So that was a very easy poll.
Chief and Miranda win handily with quite the lead. No need really to bring in the other votes that came to pass. We have our winner for this poll. Next poll will be up after this chapter.
Other than that, we'll have more to discuss and the end of the chapter
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.
Spirit Unto Dawn Chapter 7: Interlude
Michael H. Shepard was tired.
Relieved and all after rescuing his sister from Akuze but by god did he feel tired.
The first human Spectre had experienced much in a short amount of time these past few months and in all honesty, Saren going silent after Benezia's death was a welcomed reprieve.
He had given a detailed and extensive report to the System Alliance's admiralty on what he had gathered from his sister's own details.
-Flashback-
"Cerberus." Vice Admiral Kahoku growled out.
"Yes sir." Shepard said professionally, standing straight and at attention as he addressed several high ranking officials of the Systems Alliance.
Among them being Admirals David Anderson, Kahoku, Mikhailovich and Steven Hackett.
"All of Akuze." Anderson said grimly, head tilted down with a somber expression.
"Damn bastards, the lot of them." Kahoku said with a fury in his eyes. "Experimenting on Thresher Maws."
"There truly were no survivors?" Mikhailovich asked softly.
"No sir." Shepard stated. "Nobody other than my sister. Jane was the only survivor of her unit and of the entire settlement."
The admirals of the Systems Alliance all exchanged concerned looks.
"What of these armored beings that Lieutenant Commander Jane mentioned." Hackett brought up. "She stated that they came in and aided in her efforts of fighting off the Maw, killing it."
"All she could describe was their armor and weaponry being unlike anything that can be compared to what is utilized within the known galaxy." Anderson said.
Michael only remained silent, knowing that there wasn't much he could say right now.
"Michael, are you sure Jane will be alright under your command? She saw her whole unit die on Akuze. She could have some serious mental trauma." Anderson said with a clear concerned tone.
"She'll be fine with me." Michael said straight away, voice showing no argument.
It was easy to see how much Anderson wanted to be there in person for the Shepard siblings.
It wasn't hard to believe why knowing the background they shared with the older Alliance Admiral. They had lost their parents at a young age with Anderson becoming their pseudo father, being a constant guiding presence in their life as they made their way up through the ranks of the Alliance Navy and life overall.
The admiralty questioned him on several more matters until they began ending their transmissions one at a time. All that remained were Anderson and Michael.
"Be honest with me, Shepard." Anderson said straight away after Hackett ended their communications. "How is she really?"
"Doctor Chakwas reported she'll make a full recover but her L3 implant is damage, she in need of new one so Jane has to undergo surgery on the Citadel for her headaches to seize"
"I'll pull a few strings then." Anderson stated. "She'll get the best treatment."
"She'll be out of action for weeks just to recover from the surgery alone and testing out the implant to be sure it works properly" Michael said.
Anderson chortled aloud with a shake of his head. "Please, Michael. I know you two better than most. You really think she'll stay down for long even with surgery?"
Michael only chuckled, nodding. "Can't disagree with you there, sir."
With a small smile, Anderson only inclined his head forward in understanding.
"Keep in touch, Shepard." Anderson said. "When you return to the Citadel, do drop by for a visit if you can."
"Will do, Admiral." Shepard promised. "I'll see ya soon."
-Flashback End-
It was always good to know that Anderson was watching out for him and his sister. He honestly didn't know how far he would have made it life without him.
Sighing, Michael would rather be with his crew then by himself right about now. Exiting his personal quarters, he made his way to the cafeteria as he was starving and figured the others may be there.
And true to his assumption, the entirety of the Normandy ground crew was there all seated at a table around the young Shepard sibling.
"So what's it like being Michaels younger sister?" Garrus questioned, leaning forward on the table with interest. "Must be difficult dealing with someone as crazy as him."
"Sorry to say Vakarian, but us Shepards are prone to the crazier aspects of service." Jane said cheerfully, wincing a moment later as she rubbed her head.
"Are you alright?" Liara asked, seated closest to her.
"Yeah, fine." Jane murmured. "Just wish these damn implants would calm down already. I know I'm gonna need some replacements after Akuze."
"I know that feeling." Kaidan Alenko said aloud, tapping the side of his head. "L2 implants. They're the worst."
Jane winced at that, knowing full well that the human biotics that came before suffered from the first set of implants when humanity began integrating into the galactic stage. There were many that were unable to take the L2 implants all that well. The fact that Kaidan was able to handle the L2's was a testament to his endurance. That and he ate quite a lot with the large platter of food before him that he ate.
"So, what are ya gonna do now?" Ashley Williams asked. "Stick with us?"
"Would seem nice to catch up with big bro." Jane said a bit more cheerfully. "I just wish I was there to see him when he became Spectre."
"Really felt kinda surreal all things considered." Private Jenkins. "There were people all over on multiple balconies looking down at it all."
"Yeah, it still feels weird to refer to Skipper like that." Ashley remarked.
"And this Saren you guys are after?" Jane brought up. "What's his deal?"
"A rogue Spectre who's a bit of a jackass." Urdnot Wrex rumbled.
Garrus snorted aloud. "That's putting it mildly. Saren is one of the biggest pieces of trash Spectres to ever grace Citadel space."
"Wow Garrus, didn't know you had that in you to hate your own species like that."
All heads turned to see Michael approaching them with a grin plastered on his face. Jane immediately stood and went over to her brother, the two embracing in a tight hug.
"How are ya?" Jane asked.
"I should be asking you that question." Michael said with a small chuckle. "You're the one who just fought a Thresher Maw and lived."
"And what, the Skyllian Blitz was a walk in the park?" Jane shot back, the two going over to the Normandy crew sitting down with them all.
"Shepard." many of them greeted.
"Or should we just stick to Michael now?" Tali inquired.
"Good point." Ashley said. "Now there's two of you."
"Which doesn't exactly sit well with me." Kaidan remarked. "If one Shepard is crazy enough…"
"Hey." Both Shepards called out, making the table laugh.
"I do gotta ask though." Wrex spoke up, leaning on the table with a gleam in his eyes. "How did you take out that Thresher Maw?"
Jane's expression shifted into one of a forlorn somberness in regard to her recent escapade on Akuze. Her thoughts fell to the human settlement. Her team… everyone who perished. And then to her days trying to survive all the way to that group of armored individuals who were unlike anything she had ever seen.
"I wasn't alone." Jane said slowly. "I had help from three… I don't know how to describe them. They had armor and weapons that I've never seen before."
"Skipper mentioned you said your report." Ashley stated with Jane nodding.
"Armored beings." Tali mused aloud, feeling a sense of familiarity come over her at the mention of the Armor. "Hey, have you guys heard about those rumors about that other armored individual? The one with the Geth?"
"The one with the Geth?" Liara spoke up in confusion. "What one with the Geth?"
"You haven't heard of this?" Tali asked in surprise.
"I've been busy digging up archeological sites and getting trapped in energy fields leftover from the Protheans." Liara said sheepishly. "I've been rather out of touch so to speak."
The others laughed slightly at the Asari's blunt answer.
Kaidan cleared his throat. "Well to put it plainly, rumors have been running rampant across the terminus, Attican and human control sectors of space about this being with black armor that has been harassing Batarian slavers, pirates and other mercs. And he does it with a Geth."
"A Geth?" Jane said in bewilderment. "I thought those whole rumors of the Geth outside the Perseus Veil was just that."
"Well, we can proudly say that we have indeed been fighting those one eyed bastards these past few weeks." Garrus said sarcastically. "And they've been making sure to know that they're out and about."
"But before that…" Tali cut in. "There were rumors and reports of another, singular Geth running around with some other person in black armor with a blue visor."
"Visor?" Jane murmured. "You know, now that you mention it those three that helped me on Akuze all had golden visors and green armor with numbers on their chests"
"A number on their chests?" Jenkins said quietly. "Say, I remember reading up on those reports of that other armored person with that Geth. some of the eyewitnesses heard the Geth talking and referring to the guy as-"
"Spartan-Six." Tali interrupted once more.
"Yeah, how'd you know that?" Jenkins asked in surprise.
Tali wrung her hands together somewhat apprehensively. "A while back, a few months prior to the start of this year, there was a Quarian out on her own Pilgrimage like my own. She was a friend of mine that was a bit older so she left a lot earlier. She had been gone for several months before…" The young Quarian tilted her head down slightly. "She was kidnapped and taken in a Batarian slaving raid."
Several of the team members' jaws dropped while Michaels Shepard's eyes narrowed sharply at the mention of Batarian slavers. The madness of the Skyllian Blitz with all its sights and sounds began ringing in his ears.
Tali let out a shaky sigh. "Thankfully, it was a brief experience. She had only been held prisoner for several days before she was rescued. Rescued by a being in black armor with a Geth partner."
The Team now leaned in, hoping for more.
"She was rescued by the alliance and since then my people have been trying to figure out what that single Geth was doing out there." Tali stated. "We had actually been detecting transmissions from the Perseus Veil for some time now but we just didn't know what to make of it."
"What did your friend say about the Geth? About that other armored individual?" Michael asked.
"Well… at first I didn't think about it, but there was something that she noted." Tali hummed. "She mentioned something about how this Geth looked slightly more different then the Geth we've been encountering. About its shoulder pauldron and how the color scheme is different from the usual Geth."
"Just a shoulder plate?" Wrex said aloud with a deadpan. "What's so different about that?"
"It's a divergent design." Tali said with a slight seriousness. "The Geth stick to consistent designs and platforms and only creates brand new ones to fulfill a new role and function."
"There is something that I believe we haven't addressed." Liara spoke up, making everyone turn to her. "These "armored" beings as we have spoken of. Is there a connection between them?"
"Kinda feels… obvious actually." Garrus remarked. "The armor detail, them referring to themselves by number and their apparent ruthless efficiency."
"There was one detail though." Kaidan said. "Tali said that the first one that's in black armor is referred to as Spartan-Six. Spartan. That's a human term, a name."
"The name of the ancient warriors of Sparta. One of the greatest warrior cultures of humanities history." Jane Shepard stated.
They became silent for a brief moment.
"Wait…" Ashley slammed her hands on the table. "If that one that's described to always have black armor on call itself a Spartan does that mean that it… he or she is a human?"
"Aurgh!" Jenkins threw his hands up to his head dramatically. "Why is this all so confusing?"
They all chuckled at the private overdramatic reaction of the Alliance soldier.
"This is rather confusing, all things considered." Jane muttered. "The three that saved me were huge. Never seen humans get that big unless they're related to Andre."
"Andre?" Garrus asked.
"Human wrestlers from a few hundred years ago." Michael waved off. "Not important. What is important is now I'm more curious than ever about this whole thing. I've been hearing about these rumors 'bout this Black Knight and his Geth squire and then three more in green this time up and save my sister. We have a Geth running around with these walking armors while we're fighting Geth as well."
"One is helping while the rest of its kind is terrorizing the galaxy." Jane surmised. "Feels like we're stepping into something that we don't fully understand."
"And I thought chasing Saren was enough of a problem." Wrex said with a light tone.
"Coming up on the Citadel, Commander." Joker's voice chimed in from the intercom.
With a shake of his head, Michael stood from the table.
"Guess we'll have to discuss it for another time." Michael stated with everyone nodding in agreement.
"Shepard."
Both siblings turned to Kaidan.
"Michael, sorry Jane." Alenko said respectfully.
"What is it, Lieutenant?" Michael asked.
"This whole talk about these unknown defenders got me curious for more answers." Kaidan said truthfully. "Is it possible to use your rank and Spectre status to help gain some more insight on this matter."
Michael frowned in thought.
"That… yeah, you know what, I'll see what I can do for ya." Michael said. "For now, gotta get Jane here prepped for new implantations."
"Right." Kaidan nodded. "See you soon then, Lieutenant-Commander."
Alenko saluted the younger Shepard sibling with her smiling, returning the gesture.
"Shepard."
The two stopped again, sharing a look with one another that silently asked, 'what is it this time?'. They turned back once more to see Liara standing before them.
"Yes Liara?" Michael asked.
"I overheard Kaidan asking about greater details about the reports of the individual in black armor with the Geth. And I believe there are obvious connections to be made." Liara said rationally.
"Meaning?" Jane gazed at her making Liara blush somewhat embarrassedly at what she was about to suggest.
"If you would allow for it, I can meld perform for a later time and help in getting a clearer image we could all use to figure out this mystery."
Jane tilted her head, thinking on this offer for a moment before looking at Michael.
"What do you think big bro? Should I go for it?"
Michael nodded. "You could trust her, Jane. After that whole Prothean Beacon back on Eden Prime, Liara here tried her best in sorting out the mess floating around in my head."
That's all she needed to hear, looking to Liara with a more trusting look. "Sure thing, Liara."
Giving her an appreciative smile and nod, Liara departed from the Normandy along with the Shepard siblings.
Elsewhere, in an undisclosed part within the galaxy…
A large ship that resembled a giant squid, love-craftian in appearance and aura floated aimlessly through the endlessness of space.
Around it was a small armada of Geth ships, numbering around several dozen in total.
Within the largest ship was the sole occupant.
Saren Arterius, Rogue Citadel Spectre that was the catalyst to the first human Spectre to be chosen. The same Spectre that currently pursues him.
The Turian scoffed at the mere thought of a pathetic, self-righteous human being made to chase after him and bring him to "Justice". The council had proven to be even bigger fools then he had initially thought.
Humanity influenced the Citadel and had more of an impact on the galaxy than any other species in Citadel history which sickened the former Spectre to his core. They needed to be reminded of their place. Beneath the Turians, the Citadel at the bottom of the food chain. He'd rather a Quarian become Spectre over a human any day of the week. At least they in the end provided something more useful right about now with the Geth at his disposal.
"Saren."
Arterius blinked, lifting his head up at the sound of his name.
"Sovereign." The Turian said cordially, rising up from his seat.
A red holo-display of the ship appeared before him.
"Matriarch Benezia has failed. She has been killed and the Rachni Queen has escaped from our grasp."
"A minor setback at most." Saren waved down. "We have already begun recuperating and the next phases of our plans will come into play soon."
Sovereign remained silent for the briefest of moments.
A moment Saren easily picked up on.
"Sovereign?"
"There has been an anomaly." Sovereigns voice rumbled. "An unknown and unforeseen variable has entered the playing field that exists outside the cycle. Our Geth have noticed the Consensus communications with an unknown party. These variables that are outside what we have anticipated. What we have planned."
Saren was growing confused now. "What do you mean? What do you speak of with these unknown variables?"
"Further data is required." Sovereign stated. "Energy that is not of our understanding. Fluctuations and actions that we have not foreseen."
This… was greatly off putting to Saren. To hear the mighty Sovereign, he has bestowed upon him with advanced capabilities and knowledge actually sound unsure of himself. It was unsettling and the Ex-Spectre didn't like it.
Like Sovereign, Saren was a man who preferred to keep things in the know and under his control. When things went awry and out of his plans, he tended to get aggressive and relentless in making sure things returned to be back under his thumb.
However, those actions would only prove to be detrimental in this instance. A being such as Sovereign with as much age and wisdom as it carries is picking up on anomalies and unforeseen complications. Something that is clearly rattling the ancient AI much as it does not convey it. So he needed to be extra cautious on this matter.
Their next target could wait.
It is better to be prepared then rush foolishly in.
Still, that did leave a great set of lingering questions in his mind.
The matters of Who, what, when, where and why were all these Unknown variables appearing now of all times.
Shaking his head, Saren sat back down in his seat and began to brainstorm once again. Though he has undergone a great series of changes to his body and mind, there was still his untouched gut for the time being that kept screaming of a greater danger. Though as to what that may be, the answer only alluded him.
All he could do right now was wait until the time was right to strike out once again.
And speaking on the matter of unknown variables…
Autumn, the Spirit of Fire's new home ever since arriving in this new universe. Thanks to Six and Auntie Dot providing a map of this galaxy, the crew of the Fire were able to find a planet suitable enough to sustain themselves for the foreseeable future. Once arriving they quickly got to work on establishing a UNSC base.
The main base stretches across an area of 200,000 acres of land that covers 312 square miles, along with a few defensive turrets lying around the perimeter. There were a pair of supply pads where crates could be seen stacked besides it and a darter occupying one of the pads unloading its cargo, a wind/solar generator installed to provide power for the base, an air pad facility for UNSC aircrafts to land for repairs, refueling, and maintenance, a barracks to house marines and other personals, the field armory which was a cross between fabrication and machinery shop and finally the vehicle depot where vehicles ranging from mongoose to scorpion tanks were housed.
The Vehicle depot especially has been put to work upgrading the Spirit of Fire existing vehicles using the newer models scrounge up from the Dawn and implementing upgrades to make the current vehicles up to date.
Apparently besides the vehicle upgrades, the deceased Serina had worked on weaponizing the UNSC's cryotechnology. She had even created design templates for vehicles fitted with the new cryo-weapons. They could probably test out the new designs in the field, but that would mean spending time manufacturing prototypes and now wasn't the time to be testing out new tech.
While the Spartans were away on their missions, the Engineer and Salvage team both got to work on the wreckage of the Covenant Supercarrier. The engineering team of course along with assistance of Forerunner construction drones were able to get started making the wrecking of the Supercarrier flight worthy again but will take time due to how massive the ship is and making new parts for the ship. The salvage team got to work on retrieving covenant weapons, equipment, and their body armors as well. The Spirit of Fire at this point is going to need all the advantages they could get, even looting their supposed enemy dead bodies. They acquired the likes of Elite energy shielding, invisibility unit, jetpacks, and energy swords. Also they procured Kig Yar shield units, once all that's done they send them on over to the labs back at base to either replicate or reverse engineer the tech to further use for later. The bodies themselves were cremated at the base of the mountain range where the Super Carrier had crashed.
It wasn't much of a funeral as mixed emotions permeated the air.
The crew of the Fire had been informed of everything that had transpired in the 22 years since entering Cryo.
About the end of the war and its bloody and climactic conclusion. And above all else, about the grand ultimate deception of the Covenant Hierarchs to their own empire. How the entire war, the needless, pointless slaughter and extermination of 23 billion humans were all based on a complete lie from the Prophets.
All because they didn't want to lose their power.
In a sense, there was a mixed feeling of contempt and fury along with pity and somberness. The species all beholden to the San'Shyuum were all lied and tricked into committing genocide on humanity only to realize their deception late into the game. All the same, the atrocities that were committed was not something that could be forgotten or forgiven so easily.
Several of the soldiers and personnel of the Fire had made correlations like this to human history, the main prevailing example being the Third Reich of Nazi Germany.
Many did speak on the magnetic charisma of Adolf Hitler in how he convinced an entire nation to go to war with the rest of the world and commit unspeakable atrocities to humankind.
The people of Germany could claim to be brainwashed and some may even agree to it. But all the same, they went along and committed to those actions at their full discretion.
Just like the Covenant.
It was correlations such as these that were a constant reminder of how war is never truly black and white. Merely constant shades of Grey.
But this was now a past matter.
Three weeks have gone by as the base was continually built upon while many improvements were being made.
And speaking of improvements.
One man sat within a specially made armory for six Super Soldiers sat alone before a familiar set of armor.
"Hmmm, what do you figure keep it black or go with a matching set?"
"Black, please and thank you." Noble Six said with finality, eyes half lidded at Cortana's holographic form that was projected before his set of new and improved Mjolnir armor.
"Aw come on, your armor is ripe for more customization." Cortana whined. "Why do you Spartans have to be such sticklers? Jorge customized his armor. So did all of Noble Team. Why don't you wanna do yours?"
"Cause I like the color and how it was given to me." Six said. "The only thing I ever chose was the helmet."
Cortana opened her mouth to counter that statement.
"Cortana, enough." A gravely amused voice said from the entrance of the armory.
John-117 entered with Jorge-052 and Red Team, all wearing the black inner skin suit of their armor, awaiting the final upgrades of their Mjolnir suits.
Cortana made a dramatic exasperated shake of her head.
"You know, you all may not show it, but you all look like kids waking up for Christmas early to get their newest toy." She said with an amused grin.
The Spartans all shared looks and shrugged simultaneously.
"Oh my God, it's silence in stereo." Cortana said, throwing her hands up.
While the Spartans awaited the complete upgrade of their suits, Captain James Cutter entered the Medbay of the Fire as the new one at the base had yet to finish construction. He had just done a sweep of his new base and his ship, arriving at the last destination of his personal check up on the personnel of the Fire.
"He still hasn't woken up yet?"
Within the medbay, one Professor Anders could be found hovering over data that constantly transmitted the current status of the still unconscious Sergeant Forge.
"If he did, something probably would have blown up by now." Anders wryly stated making Cutter smirk at the comment.
"True enough." Cutter said, walking over to the refit Cryopod that contained his unconscious Sergeant.
It was still surreal for the Captain to be seeing his once believed to be deceased Sergeant here before him in an unwaking state. This whole matter of being in another universe, as a matter of fact, will still take some time in getting used to for the Captain and the entirety of the crew of the Fire.
Technology that they didn't recognize on top of alien races that appeared to act more human than they had initially assumed when reading over the data they had been given by Noble Six and the Geth.
Rather amusing and ironic when they learned of the general mistrust that the galaxy has towards AI, especially the Geth and yet here they had become one of the Fire's allies.
There were some within the crew who were also rather curious and antsy about going out and explore this new galaxy with its humanity and new aliens but Cutter quickly quelled such an idea until they were good and ready. The most exposure that Cutter would allow is the continued efforts of the Spartan operations that Noble Six has been conducting with Legion before their arrival and now with the added number of five Spartan-II's, those missions were going to become more frequent though easier.
There were too many new dangers and threats within this galaxy to count as Cutter was more wary of the unknown then what they already knew.
Batarian slavers and human terrorist organization cells.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
"What can I do for you, Captain?" Anders asked, not looking up from her work.
"Just making the rounds, seeing how the crew is doing and adjusting." Cutter stated. "Though… not much to adjust since we haven't made contact with any of those new aliens races yet."
"The Geth don't count?"
"I think due to Spartan-B312's first contact scenario on top of his partnership with Legion makes it slightly moot. So far, the Consensus appears to be the only new race that we can work with and put some amount of trust in." Cutter pointed out.
"I guess." Anders said with a shrug, frowning at a new slew of data that updated her on Forge's condition.
"Something troubling you, Anders?"
Anders grumbled beneath her breath. "I'm hitting nothing but dead ends here. I can't figure out how to wake Sergeant Forge up. All this data and 22 years and there's nothing I can use here to get him to wake up."
"Don't rush yourself, Professor." Cutter said placatingly. "We've only been here for a short while. This humanity was working with something they didn't understand and were unaware of. You as well as our crew of the Spirit of Fire know Slip Space energy very well. So if anyone can wake Forge up, it will be you."
Anders gave the Captain a small smile of appreciation as she resumed her work when Dot's voice chimed in through their comms.
"Captain Cutter."
"Dot?"
"There is an urgent message from Cortana and she wishes to speak with you on the Bridge."
Cutter frowned, nodding his head at Anders before departing and making his way up to the bridge. He passed by several officers and personnel with them all saluting as per usual military routine before arriving at the bridge.
"What's happening Cortana?" Cutter asked straight away, going over to the holo-table where Cortana's avatar stood with a mass Relay being displayed.
"We've got ourselves a serious problem, Captain." Cortana said grimly. "After everything, the Geth consensus has told us about these Mass Relays and how they work, Dot and I have been monitoring them with assistance from Red and Legion."
The display of the Mass relay shifted, changing into one of a series of ships surrounding the relay before going through this universes use of FTL.
"We've detected a small convoy of Batarian Ships taking unconventional routes around the terminus and Attican systems." Cortana said her face marred with a frown. "I've been doing a bit of research into these Batarians and their Hegemony. Apparently there's a rising faction of anti-slavers within their society but they are too few in number and influence. The Citadel apparently can only help them so much without getting directly involved."
Cutter simply grimaced at the mention of these Batarian slavers. Noble Six and Legion had shown him the sick and depraved means of which they treat those who he captured, making him actually feel sympathy for the alien species that have been captured under these four-eyed freaks.
To hear about a group opposed to their way of life was quite a surprise but still, right now, he had to focus on the matter at hand.
From what they had learned from Dot, Six and the Consensus along with the information they had gained from the Citadel, the Batarians have made it their open intentions on focusing on the capture of human slaves in particular. They believe that the Systems Alliance had slighted them when they charged in and began claiming colonies left and right at a rapid rate.
Now they had been targeting multiple human controlled worlds and god knows how many people have been enslaved by these bastards. Six's actions had definitely deterred them yet it seems they were now mounting for quite the raid.
"What are we looking at here, Cortana? Number of ships. What's their trajectory?" Cutter asked, eyes narrowing as he began going over multiple counter measures in his head.
"We're looking at six ships, four being primarily freighters to load up what they can catch and two cruisers." Cortana stated. "And based off of where they're going due to their detour…"
The map of the galaxy appeared and was magnified to an area bordering between the Attican Traverse and the Terminus System.
"My guess is this system here." Cortana gestured, magnifying on one planet in particular. "This one here may be their big haul target."
"And this is?"
"A garden world named Tasu." Cortana said. "Decently sized human population of about 300,000 that has been settled recently and with what I'm gathering that number is probably gonna grow. A litany of benefits to this world with its resources and even Citadel species making their way there. A prime target to juicy to pass up on."
Cutter mulled over this information in his head for several seconds, thinking on this matter with careful consideration.
A Batarian raid would undoubtedly lead to people dying and those that don't either are scarred or enslaved. Now, this may not be his humanity but dammit if Cutter won't do what he can to prevent the needless suffering of his species.
His own universe has had enough of that, he'd rather do what he was able to here with the advantage of technological superiority and surprise.
"What's the status of the armors, Cortana?"
"The MK6 upgrades for all Mjolnir armors are just about done." Cortana said.
"Then have the Spartans on standby as soon as the armors have finished their upgrades. Take the Ardent Prayer and NOBLE and have yourselves stationed in that system." Cutter instructed. "Monitor all the relays and keep your eyes on that fleet. Soon as the Spartans are armored up, deploy immediately."
"Yes Sir." Cortana said with her own more casual salute though her tone remained serious.
Back with the Spartans, the Super Soldiers were conversing with each other on various topics from their armors, to missions to, well, the obvious matter of them being in another universe.
"Spartans." Cortana appeared on the armory holo-deck with the AI gaining their attention.
"Cortana?" John stood from his seat.
"Suit up, Spartans." Cortana said. "We've got a mission on hand and it requires all six of you. It's a big one."
-Scene Cut-
A single, middle-aged man sat back in his office with a visible frown on his face as he stared out at the Red Giant that this station orbited.
To say that the Illusive Man was unhappy would be a bit of an understatement.
See, he has recently been experiencing setback after setback. Migraine after migraine with serious moments of letting his temper and anger getting the better of him.
For the past few weeks, base after base, installation after installation, The Illusive Man has been receiving bad news all around at the loss of personnel, equipment, tech and the bases themselves.
And now, yet again, there was another loss that Cerberus has experienced.
The Illusive Man wasn't pleased by the information that was just handed to him; the thresher maw experiment was a disastrous failure. Surviving operatives from Akuze that had reported when the Maw finished decimating the small human settlement revealed that it turned its sights on the Cerberus outpost. That was not the outcome anyone had anticipated to happen or expected to occur whatsoever. Their constant promises said that this was an unforeseen circumstance, yet he hardly believed it by this point. Needless to say, they stood no chance against their own experiment and the entire security force was massacred. Not just the soldiers but all personnel were killed off by the maw save for those that narrowly escaped.
Those that managed to escape reported the failure of the installation had even more bad news to follow. The Alliance is now fully mobilizing against Cerberus and cranking down on his operations. TIM spies have informed him that a survivor attained data to Cerberus being responsible for the Akuze incident. The Alliance now has an excuse to directly take down Cerberus.
This does not bode well at all; Cerberus has now been compromised all because of the actions of the Armored being and Geth partner. The only way to salvage what they can from all this is to go dark and have the operations put on hold for the meantime. He would have all undercover operatives to maintain their current assignments until he gave the word to break radio silence otherwise communication would have to be suspended.
He'll have to send the word out to multiple untouched bases that were out in the open from his perspective meaning they had to pack up their equipment, research and data and leave. All databanks would either be purged or simply destroyed.
He had already given the orders to one of his top operatives and given her track record, TIM allowed himself a small sliver of satisfaction knowing that if anyone can make Cerberus go dark properly, it'd be her.
Speaking of said person…
Clacking heels met the metal floor of the corridor that this woman was walking through. This woman carried with her a strong, domineering presence that had a silent air of authority to her.
She wore a white skintight suit that had hexagonal patterns from her shoulders down to her thighs with black sleeves and knee high boots with the overall suit hugging her body to accentuate every curve of her body. Fair skin with jet black hair and blue eyes complimented the look that one would describe of a femme-fatale with her aloof demeanor only adding to the description.
Miranda Lawson has been busy these past few weeks since the start of the constant destruction of Cerberus bases, death of Cerberus personnel and loss of vital Cerberus research and data.
And now, she had received a rather ominous set of orders. Ones that were encrypted with one word.
Blackout.
It appears Cerberus was to go dark for the time being in order to counter these growing losses.
The Illusive Man seems to believe they are out in the open for the time being so it's better to hide and consolidate than be "Open" for all the galaxy to see.
Being one of the foremost experts of intelligence in Cerberus, Miranda had a great deal of connections and resources at her disposal throughout the galaxy and Cerberus itself.
Upon receiving the encrypted coding of Blackout, Miranda immediately got to work in sending out The Illusive Mans' orders.
The hallway which she walked through came to an end as the door at the end of it opened before her with Lawson entering to a hangar bay where many operatives were moving about at a rapid speed.
They were either loading up crates filled with weapons, technology, suits, mech parts, anything and everything within this base.
"How long until we finish cleaning out the base?" Miranda asked with a male Cerberus operative immediately coming up by her side.
"It won't that much longer ma'am." The man stated. "Two more hours until the base is empty and the data files erased."
Miranda only nodded, walking over to a set of terminals where Cerberus Scientists and researchers were diligently going about their orders.
"How much of the data files have been downloaded?" She asked.
"Sixty-eight percent, Miss Lawson." The researcher closest to her replied. "We should be done within the hour."
"Good, good."
"Miss Lawson." A soldier ran up to her holding a datapad. "There's something you should see."
Miranda quirked a brow at the sudden interruption, taking the offered datapad out of the man's hand and looking it over.
"A Batarian fleet?" She said aloud. "How close are they?"
"Not that close to our area but judging by what we were able to triangulate in terms of their course, they will be passing through the Relay nearby." The Soldier stated. "Our best option right now is to hold back from leaving for the time being otherwise we'd be running into an unnecessary conflict."
Miranda gazed at the datapad, taking note of the sizable force of this particular Batarian fleet. This was quite a large force all things considered. Batarians were slavers that operated with two to three ship max when it came to their raids yet here they were with six, two being cruisers and the other four being freighters for their hauls of poor souls that would be captured.
This piqued her interest.
"Is there a trajectory as to where they may be going?" Miranda inquired.
"Our best guess, due to the size and firepower this particular Batarian fleet is carrying is this planet here." the soldier pointed to the planet which was magnified for Miranda to see.
Upon reading the name of the planet her face paled and she inhaled sharply in abject dread and horror.
"I need a shuttle ready for me." Miranda barked out in an icy tone, startling the Soldier next to her.
"Miss Lawson?" He said warily.
The look he got from her made him freeze on the spot as it was stone cold with a burning glaze in her eyes.
"Did you not hear me?" She asked sharply and rhetorically. "Get a shuttle ready for me."
"Y-Yes Ma'am!" The soldier rushed off with Miranda turning to walk away and prepare herself.
Her hand trembled lightly but she squashed the growing concern and focused on the task at hand.
There was no way in hell the Batarians were just gonna up and ruin everything she had worked to preserve. To protect.
No way in hell would she allow for it.
Hoo, another one set and done with crazy shit to come next chapter. All Six Spartans in action with full upgraded MK6 Mjolnir armor and they are gonna show the Batarians why the Covenant referred to them as Demons.
BSX: This chapter is a lot shorter than our previous work but we wanted to show the passage of time as I felt we haven't conveyed enough of and to check on SOF establishing their headquarters for the time being to conduct operations in the future.
FMW: So officially, this is a filler chapter so to speak with important plot details that will come into play at a later date and time.
BSX: Also thank you all for voting and those participating in the comments along with kind reviews to go along with.
FMW: Yeah so I'll have the next poll up shortly after this chapter goes up this one focusing on Jerome. So go nuts people.
BSX: As for those who are curious about the joint project we announced before, it's still a WIP but we'll hopefully get it out as soon as we can.
FMW: Yeah so until that time, hope you guys enjoy the stories we churn out for the time being.
Other than that folks, thanks for reading.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.