good to see you again!" a cheerful voice said from behind him.
A smile came onto his face as he turned to look at a hologram that appeared next to EDI's. It was very different from the Normandy's A.I however, this one had a humanoid torso, with arms and hands. Under the torso where two thin stubs that it if looked at closer, one would see two engines built into them that would allow it to hover, its head was quite large, but it did not have a face, instead the entire front of it acted as a large screen or monitor, in the centre of its chest was a bright set of lines that one could think was a power source "You too Kelex" he said back, choosing to ignore the stares everyone else was giving him "I got your message, is it done?" he asked.
Kelex nodded its head happily at the question "construction is one hundred percent completed, all designs and added specifications where integrated seamlessly and the problem with the power source has been solved thanks to the data recently sent. All that is left at the moment is to... hit the ignition. So to speak"
"Clark" another voice spoke and turning to face the source, he looked over to Garrus "what's going on?" he asked.
Clark himself upon hearing the question tugged his lips in slightly and nodded at him. He took a step back from the group until he was in front of them "bring us in Kelex" he ordered the new machine. The image of it vanished and slowly the ship started to move forward "like I was saying" he said to the group again "one project took priority and is undoubtably the most important one I had. The only thing that stopped it from being completed was a small problem I had with the engines, but that's been recently fixed"
The asteroid in front of them got bigger and bigger until the Normandy was practically touching it "everyone, I give you" he stepped to the side so everyone could look out the front window without him in the way.
"Genesis"
As he said that final word, the Normandy hit the surface of the asteroid, only to move right through it. When it did, the image of it completely broke apart and what was hiding within was revealed.
No-one said a word, all of them even Samara who was always so composed looked completely mesmerised by the sight in front of them. Clark himself had a look of extreme pride as he starred out looked upon his creation "holy mother of god" Ashley was the first to speak from near the back of the group.
"An... accurate statement" Thane commented, only just reigning his shock in himself.
"Clark" Miranda said as she took a step forward, her eyes glued to what was in front of them "is that what I think it is?" she asked him.
He smiled back at her "yes, it is" was all he said as he looked back over the group and towards the back of the CIC to see that many of the other members of the crew were starring forwards as well.
A ship.
It would be hard to tell how big it was from this distance with their own eyes and nothing else, they could easily admire what it looked like. The ship itself was almost triangular in shape, the widest surface of it was at the back and getting thinner the more it went to the front. At the very front of the ship, a large structure extended downwards giving it the appearance of something that could be used as both a ram and a blade that if hit something would go right through it (A)
"EDI... what am I looking at?" Joker asked after a moment.
It went without saying that everyone was paying attention to the answer "the ship in front of us. Designation, Genisis. Appears to be a ship that could fit into the category of Super Dreadnought, mobile battle station or fleet carrier. Based on information that Kelex provided and my own estimations, the ship is thirty point six kilolitres in diameter. It has over ten thousand different weapons ranging from anti-ship cannons, anti-fighter turrets, torpedo and missile bays the bottom surface of the ship's hull has many different protective hatches that will open allowing plasma beams to fire that could only be used for orbital bombardment and eight massive cannons near the back of the ship whose barrels are large enough for the Normandy to fit into and something that is designated as the ships primary weapon but was not given the specifics of" as the A.I spoke, all the others could only look on in both horror and amazement at what they were looking at.
Miranda took a step forward and opened her mouth to speak but no words left it "Wait" Tali took a step forward and somehow managed to tear her eyes away from the ship and look at him "who's Kelex?" she asked.
Clark smiled at her as Genisis got larger the more they approached "he's my friend. Technically speaking he's the A.I of my family and while I was out here wondering around the galaxy, he manages my projects, the construction, I help him with the specifics and the math. We make a good team" he said.
"You HAVE ANOTHER A.I!" she shouted as he walked right up to him and to the amazement of everyone present, reached up and slapped him across the face. Not that he felt it of course, his face didn't even move after the contact but he could tell that Tali did just hurt herself in the process as he could feel a small shockwave went across her hand and down her arm as she made contact with his skin. She let out a yelp as she pulled her hand back and looked at it closely "how could you do something so stupid; I know you're eccentric but this" she gestured to the ship that had completely engulfed the windows "you want to give an A.I control over something as powerful as this?!"
The question was rhetorical, and he knew that very well, but at the same time he felt that he should answer it as well "Tali" he said gently as he took a step towards her "that A.I has been a part of my family for nearly a four hundred years, I've known him since I was fifth teen, I trust that A.I more then I trust you" the statement was blunt and maybe a little mean but he knew that most of the team members could understand where he was coming from.
"I can't do this" Tali whispered to herself as she started to turn and walk away, no doubt to go back to engineering and to bury herself in work.
"I was going to let you see the specifications" Clark called out as the Normandy found itself being dragged forwards into a large hanger bay.
The statement caused Tali to freeze mid-step, Clark knew that she was angry but also knew that her mind wouldn't let her see something like Genisis and not want to know more about this "really?" she asked him.
"Sure, not everything but most" he smirked as the Normandy gave a small jolt as it landed on the ground of the hanger. That was when he grabbed Miranda's hand and started to move towards the air lock, the move was a surprise the Miranda and definitely drew the eye of some others but she found herself not hating it as much as she would think "I'll get into why we're here later but for now, Genisis is open to everyone on board. By all means explore and have a look around, all I ask is you stay out of the restricted areas of the ship. That goes double for you Kasumi, if you have any questions I'm sure Kelex could help you" he turned to look at Miranda "come on, I want to show you something" he said to her before they left the CIC and stepped into the air lock.
The door opened without any need to depressurize and when it did, Miranda was met with a sight she did not expect, at first she thought it might have been a drone of some sort, but it looked very unfamiliar to what she's seen in the past. She could tell it was around two meters in size, not humanoid by any means, more rectangular in ship that had mechanical arms on either side of it and one on the top "what is that?" she found herself asking as Clark wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her up off the ground.
"I call them sentinels" he answered as he stepped off the edge of the ship that didn't have a disembarking ramp put in place yet but she could see that one was lowering from the ceiling and would be in place in a moment "they're basic work drones, they have limit intelligence themselves and Kelex over sees them directly if he needs to. I have thousands of them, and they do all the manual labour" he continued as the two hit the ground and Miranda could get a good few of the hanger they were in. It was massive, filled with dozens of lifting and crane equipment though she couldn't see any time of cargo, not surprising when one thought about the Normandy and how it might be the first ship to dock with it.
"Clark" she started as the two started to head towards the main entrance of the ship "how did you build something like this?" she asked.
It was a big question, but it was also one he was happy to answer "well, it wasn't just me. Yeah, the idea was mine but there's no way I would have been able to do this without Kelex. I started to think about the idea of building a ship when I was twenty-five, the idea was that this could act as a type of arc encase something happened and I wasn't able to save everyone or Earth would have had to have been evacuated. Of course, Genisis wasn't ready all the way back then, but it was the idea" they left the hanger and started to walk down the corridors that didn't look all to dissimilar to what she's seen on many other different ships, the walls, floor and ceiling where all metal but she was will to bet they were a lot stronger than what they looked like and it was also much cleaner "and even after all this time that idea was incorporated into this. As of the moment, Genisis is capable of keeping up to a million of your basic humanoids, though it would be cramped"
The way he said it so casually almost caused her to trip up on herself but she was able to keep control, the only ship see knows of that can do something like that would be the Citadel, which can house over ten million, so it wasn't completely outside believability "It's thirty point six kilometres at length, what's its height?" she asked.
"From the lowest point to the tallest. About ten Kilometres" he answered as he stopped walking and reached what looked to be a small cupboard with no door, to her it looked completely out of place. At least until Clark stepped into and offered a hand to her.
She did take it, but her face did show a look of confusion "a bit old to be sneaking time together in a cupboard, don't you rhink. Surely you have a bed somewhere in here" she smirked at him.
He let out a laugh at her statement but still smirked seductively at her "It's not that" he added before he wrapped an arm around her and placed his hand flat on one of her ass cheeks, causing her to smirk back "but keep that in mind for later. Engine room" he said out loud.
The walls on either side of Miranda fell away giving few to long corridors just as big as the cupboard they were, though she was now starting to suspect that it wasn't a cupboard and both of them were lifted into the air by a foot or so, before Miranda could ask what was happening. They were both moving through the air, and she was able to get an idea of what they were doing, it instantly remained her of a type of tram system that other large ships or stations have. Only this one seemed to be much more advanced than any she has seen in the past. She could tell they were moving based on how everyone around them moved but for a moment she couldn't tell, there was no vibrations, no wind on her face, nothing. The only thing that let her know they were moving was the moving walls "this is impressive" she spoke as they moved.
"Thank you" Clark answered as they stopped but they instead moved straight up instead of sideways "I didn't want to waste so much space on a larger tram system so I spent a week coming up with this" he explained.
"So, what was the problem you had?" she asked looking at him remembering what she heard "the A.I. Kelex? Said a problem was only fixed recently"
Clark nodded with a smile "yeah, that. Well, me and Kelex both had a problem with the engines. The issue is that when I said this ship is a hybrid of different technology, I mean this ship is a hybrid of different technology" he stressed "there is a lot of different technologies in here, ranging from human, Kryptonian, Thanagarian, Tamaranean, Green Martian, Daxamite and so many more" he listed and Miranda thought that would be best to not focus on all those alien species she's never heard of.
"But... they would require different sources of power, right?" she asked him as they stopped moving up and instead started to go sideways again.
"Exactly" he smiled back again "I mean, one power source would work, technically. But it wouldn't have the full effect as having the right source that some of these pieces of tech would need. But just recently, thanks to that derelict Reaper no less, I was able to figure it out and sent it all the Kelex who started the work"
"What was the solution?" Miranda asked as the two stopped moving and were lowered to the ground, when their feet touched it a door behind Miranda opened and she stepped out, making sure to look around her as she did so.
"Nanites" he answered as he stepped out behind her and gently placed a hand on her arm, guiding her in a certain direction. The two walked and soon came across a large and clearly fortified door "the ship has two primary engines" he started to explain as the door started to slowly rise when they got closer "A and B. A is the one that's used for the thrusters and shields while B deals with everything else. This is A" the door opened completely giving Miranda an impressive view.
The chamber itself was massive, a short contrast to the smaller more cozy hallways they've been walking through since they left the hanger. As they entered, they walked onto a raised platform that was full of terminals and computers. On the left and right of her the platform extended out in both directions giving a person the option of walking around the centre piece of the room. It was a truly huge sphere of metal, it was connected to the floor and the ceiling through more pipes than she could count, both small and large. One could clearly see the outline of the four different plates that made up the sphere and in the dead centre of it, facing them no less. Was a bright light that she didn't want to look at too closely or her eyes would hurt.
Sensing that, Clark spoke aloud "oh right, sorry. Kelex, would you mind putting the optical shield on"
"Of course, Master El" a voice said to the side of them, and they both turned to face it. It was the same as the hologram that she saw on the Normandy, the same robotic not quite humanoid figure but unlike before, this one was in the flesh and it no sense a hologram. She was about to ask what they were talking about but stopped when the light faded from her view, turning she looked back at the sphere and was happy to see that the light that was threating to blind her was now much less powerful "is this the one?" Kelex asked as he hovered closer towards her "your new mate?"
She did not feel intimated by the machine, simply fascinated "I am, and my name is Miranda" she countered firmly, knowing that she would need to let this drone know that she was not to be treated as if she was not here.
"So you are, it is a pleasure to meet you Lady Lawson" he said back bowing and lowering his body slightly towards her "Master El, are you ready to for the activation of the core?" he asked.
Clark looked nervous all of a sudden and a little unsure but a quick glance at her seemed to help "Yeah, Kelex. I think I am" he said before turning and making his way towards the central terminal.
She started to walk after him but as she did a thought occurred to her "if the core hasn't been turned on then what's powering the ship right now?" she asked.
"The core has been turned on since it was built Lady Lawson" Kelex answered for him as the three moved closer to the terminal "however, as of the moment Genisis is only operating at minimal power. It has proven difficult to operate at one hundred percent as so many different systems of the ship require different forms of power to function" he explained for her.
"So, how did you fix it? And how did the Reaper help?" the questions were quick.
Clark stopped in front of the terminal and Miranda could get a better look at it, one of the screen showed a 2D outline of the ship and she could see many different peace' of it cut out into sections that held different percentages, none where at a hundred, the highest from what she could see what the outer shell that rested at sixty "when I was digging my way through the Reaper while you were all making your way to the drive core. I found the Reapers central A.I node, at least I think I did. It's hard to tell with so many of them in the derelict. Anyway, I found a node and started to go through the data. From there myself and Kelex were able to find out how it was able to stay in such good condition for so long"
"Nanites" she answered for him.
"Correct" Kelex answered before Clark could "of course we are familiar with the concept and the practical applications. But I must admit, even I never thought of using them in such a way" he admitted.
Clark smiled at the A.I before turning back to her "the key was to not use nanites to alter the metal or the weapons but alter the power itself as it's going through the systems" he turned to face her and his smile became brighter as her face adopted one of complete amazement, not at the idea but the fact that it's even possible "with this we can turn nuclear power into plasma power, into solar power, into mass effect. Everything. Which is what would allow so many different weapons to operate different, I mean Genesis has rail guns, plasma cannons and even laser weaponry. And it's finally done"
She let a smile go onto her face as she looked at him, she didn't even want to put her head into the thought process of how that science would work, it would just give her a headache "I'm happy for you, so what now?" she asked.
He half turned away from her and looked at the computer "I just push that button" he said nodding the small red button just off to the side of a keyboard "and the power is fed and the nanites are activated with the code we gave them" he lifted his hand and held it over the button "from there, let there be light" he added.
She wouldn't deny it, she very much wanted to push it with him but knew she couldn't do that, this was his achievement and didn't want to stand in the of it. No matter how strong the child like urge to push a big red button may be "Here" he said suddenly, hovering his hand to her.
Thinking that he just wanted to be closer to her for this moment, she gave him a gentle smile before reaching out and taking it. As their fingers interlocked together, she stepped right next to him. There arms touching each other as they did so "ready?" she smiled to him.
"I don't know" was all he said before he reached out with his free hand and held it over the button "I don't know what I'm going to do after this. Genisis was the big one, the great plan. Once I push this, I don't know what I'm going to do" he admitted with a little shake of his voice.
"Oh, come on now" she said back with a gentle voice but also a roll of the eyes "you'll figure something out and if you don't, I'll be right here" their heads turned to look at each other. Without even meaning too, their heads met in the middle and their lips touched. Happily opening their mouths to each other, their tongues met and they simply enjoyed the moment with each other. Clark became so lost in the moment, he didn't notice care nearly enough as he had a few seconds ago and his hand dropped onto the button.
A: If you want to know how I would imagine this ship, think of the Eclipse Super Star Destroyer from Star Wars. A quick google search would help with what it looks like, though keep in mind it's just the shape. Not the length or colour or that kind of stuff.
Ok all, don't worry. I'm not going to be talking about the exact design of the ship all that much so if you don't like the look of the Eclipse, just image it looks like something else and yes, you saw right. This is only part 1, the second will go into all the different team members going over the ship and the different area's. The reason being is that I've been planning on this chapter and the next one since the story started so I'm going to take a little more time with it.
Anyway, let me know what you all thought in the reviews down bellow. I'll still be working on the next chapter but I won't see you until after Christmas so until then I will wish you all a very merry Christmas and I should be seeing you just before New Years.
Next Story Update: Project Atlas.