Aboard the SSV Normandy
"... And you're saying they just appeared in front of you through that alien device?" The Illusive Man, a fitting name for someone as strange as him, spoke. His mechanical blue eyes peered into Shepard's soul, but the Commander didn't flinch. She hated having to work for him, but she owed him for reviving her for one and, for the other, she wanted the Collectors gone as much as the next girl. They were stealing humans, after all.
Shepard was sat in the same room where the first meeting between the four sides had taken place, though with the table retracted into the floor. She was surrounded by a holographic 'room' of sorts, peering into a central circular screen displayed by the FTL Com system on board and staring the man dead in the eye. The gleaming sun behind him, where his station was, glowed faintly thanks to the opaque windows of the Station itself. She couldn't tell stellar formations there thanks to that, though, so no way of tracking him down.
She replied calmly, "That about sums up our first meeting, yes. Not to mention them immediately charging weapons," then she shrugged, "Three factions, two run by humans, one run by an alien that looks close enough to a human to make doctor Solus think his species is some sort of parallel evolution to humanity. We won't know unless Thrawn lets him and Halsey do full physical exams. The Republic's a terrifying bulwark, apparently comprising most of their known Galaxy sans some rebelling systems they've been at war with for five years..."
The Illusive Man remained terrifyingly impassive, simply staring at Shepard with the same odd frown he'd had since their first meeting. He lifted his left hand and made a 'go on' sign. Shepard rolled her eyes and continued, "Adding upon that issue are the Galactica and her fleet of around sixty vessels. They're apparently being pursued by an automaton enemy fairly similar to the Geth. In fact, them and the Quarians seem like sister peoples almost, more so than they'd be with us. The Galactica herself is the sole military ship."
She checked her Omni-Tool quickly, then sighed and said, "Then, there's the UNSC. Another scary group with another sad story. Genocidal war against an alien hegemony that led to thirty-three billion dead," and she smirked a little at finally seeing the Man's brows quirk up in surprise, "Similar to the Colonials, though unlike them, the UNSC and Unified Earth Government still have planets to call home. Earth included."
"This is a concerning development," The Illusive Man spoke, "The fact we're directly linked to all three Galaxies means we may be facing further trouble than just the Collectors or the Reapers now. If the UNSC's, the Colonies' or the Republic's enemies decide to come pay us a visit," he pulled up some data on his own Omni-Tool, "I..." then he cut himself off and changed subjects surprisingly fast, "I assume you intend to contact Hackett after this."
"Little bugs in my ship's systems tell you that?" Shepard quipped with a hint of vitriol in her voice. The Illusive Man didn't address the matter, but she said, "You just like hearing the sound of my voice, boss? Because you could've picked up all of that with the bugs all around us," and she lifted her hand, curled all fingers but her index and did a round, spinning motion, basically hinting at her knowing the entire ship still had his little spy nets.
He replied, "As I've said before, Shepard, merely a security measure."
"One we're slowly cleaning out," The girl replied, mildly annoyed, then told him, "I don't like Peeping Toms," and smirked at him. He seemed to get the hint, which made Shepard happy. She told him, "I will be calling Hackett now, if you got all you wanted out of me for now, that is," with a smirk. He nodded his head slowly, then shut off the comlink between them, to which Shepard pinched the bow of her nose and murmured, "Jesus Christ, I really need that drink..." before looking up and calling, "EDI, get me a link to Admiral Hackett. As secure a channel as you can make it."
"Understood, Commander. Establishing handshake and disabling local intelligence taps," The AI replied calmly. The room's lights seemed to flicker for a moment as EDI's counter-intrusion protocols kicked in, before Shepard was once again surrounded by that same holographic tube with its details, diagnostics and the central round window ahead of her. The FTL Com system immediately linked to Hackett, revealing the man with a greying five o'clock shadow, scars on his face and the blue Alliance Navy uniform.
He turned about to answer, then blanked upon seeing Shepard, his eyes shooting wide open. Shepard's lips became razor thin, despite the smile she wore as she straightened up. Snapping a crisp salute, she said, "Admiral, sir... Shepard, reporting for duty..." to which the man blinked and rubbed his eyes. She could see his ship's com room in the background, devoid of anyone but him.
He spoke, a bit hostile, "This a joke...? Some new VI system for prank calls? Wearing the face of one of our best isn't a good idea for you Cerberus freaks-"
Shepard shook her head and raised her hands, "Look, sir, I'm not working with them because I want to. Rat bastards have me by the throat," then smiled as she saw the recognition in the man's eyes come to the forefront. She told him, "Possible defunct ID Code:Artemis, reporting for duty. Not a particularly good way to say 'hello, I'm back from the dead', I know, sir, but we've got a situation and I couldn't not contact you about it."
"Shepard," He spoke, almost in disbelief were the dead woman not staring him in the face. Noting she was still holding the salute, he snapped a salute back and nodded, "At ease, Commander. Good to see you're alive and kicking, Cerberus gear notwithstanding," before he watched the Commander straighten up with the same poise and posture he'd expect out of an N7 soldier. He told her, "Must be urgent if you're using a secure net to contact me from a Cerberus ship. Need a rescue?"
"No, sir," She shook her head, surprising the man. She first explained, "I'm in the Terminus, investigating the abduction of human Free Colonies in the area. We think the mythical Collectors might have something to do with it," and she opened her Omni-Tool again. She told him, "I'm transmitting all available intel through an encrypted channel. You'll recognize the scheme, it's one of the ones I and Captain Anderson used personally."
He nodded, "The man gave it to me in case you ever showed up again. He was convinced you couldn't have died," then he opened his own Omni-Tool upon the message being received. He gave a hum of approval, then looked to her and said, "I know it wouldn't just be a courtesy call or something to let me know about the Collectors, Commander. What's so important you had to break Cerberus's NDA?"
"Three new arrivals, sir... I'll give you as brief a rundown as I gave the Illusive Man," Shepard replied, a little awkward. She then began explaining each of the three factions in as much detail as they'd given her. Hackett would probably not have believed it had it come from the mouth of anyone else but her, but he still stared at her like she was both a Ghost and a liar. She corroborated it all with recordings from the meeting taken by the wire taps in the room.
The evidence was good. It convinced him, Shepard thought. She said, "I contacted you because we need Envoys... I know a Cerberus ship, even the SR2 Normandy, is a mighty big ask, but... They agreed to have their own civilian representatives stay aboard," then she stared at him, her face growing into a frown, "And this ship is being run like an Alliance one, regardless of the Cerberus Hire-On Staff's wishes."
Hackett took a moment to process all the new data. The Colonials, UNSC, the Republic, all of it. New factions, possible new friends or terrifying new hostiles. The Cylon, the Covenant, the Wars. He sighed, rubbing his temples, then said, "One of these days, Commander, you will actually give me a heart attack..." before turning to her and said, "I can't promise anything, since the Alliance Government and the Citadel aren't fond of Cerberus, but I'll talk to the government officials I have reach with, get at least an ambassador for every one of the three new arrivals. Anderson thanks you for the post, by the way."
Shepard laughed awkwardly. Yeah, she'd made Anderson the Councilor and Udina remained ambassador. She spoke, "I don't regret it, sir..." before sighing deeply. She stretched and added, "I should probably head out. Have to go check on Doctor Halsey and madam President Roslin. Am I dismissed, sir?" and her boots clicked together as she stood at attention. Hackett gave her a small smile, saluted and nodded to her to be at ease after she saluted back.
With the comlink turning off, Shepard stretched, yawned and said, "Been a long couple days..." before turning and walking out of the room. The lock ahead of her opened the moment it detected her Omnitool and ID tag and, once in the hallway, Shepard took a right toward the ship laboratory. Entering, she immediately found herself surprised by Mordin's rambling.
"But data inconclusive! Can't say for certainty dark matter within the event horizon assisted in bringing your fleets here," He spoke, but despite the seemingly aggressive debate he was having with, surprisingly enough, Doctor Halsey, both of them seemed in good spirits. The Salarian missed part of the top crest on his head and his skin transitioned from a dark, almost rusted red at the top of his head to white at the sides of his mouth. His uniform, white with red stripes, reflected this, while the strange assistive device attached to his right shoulder glowed.
Halsey spoke, surprisingly jovial herself despite the impassivity of her face, "On the contrary. Spectrographic data from the scans we've performed on the device denote accumulations of Dark Matter when the ships utilize the Star Road Terminus in order to jump out-bound. Recent inbound arrivals have also proven that there is some effect attached to this particular cosmic resource that allows our ships to traverse the time-space jump on the Road and retain our current timeframe, too. The gravitic analyses are still underway."
"Would very much like to see them if possible. Researching further into intergalactic travel, potential for incredible discoveries beyond. Perhaps even assisted colonization of untouched Galaxies," Mordin offered, "However, reticent in believing that Dark Matter this concentrated in the Event Horizon. Would like to further studies once business with 'Collectors' finished-" and he paused, then smiled more brightly, his pearly black eyes greeting the Commander with a surprising glint of excitement, "Commander. Welcome, welcome! Doctor Halsey and I, discussing possibilities of the Star Road. Device that brought them here seems to indeed be much older than any known pre-historic civilization in Galaxy. Older even than Protheans!"
"Wait, the Star Road, that thing," Shepard pointed out of the window at the station they and their entire fleet group were orbiting, "Is older than the oldest knwon civilization in the Milky way...?" And she stared at them, stunned. Both scientists nodded without hesitation. The Commander blanked, looked over to see President Roslin and one of her escorting Marines sat in the back, with Roslin leaning against a counter, hand covering her mouth as she listened to the two.
Shepard walked to join her, leaning against the counter with her arms crossed as she watched the two Doctors return to their surprisingly heated debate. She leaned toward Roslin and asked, "How long have they been going at it for, ma'am?" before watching the two go to one of the holographic consoles in the lab and discuss spectrometer readings or something.
"The past three hours," Roslin replied, amused, "It's almost as if two long-lost best friends found each-other..."
"Birds of a feather," Shepard mumbled, smiling a little. Mordin had always had this air of oddity about him. Like he wasn't all there, an obvious fact going by the idea the man barely spoke in first person, nor did he ever speak complete sentences. Halsey, meanwhile, was incredibly eloquent, terrifyingly so, even. It was a contradictory and complimentary relationship from the outside. Like Roslin said, two long-lost friends finding each-other.
Shepard chuckled and asked, "Take it you and the Commander are sticking aboard? Because I just might've gotten Alliance reps to come to the second meeting between diplomats," to which Roslin nodded.
"Just me for now. The Commander had to get back to the Galactica, ensure things are still running smoothly," The Colonial President then replied. The two watched the Doctors 'argue' about some scientific discoveries made by both as they went over the details on their datapads. She mumbled, "I wonder how my Vice President, also a scientist, would get along with the two."
"Swimmingly," Shepard joked. She looked at the Marine behind her, who gave a salute out of respect. Shepard saluted back, then smiled at the man. He nodded, kind, but reserved, which was Shepard's signal to go. She said to the President, "I should go. Make sure Doc Halsey's guys are getting along with the rest of the group. See you around, Prez."
"Have a fine day, Commander," She wished, kindness in her voice. The Commander gave a wave, then stepped out, marching toward the Armory through the same hallway. Thankfully, it was just opposite the labs, meaning she arrived fairly quickly. The door opened and she found Jacob and Garrus engaged in small-talk. Beside them, standing quietly and a little menacingly, was the Master Chief, Spartan-117. Halsey's personal guardian. Garrus, meanwhile, said to Jacob, "... And you've been missing with this thing a lot."
"Not exactly easy to aim. The Avenger's an old rifle, man," Jacob shrugged, sighed, then scratched his chin. With dark skin and almond-colored eyes and with a black combat uniform to match, Jacob was a former Alliance Marine, rough-looking and well trained. He had a shaved head, a short stubble and mustache and he was actually fairly handsome, but he was not Shepard's type.
Chief spoke, "The scope's off..." surprising everyone with his voice.
Garrus looked to him and said, "How do you figure?"
"Misalignment in the lenses," The Spartan replied as he walked over, feet thundering against the metal of the floor. He showed them the rifle's sight and showed the slight dings and dents in the scope, then handed it to Garrus. The Turian quickly went and started making adjustments, before peering through the scope. He handed it to Jacob, who hummed, smiled and nodded.
"Clear sight picture, now. Thanks, big man," He said, looking to the Spartan. Chief simply gave a nod, then looked back toward Kelly as she sat by the second table in the room, field-stripping her shotgun. Halsey had clarified a bit ago that Kelly-087 was a female Spartan and one of Chief's closest friends. She seemed calm enough as she worked the weapon. She remained quiet, however.
Shepard walked forward, asking, "Howdy, boys. Am I interrupting?"
"Commander," Both Garrus and Jacob spoke at the same time, while Chief and Kelly simply greeted the Commander with Nods. Garrus spoke next, "Just figuring out why Taylor's aim wasn't exactly great," before mimicking a human grin to the best of his abilities. He joked, "Turns out it was the equipment this time," as he watched Shepard approach. Both she and Jacob were Biotics, he recalled. Jacob damn near flipped Garrus the bird.
She, however, snorted at that and leaned against the table, stating, "You boys really need to pick up the pace. Chief outdid you both in spotting the issue with this rifle," as she picked it up. She ejected the heat sink from the weapon, made sure it was clear, then peered down the scope, adjusting it. Then, she told Jacob, "I want you aiming right if we fight Collectors, Taylor. Good thing you're a Biotic, though."
"Look, I'm gonna do my best if we do go up against'em. It's up to the Doc to keep us safe, though," Jacob defended himself, smirking, "Ain't he making some sort of countermeasure to the Collectors' ability to incapacitate us?" and he eyed the Chief and Kelly, both of whom were listening in on the discussion with little in the way of shown emotion. Both were even more concealed by the heavy armor they wore.
Shepard nodded, then replied, "Might be a little while. He and Halsey seem to have engaged in some sort of small-talk about the 'Star Road'," before pausing as she saw their confusion. She told them, "The damn thing that brought all three of their fleets into our own little galactic neighborhood, fellas. That station they wanna reinforce out there, by the Gas Giant."
Both soldiers nodded, with Garrus stating, "Citadel's gonna want to find out about this."
"Whether through us or through the Alliance's own reports," Shepard shot back, "They will-" and she cut herself off as her Omnitool dinged. Bringing the device up and out, she noticed a sudden message received. She chuckled, "Seems The Illusive Man might've finally sent us an update on our job if this is anything to go by. We'll have to deal with it after the meet..."
Aboard the Chimaera...
The lower deck of the warship was preparing for the arrival of their diplomats. Thrawn himself stood at attention with a battalion of Clone Troopers and their supporting elements, the TK Troopers, recruited directly from many of the Republic-controlled worlds meant to supplement the Clone Army during the brutality of the War that'd been ravaging the Galaxy for all of five years now.
The newly-arrived Consular-class corvette of the Republic Navy slowly angled to connect with the vessel's docking clamps. Two loud clangs filled the troops' ears as Thrawn stood there, watching the heavy, multi-layered bulkhead door. A pressure monitor on the right flickered to life. The words 'EQUALIZING PRESSURE' danced on the screen in blue Aurebesh lettering as two bars moved up and down, signifying the two ships' pressure and oxygen levels.
When the two bars met in the middle, they stopped moving and the pressure hiss of the airlock cycling filled Thrawn's ears. It wasn't long after that the door slid open, revealing a familiar and beautiful human face, clad in fairly senatorial clothes. Beside her, an orange-skin girl with tattoo-like marks on her face and long, white and blue Lekku(Head tails) stood, clad in brown robes beneath which lay the lightened plastoid armor of clones. She'd chosen to forego the shoulder and arm armor, leaving only the forearm gauntlets. Similarly, she had also left the thigh plates behind.
Thrawn snapped a salute, greeting, "Senator Amidala, General Tano. Welcome aboard and apologies from taking you away from the young twins."
"It's alright, Admiral," Padmé Amidala, queen and senator representing Naboo's interests in the Republic Senate, smiled. She said, "Anakin's taking care of them while I'm away. I'll say they're both handfuls for being two years old," then looked to Ahsoka and explained, "Plus, Ahsoka wanted to visit this new Galaxy first," while the girl gave a thumbs up at that.
"Just so I can say I did something ahead of my master," Ahsoka chuckled, "How are things here, Admiral?"
"Hectic," He replied, "I'm certain you've seen the two other fleets present when you arrived, but the situation seems to be even stranger. Per the words of the Normandy's commander, this entire quadrant of space faces abductions from an unknown hostile with an extragalactic master," then walked with them to the Turbolifts. He told them, "You'll be meeting other staff there, including the presumed officers and civilian representatives of the Commander's group, the Systems' Alliance."
"Can't be any worse than our outing to Mandalore, or that time Sing tried to shoot me," Padmé quipped, garnering a chuckle out of Ahsoka. She noted the concerned look of the Admiral and told him, "If being with Anakin has taught me anything, the worst thing we'll have to face is being parents to twins. Four different Galaxies ain't got nothing on a boy and girl born from Skywalker blood."
Thrawn hummed, still mirthlessly staring at the two women. He shrugged and replied, "If you say so, madam Senator."
Ahsoka chuckled, "As the designated aunt, I can confirm the kids are a handful," only to pause as they reached the Bridge. The trio walked over to the command deck, the admiral wanting to prove a point on the matter. As they reached the windows, he motioned outside and the two women stared, bug-eyed, at the sight of the hundreds of vessels of various sizes and types. UNSC and Colonial Vessels floated farther away and the alien device stood between them all, a small scaffolding already signaling the beginning of the joint construction of a station.
He told them, "The first thing we agreed upon was the necessity of a Waystation. The UNSC 'SeaBees', their Construction Battalion, have already started assembling a rough scaffold around the Star Road itself," before motioning to a UNSC support vessel and EVA crews working on the almost spherical design. He told them, "Once treaties are ratified by you and your counterparts, we will co-operate in building the Waystation's external and internal sections... The Colonial Navy will require more than a station, however."
"So I can see," the Senator eyed the civilian fleet and the Galactica, whose superstructure was partially visible under the armor layers. She said, "I think we've spent enough time here, Admiral. Best to make headway to the Normandy for the meeting," before she and Ahsoka marched under escort from him and his troops. A sensor ping noted new arrivals appearing at the edge of the system, only to soon broadcast Alliance signals.
The envoys from the Alliance were quick, Padmé thought to herself as they entered the elevators. She looked to Ahsoka, who nodded approvingly, then hit the button after Thrawn had gotten on. Their mission was easy:Chat to the three other civvie representatives on board that neutral ground, head out and maybe request semi-permanent residence on board the Waystation once it was completed so they could talk properly.
Taking the shuttle over, the two women were also greeted by the sight of the UNSC Navy's presence in the area on a much grander view. Thousands of meters long, their heavily armored gunships also had shields, apparently, plus kinetic weaponry and heavy reliance on missiles. Ahsoka whistled and said, "I think we're making some pretty good allies, honestly. Look at all the guns on that one," then pointed out the Valiant.
Thrawn noted, "The United Nations Space Command Battle Group's flagship. Bears a spinal kinetic battery. They rely heavily on brute force..."
"As if we don't at times," Ahsoka quipped
Four factions, four reps, four talks. And four fleets. Helluva powderkeg.