AN: A few notes to address issues brought up by reviewers:
I'm aware of the inconsistencies. At some point I plan on rewriting this once it's finished to fix the many times I've mixed up dextro/levo chirality, forgetting and then making up new names for characters, forgetting characters are dead etc. I'm not a professional writer (yes I know that is apparent.)
I am not at all experienced in all things military (I know, you already guessed this too). I've never served, I just vaguely enjoy fiction that sometimes has a military theme.
Biotics aren't gonna be a thing. There are two reasons. In the game, biotics required childhood exposure to eezo, which given that humanity does not rely on it like the other races do it'd be weird if all of a sudden all the humans ended up with space magic. Also I forgot about biotics when I started writing this.
I added the goddamn section breaks, are you happy? Just playing, I can totally see how that messes with you, I've read through this thing a few times. Adding them from now on will insert in the rewrite if I get off my ass to do that.
I realize upon going back and re-reading some of my favorite mass effect fanfics that I have subconsciously borrowed quite a bit from some and as I figure out where this has happened I'll point it out in future notes. For one I'd like to acknowledge that I was inspired in many ways by And The Meek Shall Inherit the Galaxy by Full-Paragon.
Chapter 83
The Normandy's first stop after Shepard let joker "open her up full throttle" around Tuchanka's system, was to bring Liara to Thessia in order to study the Prothean artifact her mother had recently revealed. This would give the Normandy an adequate stress test as well as allow the crew to acclimate to the new configuration. While Liara was planet side investigating the Prothean artifact, the crew of the Normandy had been challenged to and accepted a series of war games against the local defense fleet.
General Noruva had been singing Shepard and the Normandy Crew's praises amongst her navy counterparts and they were excited to test themselves against the fabled frigate. Furthermore almost everyone in the planetary defense fleet knew people that had been freed by the Alliance recently from Batarian slavery, so they were also anxious to show their appreciation.
Liara had been delivered to Armali via shuttle, since both the Normandy crew as well as the defense fleet were eager to get on with the war games. The first event was a simple frigate on frigate fight, so they could see the Normandy's maneuverability.
"Joker, make like you're going to bank left, and on my mark engage full step and short jump 20km off their bow." Shepard said grinning.
"Roger, Captain." Joker said, entering in several commands on his haptic display.
"Captain, they've got weapons lock." Garrus said from his tactical position.
"MARK!" Shepard yelled, and Joker executed his orders.
"Lock on and let me know when we've got a shooting solution." Shepard ordered
"Yes Captain." Garrus said, expertly manipulating his controls. Within seconds a flashing light appeared and chime played on Shepard's display
"We've got a shooting solution!" Garrus announced.
"They're hailing us, Captain." Joker said.
"Go ahead." Shepard said, sitting back in her chair and crossing her legs. The communications screen lit up showing the amazed face of an Asari ship commander and several of her crew furiously manipulating their equipment to confirm their readings.
"Goddess! According to our sensors you simply ceased to exist one moment and the next we were dead!" The commander of the frigate exclaimed.
"Yeah I was worried you'd catch the short jump after we engaged stealth, looks like that little issue has been solved." Shepard said, grinning. Shepard's counterpart slapped her console in exasperation.
"Two out of three!" The Asari commander demanded.
"You're on!" Shepard said, causing joker to laugh, as he initiated the sequence to return to their starting position.
On Armali, Liara made her way into the temple of Athame, and was immediately confronted with a feeling she had not expected. Familiarity. As a history scholar, she was well versed in Asari religions, and she knew how to interpret the symbols and statues she encountered in the ancient temple. The trouble was even though she had never entered this temple she could not shake the sense that there was something here that somehow resonated with her.
She walked a circuit around the building, taking her time to read the plaques explaining the different artifacts. Many of the statues and paintings she'd seen before in textbooks, but to see them up close, they all looked so... alien to her. One tapestry clearly depicted a dozen or so nude Asari bowing in worship before a giant creature she knew to be the goddess Athame, however she was represented as a curious creature with an elongated head and four eyes.
She didn't have time to ponder that though, a well-hidden doorway built into the giant statue between Athame's feet opened, and a pair of commandos wheeled out a very familiar obelisk on a dolly, and set it down in the center of the room.
"I can't believe this has been here for fifty thousand years and nobody told us." an elegant Matriarch said as she emerged from a side room.
"Matriarch Denello, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've read most of your works." Liara said, greeting the elder Asari.
"The pleasure is mine, Dr. T'soni. I've read many of your works as well." The older woman said, smiling. She extended a hand to lead her forward. The obelisk had an almost imperceptible green glow and was humming slightly, as Liara approached it she noted that this did not match the beacon found in Egypt, there was no hand-print. Instead as she approached the glowing intensified and the hum became louder.
"Odd, it's never done that before." Denello remarked. Liara was about to respond when a green ball of energy erupted from the obelisk and moved between the two Asari, slowly assuming the form of a humanoid. The Obelisk scanned Liara, then immediately after the humanoid image spoke.
"Obtaining chronological marker... hold.." The vi said.
"Goddess." Liara said
"Timescale established. Post-prothean cycle confirmed. No reaper or indoctrinated presence detected. I am called Vendetta, an advanced virtual construct of Pashek Vran. I must warn you of a coming threat." The VI stated.
"The reapers.." Liara said.
"Yes... You have encountered our warnings?" the VI continued.
"Yes, and we have a few questions for you about them." Liara stated.
Docked to Ellis station was the latest super carrier to be commissioned by the Alliance, it was called the MSV Kalros. It was designed to be a versatile weapon of war. It featured a full compliment of Inferno fighters along with a company of highly-skilled infiltrators to pilot them, also adjacent to the hangars was a new invention by the Geth: a ship forge. It was designed to be able to manufacture Nanoswarms, micro fighters and replacement parts for the Infernos and any other nearby ships that required them. The technology implemented was still new, so it would take time to manufacture what was needed but it was an exciting development.
Another first, it was the first capital ship to be commanded by a Krogan. Admiral Urdnot Gatatog Charr Vas Kalros had been selected to command the impressive vessel, and he was attached to Admiral Hackett's fifth fleet. Charr had proven himself suited for the job by exceeding many of his Human and Quarian colleagues in command fitness tests. On top of general competency regarding the operation of a large ship, his mellow demeanor and capacity for abstract thought made him uniquely qualified for the job, provided his second in command did not lose her patience with Charr's frequent recitations of poems, both classical and original.
Contrasting greatly with Charr's personality, his second in command was a young human woman named Commander Naomi Marx Vas Kalros, she was extremely sharp and and N7 graduate to boot, but was quick to frustration and had a short temper. Her skills were undeniable however, and her battlefield experience lead to her being deeply respected by the crew, despite their giggling behind her back as she grew more and more exacerbated by Charr's prose.
"Detach from Ellis and take us to the Relay, if you please Ensign. Port speed please." Charr ordered, and received an acknowledgment from his helmsman.
"Where the remote Bermudas ride In the ocean's bosom unespied, From a small boat, that rowed along, The listening winds received this song. 'What should we do but sing his praise That led us through the watery maze Unto an isle so long unknown, And yet far kinder than our own?" Charr recited.
"Christ is that an Urdnot Charr original?" Marx asked, pinching the bridge of her nose. Charr grinned.
"Nope, Andrew Marvell, seventeenth century Human." Charr said.
"I'm going to kill whomever gave you access to our people's literature database." Marx grumbled.
"If you tried to kill Prime Minister Shepard you know her daughter would hunt you to the ends of the Galaxy." Charr said, chuckling. Marx shuddered, even though she herself was an N7 she knew Jane Shepard was no-one to fuck with.
"Time to destination?" Charr asked.
"ETA approximately fourteen hours." Marx stated, looking at an antique pocket watch.
"Thank you Commander. I'm off to brief the company commander of our infiltrator company, the bridge is yours." Charr said
"Very good, sir." Marx said, taking his position in the captain's chair. Charr lumbered down the access hallway towards a personnel lift. One of the luxuries of having a ship this size is that it had multiple elevator systems, smaller, very fast ones for personnel and larger slower ones for cargo and equipment. In less than a minute he was several decks down and approaching a large briefing room capable of seating the entire company with a few hundred seats to spare. The space was normally a training room, but could be converted to a large conference room for situations like these.
"ADMIRAL ON DECK!" one of the infiltrator pilots shouted as Charr entered the room.
"As you were." Charr said, with that the soldiers all made their way to their seats. After the commotion died down and Charr had moved to the podium in the front of the room, he began to speak.
"As I'm sure you're aware, for our first mission we will have two goals. One will be a shakedown of this new ship, the other is we will be engaging in friendly war games with a company of Elite Turian pilots. Like you they are versed in aerial/space combat, as well as ground combat and infiltration. We'll be testing each other in all aspects. To answer the inevitable question, we will not be testing the new power armor at this time, it is still unproven and we don't want to embarrass ourselves in front of our Turian counterparts." Charr said. There were a number of disappointed sighs in response to this.
"Major Goto, if you would." Charr said.
"Yes Sir." Kasumi said, saluting the Admiral and stepping up to the podium, initiating a slide show going over their plans for use against the Turians.
"The first test will be in the infernos. We're going to see how they fare against Attalia space fighters." Kasumi said, showing a number of colored symbols on a map of the space surrounding an Alliance planet.
"Next we'll be employing our micro fighters and Nanoswarms against their Volus bombers, both against the capital ships as well as ground positions." Kasumi said, the screen zoomed into a map of an engagement area consisting of about 100 square kilometers.
"Finally, we'll hit the ground and engage in straightforward combat and stealth infiltration tactics." Kasumi said, the screen switched to a load out of weapons they'd be bringing to the show. She explained them along with the limitations imposed on movement and weaponry due to it being friendly war games. She concluded with a quick pep talk and gave the podium back to Charr.
"We are friendly with the Turians at this point, the Primarch, along with most of the government seem to be on the same page with the Alliance especially about the status of the citadel and the upcoming reaper threat, but make no mistake, we're here to make a point as much as we're here to make friends. There are those within the Hierarchy that would see them abandon their roles as peacekeepers and engage in galactic conquest, especially without the Citadel Council to restrain them. Primarch Fedorian arranged for these war games in an effort to prove to the malcontents on Palaven that they would not be unopposed." Charr said. A soldier in the back raised his hand.
"Yes, child, what is your question?" Charr said
"Sir, why doesn't the Primarch stamp out the unruly element himself?" The soldier said.
"The Turian Hierarchy is a democracy, but it is a tenuous one. Regardless of their average lifespans, the Turians have long memories, and they remember the divisions that lead to their Unification war. Most Turians still wear the face paint of colonial clans that were absorbed into the hierarchy thousands of years ago, any action by the Primarch against an internal element would potentially start more strife amongst the colonial clans. Furthermore they feel that a strong neighbor will strengthen their resolve at the same time as cooling their heads." Charr said.
He answered a few questions, until an alarm on his omnitool went off.
"You are all free to return to your posts, I must go report in to Admiral Hackett. However there is one last thing. Major Goto?" Charr said.
"Yes, sir?" Kasumi said.
"I'd like my credit chit back now please." Charr said, holding his hand out. Kasumi laughed and returned the purloined item. Charr grinned and walked off towards the lifts.