Chapter 69
Noruva was in her tent on the outpost world, chatting with her sister, Admiral Tiva the commanding officer of the Destiny Ascension via FTL communications after she had completed her duties for the day.
"You sound like you're in love with these Humans, Norvua." Tiva teased.
"Have you read their history? Before that war of theirs their history was like ours, a complete horror story. After, though? It's like a switch was flipped and all of the evil drained out of them. Take the story of their primary export to the Citadel for example; Medigel. It has adaptive antibiotic and antiviral properties, and the process by which they developed it informed all of their future bio-engineering breakthroughs, but there were a lot of problems with it at first, and there were many accidents. The worst of which was on the Aesculapius, a research ship that stayed in orbit around their innermost planet. The most dangerous research was performed in these ships so that a quarantine could be easily enacted in case of a containment breach." Noruva said. Tiva listened, paying rapt attention, her little sister had always been a fantastic storyteller.
"One such breach occurred while they were working with a prototype that attacked microbes by acting as a virus, it spread and could self-replicate, and it mutated into a form that was able to escape containment. It began ravaging the crew, quickly damaging organs and attacking other tissues. They were able to stabilize themselves for a time, but it became apparent that too much damage had been done and their only chance of survival was a rescue mission, which they vehemently refused to allow the Alliance to execute. There was a heated exchange between the captain of the crew and an admiral where they were ordered to remain where they were and await rescue because the alliance refused to abandon its people even in such a dangerous situation. When the rescue ship arrived, they discovered a beacon with a series of stored messages.. and an ion trail leading directly into the star." Noruva said. Tiva gasped at this.
"The beacon contained personal messages from the crew to be delivered to their families, all of their research data as well as warnings about where they went wrong, and a recorded message from the whole crew to the Admiral. In it they apologized for disobeying orders, and explained that a vote had been taken. The crew voted unanimously, despite being scared and in obvious pain, to incinerate the ship and everything on it to avoid endangering humanity. Unanimously, Tiva. Most of them were veterans of the war, they remembered the atrocities their forebears had committed, and refused to endanger the second chance they'd earned with their blood." Noruva said.
"Goddess. I can't.. I don't know what to say." Tiva said.
"That's just one story. Their recent history is full of examples of their heroic, selfless nature. Reading their history it's no surprise they did what they did for the Quarians, Krogan and Geth." Norvua continued.
"Well, I Guess I'll lay off the ribbing for now then." Tiva said grinning. Noruva laughed at that.
"How are things back at the citadel?" Noruva asked. Tiva held up a finger, turned and secured the door behind her, she then tapped a few keys on her console and the image quality dropped visibly due to intense, military-grade encryption being activated.
"The council is utterly useless. This obviously stays between us, but I've been conferring with a few of the admirals and the Matriarch Conclave back home, we're considering withdrawing from the council and evacuating our people from the Citadel." Tiva said. Noruva was stunned.
"That's... unexpected. What inspired that?" Noruva asked.
"For hundreds of years, the Batarians have been capturing and enslaving our people. You know they don't generally target Asari for our combat skills..." Tiva said. Noruva paled at the implication.
"During that time, the council has not recovered a single enslaved Asari. Not one. We have begged them, threatened them, councilors before Tevos even threatened to secede, and still not a single slave recovered. The only slaves we'd gotten back had been due to commando raids and prisoner exchanges. Then these humans arrive on the scene, unite with the Quarians, Krogan and Geth, and since there has been a steady stream of tearful reunions occurring all over Asari space, some of the slaves they've saved had been in captivity since before Humanity achieved space flight. So we bring this up in a discussion with Councilor Tevos and do you want to know what her reaction was? She recalled all ships hunting slavers to the Citadel Defense forces because 'The alliance will take care of it.' Tiva said, disgust apparent in her expression.
"WHAT?!" Noruva bellowed, pounding her fists on the table in front of her, jostling the communication console further distorting the already low-res image.
"Hush, sister, don't draw attention on your end." Tiva warned.
"You're right. I'm sorry. Still though, what could she be thinking? The citadel is a fortress protected by Turian dreadnoughts and the Destiny Ascension." Noruva asked.
"Tevos and the rest of the council feel threatened by the rise of the Alliance. They're convinced that it's a matter of time before that Prime Minister Shepard comes back and decides to take the Citadel itself. I genuinely wish she would." Tiva said.
"I'd be more worried about the Prime Minister's daughter. The stories I didn't believe half the stories I'd heard about her until I saw her in action. She is a goddess on the battlefield, but that's nothing compared to the feats she's inspired those under her command to accomplish, even the Asari and Turians under her command have been performing well beyond expectations. If the republics ever decided to declare war on the Alliance, we could never prevail against even just that one woman." Noruva said.
"Never mind. You really are in love with these humans." Tiva said, grinning mischievously. Noruva stuck her tongue out at her in response.
"Well I should get some sleep, but it was wonderful talking to you again, Tiva. And if you and your friends have anything that the Prime Minister needs to know, send it to me and I'll give it to Commander Shepard." Noruva offered.
"I very well may take you up on that. Sleep well, sister." Tiva said, then severed the connection.
Tali spent most of her day going around addressing repairs and engineering problems that came up with the landed ships and equipment on the outpost. The prefabs had been so thoroughly outfitted that they could easily transition into permanent structures once the outpost's infrastructure was up to snuff. While despite her rank, Shepard was the defacto leader of this task force, Tali had been unofficially named the unofficial chief engineer of the whole effort. Her experiences and exposure to exotic technologies as well as her status as one of the former migrant fleet's most accomplished and gifted engineers were well known and her advice was sought frequently even by the Turians and Asari as well.
Right now however, she was staring at the antikythera mechanism model she had completed weeks ago. The assembly was simple to her, she only referred to the documentation that was included twice. The thing that confused her, though was how to get it to do anything. There were more than a hundred tiny components, all securely attached and lubricated with a thinned out form of the same oil used on standard issue Alliance rifles. The things that should move could, but she could not figure out why they wouldn't. Her irritation dissolved into sublime pleasure as Shepard's warm, strong hands began working the stress out of her shoulders.
"Oh Keelah, I'll pay you a million credits to never stop doing that." Tali said, moaning in pleasure. Shepard smiled, and leaned in so that her lips were centimeters away from her ear.
"Two million." Shepard demanded quietly, causing Tali to giggle. That still managed to be her favorite sound after all this time.
"Deal. What time is it?" Tali asked.
"2300 alliance standard." Shepard said.
"Let's go to bed Jane. I'm not going to figure this out tonight." Tali said, shoving the mechanism further back on her desk. Shepard cocked her head slightly to the side and pointed at one of the gear assemblies.
"Why is this one backwards?" Jane asked.
"What?" Tali asked, confused.
"This gear assembly, it looks like the teeth are oriented the wrong way. " Shepard said. Tali looked again and sighed.
"The documentation showed it going in this way, that's odd. Good catch, Jane." Tali said, as she popped the top off the little model and taking great care to avoid letting it fall apart she disconnected the assembly, reversed it and replaced the cover. She then spun a dial off the other side and each of the gears moved in concert producing the satisfying grinding noise of winding springs. When she let it go, the gears began turning at various speeds, causing the notches and pictograms on the face of the device to rotate.
"It's beautiful." Tali said, staring at the device.
"Yeah yeah, Now come to bed and cuddle ya fuckin' nerd." Jane said, grinning. Tali smiled and put the device back, following Shepard to their shared bed. Shepard kissed her goodnight then wrapped an arm around her, laying her head across Tali's chest and within minutes she was softly snoring. Tali worked her fingers through Shepard's hair as she slept. She was so happy just spending these moments with her, it almost scared her.
She thought back to before they met, when they were struggling on the Migrant fleet. Tali was convinced that romance wasn't in the cards for her. Sure during her teenage years when the hormones were raging she would stay up late watching Fleet and Flotilla on her omnitool and dreaming of a whirlwind romance but as she grew up her love for machinery and science eclipsed her thoughts of romantic entanglement. Then they met the Humans.
Tali remembered the hiss of cool air rushing into her broken life pod as the five-fingered hands of Alien soldiers ripped her out of what she had been sure would be her coffin. Hypoxia-induced confusion clouded her mind and all she saw as her Aunt standing amongst these larger, beautiful pink asari-looking creatures but then her eyes fell on Jane and the universe ground to a sudden halt. Standing there looking down at her, big beautiful green eyes full of concern, was a six-foot angel whose head was wreathed in crimson halo of hair.
That image burned itself into Tali's memory and to this day remains the most beautiful thing she had ever witnessed. Then over time, Jane became her friend, then something more and now Jane was her entire world. When she thought of how she felt about the woman her heart felt like it would explode and it was all she could to resist bursting into tears. She wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of her life with Jane.
Suddenly, Jane's face contorted into an expresion of fear, and she gasped.
"No, no, don't!" she muttered quietly. Tali squeezed her shoulder but Jane did not wake up.
"No, please! Don't!" Shepard muttered, and Tali shook her gently, finally succeeding in freeing her from the nightmare.
"You're not? It isn't?" Shepard said in a quiet voice before settling back into laying her head on Tali's chest. Tali shifted to get more comfortable.
"Don't go." Shepard said between snores.
"Never." Tali whispered, kissing the top of her head and settling in to sleep herself.
The Next morning, Shepard and Tali walked out of their domicile hand in hand, and made their way to the mess tent. Before they could get through the flaps, Shepard felt a light tugging at the bottom of her shirt and turned to see a Batarian girl, who if she were human would look approximately seven years old.
"Are you The Shepard?" The girl asked. Shepard stifled the groan that threatened to escape as she crouched to be at eye level with the girl.
"Some people call me that but my name is Urdnot Jane Shepard Vas Normandy. What's your name?" Shepard asked.
"Nuuh. This is for you." The girl said, handing over a clearly hand-made strip of braided multi-colored twine with a couple tiny sea shells attached through crudely drilled holes.
"That's beautiful sweetheart! I'm sorry, I don't know a lot about Batarians yet, what is it?" Shepard asked.
"It's a bracelet. I made it to thank you for helping Mother and I." The girl said, wrapping the bracelet around her wrist and fastening it with a simple knot.
"I love it! Thank you so much!" Shepard said, gathering the girl into a hug. She giggled and then ran away back towards a group of other Batarian children. Shepard stood there looking at the trinket, and her heart ached. A quiet sob bubbled out of her, causing Tali to look up in alarm only to see tears streaming down her eyes.
"Jane? Are you ok?" Tali asked. Jane responded by nodding and smiling.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Jane said showing Tali the bracelet again.
"It is very nice." Tali said, noncommittally not really sure why it was affecting Shepard so much.
"I keep having nightmares, Tali. The Bodies we found in the town hall. The kids..." Jane said.
"Oh Jane." Tali said, taking her beloved in her arms.
They grabbed a light breakfast and went back to their tent,
On Thessia a gathering of a hundred prominent Asari were staring, terrified at the display before them. A Deep, gravelly mechanical roar erupted from the holographic image of what looked like a giant, black metallic squid descending upon thousands of humanoid beings fleeing in terror. A great red energy beam erupted from its core and vaporized hundreds in one wicked swipe, the image zoomed out to show hundreds more descending from the sky, some casually knocking buildings down, showing the massive scale of the horrid things.
"We estimate the capital ships are two kilometers in height, though that's not the truly terrifying part of it." Hanna Shepard's holographic image stated in a cold, emotionless voice. The scene zoomed in and to their sheer and utter horror they watched. Armored beings with four eyes and triangular heads were fighting pointlessly against hoards of profane perversions of themselves. Their blackened skin marred with bright blue circuitry, the indoctrinated fought relentlessly, uncaring of their own physical injuries. As the great metal beasts wreaked havoc upon the urban population centers, millions of these abominations were wiping out those fleeing to the outskirts.
"What you're seeing, my esteemed colleagues, are the last moments of the great Prothean empire."
Hannah said as the image zoomed out to a view of the planet. One of the large capital ships descended upon a seemingly heavily populated city on the northern continent, and unleashed a barrage of energy weapons that reduced a city the size of Armali to ash in seconds. The presentation ended here.
"Any questions?" Shepard asked. Immediately one of the Asari, the representative of one of the western provinces on Thessia raised her hand, and Shepard nodded, acknowledging her.
"How do we know this isn't some horrible fabrication?" The woman asked, her voice shaking.
"One of your own, Liara T'Soni, a woman whom your people so callously discarded was the key to this discovery. In Earth space there is a great and detailed Prothean archive full of information we could only partially translate, when Dr. T'Soni interacted with a beacon found on Earth it imprinted knowledge of their language and writing which she shared with the Geth and Rothschild, this accellerated our translations. You'll notice, the entire contents of the Prothean archive were offered to you through your Matriarchs months ago when we discovered the gravity of the situation." Shepard said, staring a hole in the woman. She sat down and stared into the middle distance. Another Asari approached the image and Hannah gestured her to go on.
"Ah yes, T'Soni, she was one of my students. She was always spouting this insane garbage about the Protheans, she never cared about the extensive history of her own people, of course she's convinced you simpletons of her erratic superstitions, you poor things." The woman said. Shepard grinned savagely at this, and despite the fact that her presence there was merely virtual, those surrounding the offending woman subconsciously stepped away from her.
"Tell me, Professor, is this how you greeted the Rachni threat? Don't bother answering, I've studied your history, I know it is. How many Asari died before the Salarians uplifted the Krogan?" Hannah asked.
"Billions..." Another voice adjacent to the professor said.
"And then after the Rachni were done, I wonder, what was this august assembly's reaction to the increasing threat of the Krogan?" Shepard asked. The professor glowered but said nothing.
"Until this day every Asari I've met has been an absolute pleasure to be around. Matriarch T'Soni, Liara of course, Dr. Vil D'inan on my daughter's ship, I even consider Aria T'loak a friend based on the hours of diplomatic interactions we've had. I'm beginning to see that the best amongst you have a tendency of finding ways to leave the Republics." Shepard said. The professor's face was turning purple as she quaked with rage. She was about to say something when a violet hand behind her grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her roughly down into her seat.
"For once in your life shut the fuck up, Ral." The Asari's voice said. The Professor paled at this and the tirade she'd been working up to died in her throat. Once that was done, the Asari that intervened introduced herself.
"Prime Minister, My name is Dr. Tua Kala, I'm the headmistress of Armali University, and also a member of the assembly. I beg you to forgive us, some of us were not yet born during the horrors of the Krogan rebellions, but I remember. So many pointless deaths on both sides." Kala said, shaking her head. Shepard felt a wave of relief wash over her, finally she was speaking with someone in posession of a working brain.
"Prime Minister Shepard, we are thankful for the information and we will begin analyzing it immediately, if I'm right in assuming we'll come to the same conclusion you have, what is it that you want from us?" She continued.
"Truly, Dr. Kala, we don't ask anything of you our your people except that you allow us to help you safeguard your species. Believe it or not, that is my primary reason for seeking this audience. The only thing we have to gain in offering our aid is the continued existence of the Asari people." Shepard said.
"You offer much, and I know your people have a reputation for... benevolence... but while I am old enough to remember the horrors of the rebellions, I also remember the double-edged sword we wielded when recruiting the Turian Hierarchy." Kala said.
"That is a reasonable concern. I don't expect you to trust us implicitly after a slide show and a scary story, but I beg you, if you won't accept our help at least make the preparations yourselves. Dig bunkers, spread your leadership out, draw up plans for continuity of civilization, and modernize your military. We don't want to watch your beautiful people destroyed by the heartless horror that awaits us all." Shepard said, the desperation clear in her eyes.
"We will consider all that you have shown us, Prime Minister, and we thank you for your kind words and your concern. We will be in touch." The speaker of the assembly said. Shepard nodded and severed the connection.
"Goddess they're fools." Benezia said.
"Some of them, yes, but not all. It's a start. We're stockpiling supplies, portable hardened shelters, ships and weapons earmarked for the Asari in case they decide to take us up on the offer." Shepard said.
"You're... You're what?" Benezia asked. Shepard grinned and brought up a display on her omnitool with a list of thousands of items that started scrolling.
"This is what's been manufactured and stored so far. We estimate we'll have enough for Thessia and the populated moons in the Parnitha system by week's end. Next we'll start concentrating on Illium and its outposts." Shepard said
"But why? Many of them refused to believe you." Benezia said. Shepard shrugged.
"We can, that's why. We're already installing upgraded shields and armor around the Citadel to protect the civilians inside, and if we're going to protect those assholes we're gonna protect the rest of the assholes."