The slaver attack on Elysium wasn't a singular event. Many raids happened on terran territory at the same time, the most devastating at Mindoir, by pirates and gangs under Elanos Haliat, an infamous gang lord of the lawless Terminus Systems. The raids resulted in relatively low casualties, but a lot of collateral damage. The terran coalition and its citizens were enraged at that display of, what the directors called, arrogance and insolence. A speech was made about the, now called, Skyllian Blitz, from Director MacLeod:
"The terminus systems became a haven for criminals and gangsters because of the Citadel Council's unwillingness to take decisive action. Now, humanity paid the price for their reluctance. As the council proved completely incompetent at handling the threat, the board of directors agreed to dispatch 3 patrol fleets to the borders between the terminus systems and the terran territories and we are currently investigating who was responsible for the Skyllian Blitz. Standing orders are that every pirate or slaver found inside terran territory is to be captured and hanged. This is a message to all of the scum of the galaxy. Stay out of our territory or die in it. Also, to all the men and women of the terran coalition. Do us proud out there soldiers. We rely on you."
Hunter in training Douglas Shepard, for his excellent performance and bravery, was awarded the star of Terra in a great ceremony by Admiral Steven Hackett and was personally congratulated by director MacLeod himself. The gesture increased morale and enlistment rates by a large margin. Director MacLeod's speech however strained the relations between the citadel races and the terran coalition, terrified the terminus gangs and roused the Free Batarian Democracy to increase their defensive capabilities. A breakthrough between humanity and batarians gave way to a new type of fighter craft. A bastardisation of the MiG one manned strikecraft and the Mantis gunship, the new Howler 2 manned siegecraft could be used as a strikecraft, a ground support craft and could also deploy to a walker form as a long range siege mortar and missile launcher, much like the VX and the Pacifier FAV from WWIII. A true jack of all trades, the Howler was tested in multiple missions against pirate strongholds close to Terran or Batarian Democracy territories. The tests proved completely successful and the Howler officialy became part of both militaries. The batarian hegemony, which was furious for the loss of so many funded pirates and slavers, made an assassination attempt against prime minister Grothan Pazness. The attempt failed, but the assassin managed to evade capture. Back to the matter in hand, the continuous protests from the council forced the directors to attend in another leadership meeting on the citadel. It was publicly broadcasted and went down like this:
6th April 2177, Citadel Presidium
"Welcome directors to the Citadel. We are pleased to see that you take the issues that surfaced seriously." Tevos greeted the 5 directors:
"What issues? Where your colonies assaulted by slavers too?" asked the new colonial director Erika Wagner, as director Alexei Ivanov died from a heart attack nine months ago. Also, Mary DeWalt, director of the civilian sector, retired from her position and was replaced by a synthetic, Hannibal Morrow, who was well disguised to avoid unnecessary attention. This left Espinoza, MacLeod and Omega from the director board that met with the council 20 years ago. There were changes to the citadel council also. Turian councillor Quilio was replaced by Sparatus , while Valern took over after the salarian councillor Zerok died. Only Tevos remained from the original council that negotiated with humanity the first time:
"No, but the speech of director MacLeod caused a lot of controversy and..." Tevos was interrupted by the aforementioned director:
"CONTROVERSY? YOU CALL MY SPEECH A FUCKING CONTROVERSY? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT HAPPENED TO ELYSIUM OR MINDOIR? HOW MANY DIED OR WERE KIDNAPPED IN THE SKYLLIAN BLITZ?" The directors and the councillors quickly learned that it was better to let Wallace 'Motormouth' MacLeod have it his way when he was arguing, both because of his infamously short fuse and the fact that he had a valid point. MacLeod however, in his fifties now, got sore throats and couldn't shout with the same intensity and as frequently as before, so he continued at a lower voice:
"If my memory serves me well, I am sure that slavery is banned in council space, but according to director Espinoza here, there have been more than 20 raids just the last year at asari and turian colonies. About 1000 were kidnapped and forced into slavery, yet you just stay idle. I mean, what happened?" MacLeod let the question hang. Spararus, who wasn't exactly the biggest fan of humanity, answered:
"Nothing happened, we just can't afford to start a war without concrete evidence."
He said.
"Then search for evidence, use your fabled STG, pay the Shadow Broker through the nose, use your spectres. So many choices and yet you stand idle." Espinoza countered.
"We can't just spend so many resources at leads that could be false. There is no need to hunt for ghosts." Valern answered.
"That's the problem dear councillors. We aren't looking for ghosts. We are on the prowl for criminals, the ones who launched the raids to our colonies. And when the rest are captured, their corpses will hang from a noose" Director Wagner shot back.
"What do you mean the rest? And what does hanging means, it wasn't in the data pack you gave to us." Tevos reminded. A shine came to the eyes of director Morrow as he heard it:
"To answer your first question dear councillors, our armed forces already attacked a few pirate outposts and kidnapped some high profile criminals and slavers. It is just a matter of time before we assault the rest of their strongholds.
Also, hanging is an old method of execution, used for more than 1000 years. This is how it works. The victim has a rope tied around his or her neck and then..." Hannibal instead of continuing, showed the councillors with his wrist pad's holo projector. The video of 5 batarians under a long pole, all with a rope around their necks, said ropes tied around the pole, and standing on kegs. Then they had the kegs pushed from underneath them. After that, the scene of them hanging under the pole, desperately trying to breath, then falling limp, gave chills to the spines of the councillors:
"A..Are you humans that barbaric? Even the krogan aren't as insane as you! This is completely unacceptable! We demand you to stop this cruel practice RIGHT NOW!" Tevos finally had too much. The directors stood silent for a bit. Then they started cheering and laughing, much to the confusion of the council. MacLeod, still laughing, went forward and shook Tevos's hand and said:
"FINALLY! At long last you found your guts! This is the kind of decisiveness we humans respect and the one this council needs." Tevos was shocked and the other councillors looked each other, unable to understand what happened:
"What? Was this a test of some sort?" Valern asked, less confused than the others:
"Exactly, we wanted to see your collective breaking point. Your pride makes you too oblivious at admitting the problems that fester because of your indecision." Director Espinoza confirmed.
"Back to the matter in hand then, you made us look bad in public and caused unnecessary chaos amongst the associate members of the Citadel species. How will you help us rectify the situation?" Tevos asked.
"Actually, we already did. In the previous outposts, we found a lot of slaves. Asari, turian, salarian, human, even a few quarians. We freed them and they just need to go home." director Omega said:
"And how does this help us? The freed slaves will still say that the Coalition freed them." Valern said:
"You bring up a valid point councillor Valern, so with some help from the Batarian Democracies, director Omega made a little visit to a raider outpost that currently has about 50 slaves. Long story short..."
"Whoa, whoa, sorry for interrupting, did you try to negotiate with the pirates director Omega?" Tevos asked. Yuriko just smiled and answered:
"Not exactly, let's just say that I like to blow of some steam from time to time." Then she raised above the ground and twirled. Tevos almost smirked. She fully understood the real meaning of the answer and asked:
"Is it wrong that I almost feel sorry for the pirates?" Tevos asked. MacLeod chuckled at that:
"Not really. Besides, she didn't kill anyone..." He continued on a lower voice:
"...I have a video of what she did down there. If you want to watch it I haAAAA..."
MacLeod was pulled away, towards the other directors by the powerful psychic. She kept him suspended mid air and said in a chastising tone:
"After 50 years of age and about 20 in the board, you still behave like a teen." MacLeod just took a suprised face and mocked Yuriko:
"Hey, you giggled like a schoolgirl when you were tossing the pirates around like ragdolls and you're mocking ME?" This caused a laughter by Yuriko and the other directors chuckled at the display, even Tevos smiled at what she saw. Only Sparatus couldn't handle it anymore:
"ENOUGH! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS! Will you tell us what your plan is or is this whole meeting a joke to you? I just don't get it, why are you so childish and immature? So many responsibilities and a whole species under your leadership, yet you act like infants!" Again, MacLeod, now lowered back on his feet, shook the hand of Sparatus:
"And the second to finally snap. As an added bonus, you asked the right questions. This is turning out even better than I hoped. Maybe we will make fine leaders out of you." He said and went back:
"What, again with this?" Sparatus almost growled:
"Now, where were we... ah yeah, the slavers. Long story short, after Yuriko beaten the crap out of them, she erased the memories of the captives and replaced the captors with batarians who now act like they are the captors. All you need to is to storm the outpost, provide a show and free the prisoners. Don't worry about accidents, we told them to load with dummy rounds." MacLeod finished. The councillors thought for a bit. Yuriko didn't need to read their thoughts to know the answer:
"It is a very good offer and very considerate of you, but we cannot afford to give the hegemony or the terminus systems a reason to retaliate." Zerok answered. How predictable. The eternal excuse. Fear of the hegemony or the terminus systems to retaliate. Luckily, Espinoza prepared for this unavoidable occurence:
"Come on now councillors, you really thought we leave a job half done? I paid a little visit to Aria T'Loak myself to make sure she keeps her dogs leashed. As for the hegemony, we turned the captured pirates into sleeper agents. They won't tell a soul about what happened to them and they feed us valuable information as we speak." Espinoza explained:
"Isn't it dangerous for a person of your position to go into that lawless space station?" Tevos asked:
"We humans have a saying: 'Want something done right, better do it yourself.' Just because we have high positions doesn't mean we shouldn't get our hands dirty from time to time." Director Morrow answered this time:
"And how did that meeting go director Espinoza?" Tevos asked.
"Well..." He started reminiscing...
Flashback, 3 weeks ago, Omega, Afterlife
The music was loud, the asari were dancing on the poles and the booze flowed like water. Business as usual in Omega as Aria was sitting on her couch. The day was mostly uneventful. There were a few disputes and another case of poisoning, but nothing out of the ordinary. She was sipping liquor from a shot glass, thinking about the next day:
"Serrice ice brandy, a fine choice indeed."
The voice was male and sounded old, but eerie and spine chilling. Aria nearly choked in her drink and was sent to a more alert stance immediately:
"Who are you? Show yourself!" She demanded. Her guards moved inside to find the trespasser, only to be knocked out by some unseen force in less than 3 seconds. Aria was about to flare her biotics, only to have a knife on her throat, and a voice behind her, whispering in what looked like her ear:
"Now, now. No need to cause unnecessary panic, right dear? Besides, if I wanted you dead, we wouldn't have this conversation, would we?" Aria nodded, with a bit of difficulty, and the knife was taken from her neck. Behind her was a man in black body armor with a visor mask that covered his face, Aria identified him as a human:
"Who are you and what do you want?" She asked again, this time less confident than before. The human removed his mask and revealed a man with slightly dark skin, graying hair, a short beard and amber eyes. He made a slight bow and answered with a smile:
"Director Gigiermo Espinoza, at your service. I am very pleased to make your acquaintance miss T'Loak." Aria was now intrigued. Someone sneaking inside her own club undetected, knocking out 4 of her guards effortlessly and even catching her unaware meant business. But the most notable thing was the way he talked and his manners. Right now, back to the matter in hand:
"And what sort of service do you provide?"
Her question made that old bastard's smile even wider:
"Wouldn't it be better if we discussed the rest like civilised people, sitting on the couch?" He asked. She nodded and they both sat on the couch, Aria with the window on her back and Espinoza at the other corner:
"The services I provide Miss T'Loak are various, ranging from mundane idle surveillance to toppling governments. By the way, this is quite a nice couch, leather?" Espinoza said while caressing said couch with a gloved hand:
"I don't have time for compliments and word games, so tell me what you want and what you offer in exchange." Aria demanded, her patience running out. Espinoza just sighed in disappointment:
"As you wish. I am certain you heard about the raiders who attacked the terran colonies, right?" Aria nodded and Espinoza continued:
"Well, us it turns out, all these pirates where under the command of Elanos Haliat, a good for nothing turian pirate lord. All I want is you to ban him from Omega and put a bounty on his head. Don't worry about money, we pay handsomely." Aria knew that the offer was good. Besides, these raiders did cause her some trouble, both in gang wars and power grabs. It was a good chance to take Haliat out of the picture entirely, but she wouldn't agree at any deal, no matter how good it was, to the first offer. She didn't become queen of the outlaws by being soft after all:
"While it is a good deal, I already have a lot of credits. You got to do better than this, I know you can." Aria said with fake nonchalance. Espinoza just chuckled. Did he laugh and smile just to creep Aria out? Or he was too insane to take it seriously? Regardless, he showed 3 images on his wrist pad, the left was a human, then a krogan, the lastly a batarian. Aria recognised all 3 of them, something that Espinoza caught up:
"As you see, my boys are keeping tabs to everyone, including you, your allies and your enemies. I picked the worst of the bunch as targets. All you need is to say which you want dead. Be warned however, each dead target puts an additional condition to the deal." He said before Aria could answer that she wanted all 3 dead:
"What conditions?" She asked through her teeth:
"I can't say them until you agree." He answered playfully. Aria finally had enough of it:
"IS THIS ALL A GAME TO YOU? TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO..." She snapped on Espinoza, raising from her seat, her biotics at the ready. He just took something that looked like a black brick from his satchel. When Aria saw it better, she spotted a keypad and a few wires. Before she could stop him, Espinoza armed the explosive device and left it on the table:
"WHA... WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU PSYCHO?" She asked, voice trebling with rage. Luckily, no one heard them through the soundproofed room:
"This, miss T'Loak, is a high yield explosive device, capable of levelling an 8 story structure. As you see, the timer shows 52 seconds until it detonates. Don't try running away, you will just die tired. So, please, tell me who you want dead before the Afterlife turns into a distant memory along with us." Espinoza answered, his smile not leaving his face:
"YOU'RE INSANE! DISABLE THE BOMB RIGHT NOW!" She screamed. Espinoza was unfazed. He reached his right pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a golden lighter. He lit one:
"You smoke?" He asked, offering one to Aria. She just knocked it off his hands and grabbed Espinoza by the collar:
"TURN IT OF RIGHT NOW!" She screamed at him:
"Of course, just tell me who you want dead." Espinoza answered and took another drag from his cigarette. Aria was now out of patience. A human disrespecting her like that, in her own damn club? Completely and utterly preposterous. She tried to shove him, but Espinoza just slapped her hands away and got her in a painful armlock. Aria tried to escape, but couldn't:
"Aria, Aria, you are wasting your energy. Please, all you need to do is choose who you want dead. You have 15 seconds left."
True to his word, the digital counter showed the number 15, and it was counting down. Finally, Aria cracked:
"Alright you maniac, I want them all dead, happy now?" She asked. Espinoza released her:
"The deactivation code is 0000." He answered and sat back to the couch. Aria deactivated the bomb at the 4th second and went back at her spot on the couch, her breath heavy. Espinoza just lit another cigarette:
"Can I have one please?" Aria asked. Espinoza smiled and merrily offered her one. He lit her cigarette up and kept quiet for a bit, until Aria regained her composure:
"Now, could you please tell me the conditions director Espinoza?" She said with as much politeness as she could:
"Gladly miss T'Loak. All I want is your word that if you do capture Elanos Haliat you will bring him alive, a glass of water and a bottle of good Thessian red wine." He answered. Aria's eyes bulged out of her sockets:
"WHAT? YOU...YOU..." She nearly launched herself from the couch, but remembering what happened before, she continued with a lower voice:
"...you stirred so much trouble for this?" Espinoza shook his head:
"No. I just wanted to teach you a few lessons. One, never be rude with people like me. Two, you must learn that, for lack of a better term, I can fuck with whoever I want, whenever I want and wherever I want. Three, and most importantly, you are just so much fun. The undisputed queen of Omega being outmanoeuvred by an insane psychopath, losing her cool and squealing like a child. I just love it." Espinoza's answer sounded more enthusiastic at the third part and made Aria cringe. A waitress arrived with a glass of water and a wine bottle. Aria shooed her, as Espinoza drank the water and put the bottle in a deep pocket. He stood up:
"Alas, I must take my leave now. Have a nice night." Espinoza bowed and disappeared, leaving the now inert bomb, his lighter and his cigarettes. Aria saw a paper note under the pack. 'The targets will be dealt with within the hour. You can keep the bomb, my cigs and the lighter. I believe you will need them more than me'
Back to the present...
"...and that's why the plan will work. The real slavers are brainwashed and now citizens of the batarian democracy while Aria will make sure that no one will retaliate. Perfect, right?" Espinoza finished. The councillors where slack jawed at the story. Were all humans that insane? Activating mass relays without caution, using nuclear weapons, possessing and considering AI's as equals and actually considering near death experiences, murder and mayhem as a way to have fun? Were they so absorbed in their madness? Valern thought and talked after the end of Espinoza's story:
"HOW ARE YOU NOT DEAD YET? HOW CAN SUCH AN INSANE SPECIES THRIVE AND CONQUER? HOW IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE?" The salarian councillor screamed. The directors just exchanged high fives and cheers:
"AND THE THIRD! BAG THEM AND TAG THEM!" MacLeod cheered jovially. When the cheering died down, Tevos gave council's answer:
"We decided to accept your offer. Despite being unorthodox, it is likely going to work if you organised it as well as you claim. Now, is there anything else we need to discuss? No? This meeting is adjourned." She said with finality. The directors bid farewell and left, except director Morrow:
"Before I leave, there is something I need to tell you." he said. Tevos who, after hearing all that stuff before, felt she was ready for everything Morrow would say:
"Let me guess, either you want to tell us to become more competent, more unpredictable or to begin researching new technologies on our own." She said. Morrow chuckled and answered:
"Not really. I just want to give you a little gift. The blueprints for the new Howler siegecraft." He showed the plans and uploaded them to Valern's omni tool:
"While the gift is welcome, why do you give it just like that director Morrow?" Valern asked:
"2 reasons. First, we developed it along with the batarian republic, so your STG would most likely steal it anyway. Second, this was just to make the shock that will follow less severe." The councillors, for the 5th time of the day, were confused:
"What fresh surprise you have for us now?" Sparatus said with a defeated tone:
"I just want to show you, that humans and synthetics are just as..." He paused and removed his face, revealing his bare frame, grey in colour, with slightly shining white eyes and all the human characteristics: "unpredictable, see?" The councillors where slightly shocked, but after all that happened before, they chalked it down as another example of human uniqueness:
"Wow, an AI replaced director Morrow. What are we gonna do?" Tevos said mockingly while putting her hands on her cheeks, earning a snicker from Sparatus and a slight smile from Valern:
"Heh, you will be pros in no time. Anyway, I have places to be and a hot asari chick to bang. Don't worry Tevos, your daughter is safe with me, adios!" He said and ran away. Tevos's smile disappeared and was replaced by cold fear. Was the guy serious? All Tevos could do was say:
"Let's go back to our homes. This day was frustrating to no end. And not a word of what Hannibal said, okay? True or not, keep quiet." Sparatus and Valern nodded nervously.
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the Citadel...
"Matriarch Benezia, thank you for the info. It proved very useful. And as promised, the video of everything that happened." A human said to the black clothed asari matriarch:
"This is just too good! Do you have any idea how long I tried to knock some sense into Tevos's head? More than a century. And you did it in only 1 day! I am in your debt. And the footage will be most entertaining to watch. Thank you again."
"Don't mention it. Just doing my job. Enjoy the vid. I know it was fun being part of it. I am gonna get drunk in the Chora's den. You wanna join? My treat." He asked:
"Maybe go to the Flux instead? I don't want to be seen in Chora's Den, too many asari dancers and I don't want to be mistaken for one." She refused the first offer:
"Flux it is then. Besides, I think you are far better at both dancing and looks." He complimented:
"Aww, you are terrible at flattering director Espinoza." She teased.
"It's not flattery if it's the truth, I saw you dancing." He added the second phrase at a lower voice, Benezia stood silent for a bit, then laughed:
"Haha, okay then, let's celebrate this small victory." She said:
"May it not be the last." He answered as they headed towards the Flux.
AN
Sorry for being late, again. As you see, this was a unique chapter, not based from the story, so I had to wait for inspiration strikes. Anyway, merry Christmas you magnificent bastards. Be unique and unpredictable, just like life truly intended.
If someone can give me ideas for a new crossover, well shoot. (except animes, I don't know shit about them cause I never watched any).
