Disclaimer: I do not own the Mass Effect games. This story is written with no profit in mind. It isn't for sale or rent.
Chapter9
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Part 5
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4.05.2183 GS
Armali Council Corporate HQ
Armali city, Thessia
Parnitha system, Athena Nebula
It was a sad reality that for all their experience, Asari Matriarchs could be as short-sighted and petty as a stereotypical, particularly loathsome Salarian Dalatrass. This was especially true for those who spent many centuries climbing the corporate ladder and solidifying their position on top.
The esteemed leaders of the Armali Council conglomerate were no different.
"Ma'am, you can't go in without an appointment!" an aide waved her hands in exasperation at Matriarch Ilena T'Meni.
Commandos serving five different Matriarchs who were part of Armali's Council board of directors had their undivided attention on the intruder and her companions. Ilena walked into the building flanked by two Justicars, which ensured no one was foolish enough to bar her path until she reached a conference room where her newest headaches were busy bickering like unruly Maidens.
"Child, mind your next words," Justicar Valira chided gently. "We are here to meet your Mistresses and won't be barred."
The Commandos had the intelligence to look uneasy at that statement. As a member of Thessia's High Command, Matriarch Ilena had significant power and influence. However, that didn't usually extend to barging into a meeting among the most powerful Asari in one of the Republics. However, the situation was highly unusual, disturbing, and potentially dangerous.
One of the Commandos tilted her head, obviously speaking with either the Matriarch she served or the head of security for the building, before nodding sharply.
"Lina, we will let the Matriarch and the Honored Justicars through," The Commando ordered, offering Ilena's companions a traditional bow of respect. Her battle sisters did the same, moving in such a way to demonstrate they did not intend further confrontation.
Ilena walked into the conference room. Five Matriarchs were present in person, while the holograms of six others hovered over otherwise empty seats. A few CEOs gave the intruders irritated looks. However, the rest had the grace to hide their displeasure well enough.
"Matriarch Ilena, to what do we own the dubious honor of your presence?" Matriarch Parina, arguably the most powerful Asari in Armali, inquired in a voice dripping with poisonous honey.
"Given recent developments, I am here to ensure there will be no short-sighted actions that might threaten Thessia's security in particular and that of the Republics in general," Ilena's voice matched Parina's tone. "If your sources on the Citadel are as good as they should be, you must know that Benezia has been compromised instead of going rogue."
More than a few of the gathered Matriarchs apparently cared not about the implications but only about the opportunity that the fall of House T'Soni offered. That was one of the primary reasons Ilena was here today – to forestall the feeding frenzy those fools were about to facilitate if not outright prevent. With a potential full-scale war against the Geth on the horizon, such economic and political upheavals were best left for later. More importantly, the chaos caused by the fall of House T'Soni could make the water murky and make Ilena's job that much harder.
"I will spell it out for you as if you are young, inexperienced Maidens because you surely don't act like the Matriarchs you are all supposed to be," Ilena ignored the bristling of her audience. "We don't know for how long one of the Council's most decorated Spectres and Matriarch Benezia have been compromised by the Geth. As importantly, we don't know who they have compromised in turn. The Armali Council and other opportunists moving in to devour House T'Soni's assets can destroy evidence and ensure it will be much longer before we know how deep this rot has spread. To ensure no one would think themselves particularly clever opportunists, the Thessia High Command has decided to call in the Justicar Order as a participant in the ongoing investigation."
Ilena watched with satisfaction first the mounting fury, then apprehension and a trace of fear exhibited by the Matriarchs. For all their power and influence, they weren't beyond the reach of the Justicars. No one in Asari space was. A sufficient number of the Republics on Thessia could overrule the decisions of Thessia's High Command even in a crisis. Doing the same with the Justicars was much easier said than done. After all, interference in their affairs was a clear reason for investigation by local authorities and the Justicar Order as a whole….
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4.05.2183 GS
Cronus Station, Anadius
Horsehead Nebula
Chaos presented boundless opportunities to advance Cerberus' and Humanity's interests. Sadly, it also presented new challenges and dangers. This was particularly true for the ongoing Geth incursion and its wide-ranging consequences.
The attack on Eden Prime was yet another example of the failures of the Systems Alliance in protecting Humanity and advancing its agenda. Just over a week after that event, recruitment was soaring. Cerberus and its affiliates were making a bank through donations and new supporters willing to back the cause in one form or another. Further, support for the Alliance in almost all outer colonies was at all times low, opening even more doors for Cerberus and ensuring the organization grew in an impossible way when it was a mere Alliance black operations outfit.
Unfortunately, there were drawbacks, which were about to compromise certain operations. First, Harper had to ensure Cerberus cut all ties with Binary Helixs, burned all bridges, and salt the ground. There could be no trace to follow, and no one could know they had procured a handful of Rachni warriors and workers to experiment on. Without a Queen, their options for turning the long-believed extinct species into shock troops would be limited. Either way, cloning was an option, and it would at least ensure they had enough specimens to figure out the best ways to kill them. Humanity had to know how to deal with those things most efficiently, especially if the Council managed to tame the Queen and build their own expendable army of monsters.
Despite the need to cut ties and burn assets, Cerberus' relationship with Binary Helix proved worth the invested resources.
The growing ExoGeni problem was a different beast. Harper sat at his desk sipping whiskey while his cybernetic eyes went through a tremendous volume of data. Cutting ties with ExoGeni would hurt their bottom line. Many assets and loyalists were working within or with the corporation. Further, it was a major supplier of technology, know-how, and support for many smaller colonies, which were fast becoming Cerberus strongholds. Replacing ExoGeni would prove problematic and come at the expense of slowing the growth of the organization as a whole and curtailing various expensive projects until more long-term revenue streams could be secured.
Jack was loath to do it, especially when recent events allowed Cerberus to hit the ground running and grow at an unprecedented rate. At the same time, slowing down for a bit would ensure they could better screen new applicants and mitigate the risk of cells going rogue and doing their own thing.
In the end, there wasn't much choice. ExoGeni was already on the radar of Alliance Intelligence, and Saren's involvement meant that obstructing the investigation was no longer desirable.
ExoGeni would fall, Harper decided. Cerberus affiliated would be best served in managing said fall, which could be beneficial.
"Operative Lawson, report to my office. I have a task for you," Harper ordered before typing a message to Henry. Miranda's father was best situated to take advantage of ExoGeni's crash and burn. Where he went, other Cerberus backers knew to follow.
Meanwhile, Cerberus had to properly cut ties and ensure they had those creeper things under lock and key in facilities where they couldn't be traced to. At worst, those things could become cheaper alternatives to basic industrial mechs, and at best, they could be expendable cannon fodder. Either way, they could become useful to Cerberus.
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Part 5
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5.05.2183 GS
Council Chambers, the Citadel Tower
the Citadel Station, Widow Nebula
Tevos stormed back into the chambers after concluding an exhausting talk with the 'esteemed' Matriarchs from Thessia. Sparatus glanced at her, and his fringe drooped even further. That was a rare feat highlighting how done he was with the Turian side of the ongoing crisis.
"That bad?" Valern didn't even bother to look up from his omni-tool.
"I have Matriarchs whining at me because they can't take apart the assets of House Benezia before their rivals can react. Others require me to facilitate a hostile takeover of said assets for the 'good of the Republics'," the Asari made exaggerated air quotes with her index fingers before beelining for the bar. "The next group is screaming to Athame that we are overstepping our authority by moving to lockdown and investigating all of Benezia's holdings and people. That group demands we cease and desist intervening in internal Republics' affairs…"
"Another group wants us to intervene more radically while blaming us for Benezia's compromise in the first place because we should have prevented it?" Sparatus suggested. "The Primarch has been on my case because of Saren, while others are in full blame mode for everyone who ever promoted him." That naturally included the Council because they approved every Spectre application.
"Half the Dalatrasses want to know why the STG failed to see this coming and didn't nip it in the bud before it became a problem. They want more direct control over STG operations and assets. Our military is maneuvering to get more funding at the expense of the STG because now they might actually need to fight a war. It is a distracting mess overall," Valern blurted out in commiseration.
Tevos groaned and grabbed a whole bottle of sweet Serice wine. Nothing she just heard surprised her. That didn't make her feel any better. She poured herself a tall glass of dark blue beverage and drank it in one go. One of these day, this job was going to make her replace her liver, the Asari was sure of it.
All the eezo in the wine acted as a kick to the system, staving off a rapidly building headache. Tevos poured herself another drink and briefly gazed at the bottle with longing before pushing it away. She sadly contemplated that Aria might be right about this one thing — Council politics were best endured if not handled when drunk. The same was doubly true about the tangled web that was the Republics' politics.
"I need a distraction from the horde of Matriarchs eager to mishandle my azure. Valern?" Tevos didn't quite whine. She didn't do whining! She was the Asari's long-suffering Councilor, for Athame's sake!
"We have the preliminary medical report of Benezia and her daughter," Valern waved his omni-tool Tevos' way. Her own device chimed, announcing it just received a classified file.
The Asari activated her omni-tool with a flick of her wrist and glanced at the report. It was full of technical terms that made her eyes cross. In all her centuries, Tevos' medical interest could be summed up with first aid in case of an assassination attempt or an accident.
"Valern, please summarize it for us," Tevos requested. It was either that or spending the next half an hour being lectured by the Council's personal physician, who was also their medical expert. That ensured they were a practicing doctor, and one less person had to be read in various sensitive matters, like the counselor's medical status.
"There is nothing to pick on standard scans. Benezia hasn't been compromised by active hardware or wetware implants in her brain, which complicates things. How much do either of you know how brains generally work and how they interface with the right kind of technology?" Valer inquired.
"Getting information out, or basic feedback for prosthetics is relatively simple," Sparatus noted. He used to be a combat medic, so he should know, Tevos recalled. "Neural interfaces to aid in controlling implants and such for crippled people fall in that category. Where things get complicated and problematic is getting complex data into the brain in a way that makes sense without intrusive and damaging implants."
"You've done your homework, good!" Valern eagerly nodded. "Various direct and crude methods of controls can be achieved easily with intrusive implants. The Batarian-sourced slave chips are a key, if distasteful, example. Even a cheap omni-tool can detect such things with a cursory scan. More refined technology implanted by specialists can be less intrusive and damaging but no less noticeable. All attempts for editing memories and personality to create loyal sleeper agents have failed to the best of my knowledge without implants to both maintain the conditioning and compensate for any damage caused by the process."
"Typical STG…" Sparatus grumbled. "I will pointedly not ask how you know that for a fact and who I want shot for running the experiments that found out for sure."
Tevos glumly agreed. If the STG weren't so damn helpful…
"STG dealt with the people responsible. The aim of the experiments was the eventual subversion of STG elements…."
"Valern, you can't drop such a bomb in our laps without elaborating properly!" Tevos snapped.
"I don't know what you are talking about. We are discussing Benezia and how she was compromised, not ancient history of no relevance," Valern sounded serious at that. "The only thing standard scans could detect wrong with Benezia were clear indications of extremely high-stress levels, which are to be expected even if she wasn't compromised," Valern nodded twice at whatever he was reading and looked up at his fellow Councilors. He smiled at them. "There is no trace of nanites or any medication used to alter Benezia's brain chemistry."
"If that's the case, why do you sound convinced she has been compromised instead of a traitor…" Tevos trailed off. That was both a relief and a big problem. It would have been simpler and better if they had reasonable proof that Saren and Benezia went crazy before going rogue instead of being subverted.
"The deep scans in the specialized facility we have the Matriarch held at was telling," Valern's eyes shone in the excitement in a way that was quite disturbing. Tevos was sure he was deliberately playing to the stereotype of the crazy Salarian scientist. "When our specialists looked close and hard enough, there are traces of swelling and agitation around the neurons within Benezia's brain. It is subtle, far subtler for regular omni-tool scans to detect it. Modulated hand-held scanners might even cause a similar enough reaction due to the energy involved to account for false positives. For now, finding similar traces would require specialized sensitive medical equipment. I already have people looking for a way to upgrade omni-tools to do it properly."
"How did the Geth compromise Benezia?" Tevos demanded.
"Until she is willing to talk, or we authorize distasteful methods of extracting information, I can only point at the suggestions in the report. We might be looking at extremely refined old-fashioned methods, possibly only viable with the control and patience of an AI. We are talking about direct manipulation of the brain with sound and electromagnetic waves to cause a gradual change in personality and allegiance. Such methods are generally considered ineffective and impractical, considering the time investment required. Depending on your goal, other more direct methods tend to be more reliable and practical."
"How was Benezia exposed? Where? For how long?" Sparatus demanded answers. Those were good questions, too. Tevos wanted them answered ASAP.
"We currently don't know. In a related topic, we will be undergoing deep brain scans shortly. It is mandatory," Valerie grimaced. "The waste of time is worth the peace of mind. Our security and a Spectre cadre will oversee the procedures and ensure neither of us avoids it."
"That's sensible," Sparatus grudgingly agreed. "What kind of intrusive methods did you have in mind for Benezia? We all know that torture is not an effective method of interrogation, and I am reasonably sure that's doubly so when fanatics and brainwashed people are concerned."
"If all else fails, brute-force memory extraction. With the right stimuli and intrusive implants, we can get images from uncooperative subjects. It is rather crude and final, so that would be a last resort if conventional interrogation and deprogramming methods fail. As I noted, getting information out of the brain is vastly simpler than trying to edit what is already there."