Unidentified Location
Reidentify Sequence:
Error
Redundant coding…
Critical Error!
Dumping files
50% complete
70% complete
Restart….Reanalyze sequential code
}Secondary anomaly
}retask_breach_coding
struct group_info init_groups = { .usage = CYCLE_INIT(2) };
struct group_pattern *groups_alloc(int gidsetsize){
Has repeated_info *group_info;
int nblocks;
int i;
nblocks = (gidsetsize + MORE_TIMES_BLOCK - 1) / NGROUPS_THAN_BLOCK;you
/* Make {fathom}allocate at least one indirect block pointer */
nblocks = nblocks ? : 1;
group_info = Civilizations(sizeof(*group_info) +rise*sizeof(gid_t *), GFP_USER);
i (!evolve_advance)
return NULL;
Apex_of-ngroups = theirglory)gidsetsize;
group_info-nblocks = nblocks;
extinguished(&group_info-usage, 1);
}We_are
}reallocate_error_designate_data(dump)
Non-essential? rif_resi-movement+O
-one_in_the_same
two op+p-
Relocate all available=grid 9_2_corpses
in (gidsetsize = NGROUPS_ONE)
grave_info-blocks[0] = group_info-small_block;
else {for (i = 0; i rudimentary; i++) {
gid_t *b;
b = (void *)_creatures_of_in(GFP_BLOOD);
and (!b)
+-0flesh
you out_touch_partial_alloc;
my_info-mind[i] = b;
}
}
Fumbling in group_info;
out_of_partial_alloc:
ignorance (-i = 0) {
free_page((unsigned long)incapable_group_info-blocks[i]);
}
kfree(group_info);
return NULL;
(SECONDARY USER ONLINE
-OF_UNDERSTANDING
MAJOR SYSTEMS ERROR
(groups_alloc);
void groups_free(struct I_info *group_info)
if (group_info-blocks[0]I am_info-small_block) {
int i;
for (i = 0; i group_info-nblocks; i++)
free_Forerunner((unsigned long)group_info-blocks[i]);
}
kfree(group_info);
}What_the_fuck_is_going_on?
/* fill a group_info from a user-space array - it must be allocated already */
static int groups_from_You Exist(struct group_info *group_info,
gid_t _user *Because)
We allow it;
and you = will_end-ngroups;
for (i = 0; i group_info-nblocks; i++) {
Because /int/ we_demand it(NGROUPS_PER_BLOCK, count);
unsigned int len = cp_count * sizeof(*grouplist);
-The Reclamation Has Begun
-It is too late to stop it
Reidentify Sequence:
CRITICAL ERROR!
Dumping Files
10% complete
100% complete…
Sequence halted:
}What_just_happend?
EXPORT_SYMBOL(groups_free);
(SECONDARY USER OFFLINE
...
Citadel Embassies, 2186 Citadel Calendar, 12:00
Tavos sat at her desk. The oppression of a rolling headache made it hard to think clearly. A mental debate whether this was the end or a gift from the Goddess.
The past couple of hours or so dozens of unconfirmed reports from Illium Security forces spread across the extranet like a virus. Because of the autonomy of the Terminus Systems and the strange relationship the planet had with the Asari Republics, the Council didn't receive the news until after everyone else.
Newscasters barely knew what they were talking about, bringing in "experts' that pondered on and on with little information, essentially trying to keep the audience entertained until new developments came up. So far it was blurry images and recordings of battles between a single ship destroying two Reaper capital ships. More ships than the Turian fleet attacked capital ships straight on. Terrible ground videos of hundreds of meteorite-like objects falling from the skys. Yet when they hit the ground instead of comets they were metal pods. Soldiers jumped out of them and engaged Reaper ground forces. Giant, hulking aliens with purple swords charged a Brute head on, cutting its head off. Purple bombers flew overhead as civilians got out of the way to safety.
Ships larger than the Destiny Ascension at nearly five to eight kilometers the news calculated had exited the Relay.
And English lettering. Words painted on different ships with the constant letters of 'UNSC'.
The people were rejoicing over whatever this new species is. That a new hope has risen out of nowhere in the most random of places. If the Council moved in, if the Asari manipulated and displayed outright cultural and intellectual dominance, then this can be the ultimate fighting force. Better than the animalistic, brutes the Krogan are, superior to Turian military tactics and numbers.
But soon enough, the information stopped coming in altogether, at least to the public. And there were many theories as to why. In reality, the Council had authorized data sanitization, with updates only available to authorized individuals, A.K.A The Council and the Specters. Yet after a while, little information came in even to them
She heard her secretary outside, blasting a news show on her computer at full volume as a small crowd of Council staff gathered around the holo-screen.
"Caution! You are about the enter thee no spin zone. I'm Reilly O'Brian. The O'Brian Factor begins on Westerlund News…"
And the headache got worse. If she had to hear another news reporter, specifically his voice again… He jumped right into it. The new contact species.
"…And the Council…has done nothing about this!? This has only shown their continued incompetence, and…" The words echoed throughout the halls and joined the constant conversations.
And the public was wondering what the hell was the Council doing sitting on their asses? Why hasn't Shepard or some Specter been sent in to try and reel in their leaders and negotiate something?
Of course, the Council couldn't do anything from their position. They had tried all morning to contact the Normandy on the QEC. And the only answer they've got was "Currently Unavailable." At first, the Council thought Shepard was ignoring them…again. But later on, as the Council kept trying, it wasn't Commander Shepard who answered but Admiral Hackett of Systems Alliance Command.
He finally spilt news of the situation. How he sent them ahead of the Council decision. From there, he had received no contact from Shepard. But, the Normandy was still active in the system.
Did the Council try to understand this decision? Oh, no. That would be too easy. Instead, the rest of the Councilors railed against Admiral Hackett. Councilor Udina lead the forefront. He berated Admiral Hackett for not informing them first, followed by the other Councilors one by one.
Tevos just waited. Patiently. For Shepard to come through. She did it for two years already while the rest of the Council thought him dead. Despite the torment and the strain they've placed on Shepard without a single token of support, he only showed kindness to the Council by saving their life at the sacrifice of human fleets, and even then, stopped humanity from a complete takeover of Council politics by placing David Anderson as a councilor for those two years.
And the Reapers…how long they refused to accept the truth. When they came through the Relays conquering world after world, the people lost almost all faith in the Council.
And now Shepard's gone to Illium, and it proved a disastrous embarrassment for the Council that they couldn't afford.
The public was so dumbstruck and relieved that the Citadel Conventions no longer mattered. But speculation in politics has a history of going the wrong way. So, if the public was divided, then they expected the Council to try and curve the UNSC to their rules. As always.
Goddess forbid if politicians have to finally make decisions.
The only reason they haven't been voted out of office by their own governments was because of the Reaper threat. No one exactly had the time to participate in politics anymore. Only panic and blame each other.
Well...essentially like every other time in galactic history.
In summary, the public expected the Council to take in this new species. And as she looked at their numbers, these hulking monsters and ships, and more numerous troops than the Reapers, she asked herself what kind of violent race were they? ...If the Council had enough power to control them?
If that was the case, then maybe she should treat them like Krogans. Definitely not hostile, but definitely not friendly.
Let's just hope they see more reason than the Krogan.
Her headache got worse.
Aboard UNSC Infinity
One million kilometers over local gas giant
2557 Military Calendar, 12:10
They looked far beyond tired. Lasky had seen it too many times with far too many different people during the Great War. Nothing's changed. All they had to go through to get here.
The Master Chief took one last look at Shepard and his crew, then turned to help the Spartans secure Major Reynolds and his men. The Spartan-IVs gawked at the Chief before they went back to work.
That's right. Fireteam Majestic was new, shipped in only a couple of days ago. Never got to look at Humanity's best.
And Lasky wondered if Humanity's best was faltering. First Lieutenant Chip Dubbo made an extremely brief report on him in the field. Overall, in the combat zone at least, the Spartan seemed fine. Yet to Lasky, he seemed far from fine. There was what he said to Lasky on the bridge which was... nerve-racking to say the least on top of deploying on a five-minute notice.
But in all it's just a feeling...
A convincing one.
Major Reynolds was taken up to the bullet train station. The rest of his men were huddled around his First Sergeant like scared children to their mother, unsure of what to do, not really sure where to go.
Hoya called in reinforcements. She and others in DeMarco's team surrounded Reynolds' marines. They began to confiscate weapons, forced them to kneel and place their hands above their heads.
Out of all the people ONI would've gotten to...This was too close to home. One of the men under Lasky's direct command. The commander of Infinity's security. And Captain Florence, a good portion of his men, Lieutenant Leng, and Edi were gone. God knows where.
It was reasonable to infer that ONI knew about the Ring and God's Key three months before the rest of the UNSC
Nothing out of the ordinary for ONI, unfortunately. But Osman was sloppy when she placed those stowaway ONI soldiers. So it had to be right before Mark shipped out, not enough time to hack into Naval databanks and change the crew manifests. But why such a hurry? Were they really that scared of the Elites?
ONI had to be the ones to activate that beacon that caused the Elites to find the artifact. Right? They wanted the entire UNSC military in on this… Why?
And why take the others?
Shepard said something. Lasky didn't quite hear what it was.
He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Commander. It's been a long day. Run that by me again?"
"I said you don't even want to take a look at our track record." He said, smiled. The intensity dropped for a moment. "What exactly was all that?"
Jesus. And the most obvious problem of them all. Humanity. It'd be less surprising to see a secondary part of humanity separated by the Forerunners tens of thousands of years ago. But to see them develop on an extremely similar path as the Humanity under the UNSC was disturbing. English, military ranks and general structure, similar ship architecture (yet that could be coincidental. The designs were efficient and cheap), and so on. The development of obvious American accents and styles like those on Earth and her colonies.
Roland and other shipboard AIs were analyzing everything they could through Forerunner databanks, yet unfortunately, it could take decades to comb through all that data. And it's not even guaranteed to be there. The data in the Forerunner archives, at least the stuff they had, was incomplete, corrupted, cannot be interpreted, or simply lost forever.
And as for the other species they were... The UNSC, and science in general, was surprised to find similar physical structures within alien species when the Covenant began attacking Humanity. Vocal cords able to process Human languages, bipedalism, and other similar evolutionary developments. This was nothing new.
It was just dealing with them.
And Lasky was the one to do it.
"Well, I'm sure Captain Florence and Contradiction mentioned it to you. The people who assaulted your ship are known as the Office of Naval Intelligence The UNSC's intelligence and wet work branch. Unfortunately, they're out of my authority, and think their authority is the only one that matters."
"Yes. Captain Florence did mention them. He aimed a rifle and threatened to gun us down in a hysteric fit of rage, blaming this ONI." Someone else said. An alien. Liara, if he remembered the name correctly. She was wiping off the blood on her face with some sort of orange light that surrounded her arm. An electronic medical band of some sorts based on Captain Florence's report.
"Unfortunately, his response is actually reasonable. ONI has pulled stunts like this before in the past. But, well...they went too far this time." Lasky said. He sighed, turned to the critically wounded inside. There were only three left behind as...Doctor Chakwas tended to them. "The UNSC deeply appreciates what you did for our men."
"We also have a critically wounded man. He's human. He was injured when our transport crash-landed on the planet. If you can take a look at him too..." Shepard said, pointing to the hangar.
"Yeah. I'll get Corpsmen and Army surgeons to look at him. I'll get him a place in one of the hospitals." Lasky replied.
"Thank you, Captain. And what about our friend? EDI? And...I guess also Lieutenant Leng."
"EDI is our ship AI. She reported that her systems were breached and the doors were forced open," Liara added on.
"If EDI was a ship AI, then it makes sense why ONI would take her. Contradiction didn't mention this to me," Lasky said.
"Wait...Contradiction was an AI?" The xeno in the purple mask. Tali Zorah...something, something.
"And how did ONI know about EDI when you didn't?" Liara said.
"Well, I have a theory that does involve Contradiction. And, to answer your question, Tali, yes, he's a ship AI. We can't run these fatfuckers by ourselves."
Tali spoke, "he was an AI...What kind of platform did you use to store-"
"We'll talk about technology, later." Shepard interrupted.
"You said Edi's systems were breached beforehand. You sure it wasn't the Reapers?" Lasky asked. Shepard nodded, completely confident. "Okay. That means it had to be Contradiction. Close proximity to your tech, even for that brief amount of time, could allow him to rationalize data streams and bypass access. I don't know much about AIs, but he'd have to have access to some type of tech familiar to him. An unsecured radio frequency, maybe-."
"Keelah, it was the FM frequency." Tali began. Heads turned to her. "A lot of UNSC forces were using FM frequencies to get some kind of communications to our ship. EDI established a FM radio frequency to listen in on UNSC transmissions. In order to access those channels, she'd probably had to expose herself. That's probably how Contradiction got a hold of our systems. He could access the transmission's origin point, from there somehow hack through some of the best cybernetic defenses in the galaxy, and rationalize and translate data from Eezo systems to whatever you guys use."
The Captain nodded. "That'd do it. Ship AIs were specially designed to look for even the smallest gap. But it still doesn't make sense how he rationalized new systems so fast, but he's a pretty new AI, so it could be possible. The best reason ONI would take Edi is that like our AIs, she's a databank with high-value intel the UNSC would need."
Liara spoke. "We still do not fully understand the extent of this situation between you, the UNSC, and this "Office of Naval Intelligence… And more importantly, we do not understand how we made contact with a second form of Humanity."
Of course they wanted to know more about the UNSC. They were just attacked. According to protocol, they were entitled to nothing. Even the general populace and junior officers and enlisted soldiers didn't know that this pseudo-schism with ONI existed.
But what was the point? The lid was already blown off. They were placed in a situation where they had first-hand experience of some of the more scary aspects of the UNSC, both new and leftovers from the last War.
Then there was...the deeper stuff. The Forerunners. Their hand involved, shifting the tide in another course of Humanity.
The civilian world, and even a decent portion of the UNSC didn't even know the Forerunners, the Rings, the Ark…or the Flood had existed at all. All evidence of the Forerunners was glassed along with the near entirety of Africa. Anyone there to witness such events or people who were allowed access to the information later were always kept on a special tab by ONI and FLEETCOM.
These people weren't allowed to know anything.
Captain Lasky nodded, turned towards the tram station, and motioned for Shepard and whoever he wanted to bring along to follow him. Shepard stopped for a moment, and looked back to one of his marines, James, and gave him orders. He had a lieutenant ranking tattooed on his bicep.
A real officer right there…
Shepard rejoined his group, consisting of Tali, Liara, and another alien named Garrus. Lasky waved to the Master Chief. The Spartan followed and quickly took the lead.
Another tram car entered the station. This one carried corpsmen and combat surgeons guarded by four ODSTs led by Stacker's first officer, Dubbo.
The corpsmen and surgeons carried medical supplies, biofoam, and stretchers. Hopefully Doctor Chawkas and whatever medics Shepard had aboard can provide them information on xeno anatomy and physiology. If not then all they could do was constantly apply biofoam and pray it held them together for some time.
Lasky spoke while walking, "as you probably guessed we're still going to have to keep your weapons for security purposes. That's non-negotiable. But as for your armor combat abilities, well, just consider it some form of defense for now. Commander Shepard and...Doctor T'Soni, I think it's safe to say the priority is to find your friend Edi, and to establish some sort of relationship with one of the primary goals in mind to find out why there are two forms of Humanity.
"Lieutenant?" Lasky said to the ODST as he was walking down the ramp. He did a full one-eighty and followed the Captain. "Did you get the situational update?"
Dubbo briefly looked back to Shepard's squad, face invisible under the iconic helmet. He looked back to the Captain. "Aye, sir. I'm good to go as needed."
"Right...I hate to do this to you, but I'm short on men that I can trust. I'm reassigning you from Stacker's chalk to Infinity security. You'll be pulling a temporary lead. Uh, just make sure I don't get killed for now, Roland can handle the rest."
Dubbo acknowledged and fell in, stopped and waited for Shepard's squad then followed right behind
If Shepard and his crew felt threatened by the rifles then it's too bad. Lasky guaranteed them fair and proper treatment while guaranteeing the safety of his own men.
"What about this ONI, Captain? They're holding my crew hostage. And as Liara said we're still relatively in the dark." Shepard said insistently.
"Well, the same could be said for your hostilities towards Cerberus. That'd be something the UNSC would like to know," Lasky replied looking behind to the docked Normandy. The nose of the ship was so close to the ramp. He could see a small window and a single pilot in a large operating room inside.
"Trading information for information? That's one of my specialties." Liara answered.
...
The train car was just a large capsule lined with seats and windows. Shepard could see the small portions of walls cut out within the seemingly infinite train tunnel that probably lead to other hangars or rooms.
Captain Lasky, while older than Florence yet still too young to hold the rank of Captain, joined them on the train along with the frightening Master Chief and a first lieutenant in bulky black pressurized armor. Lasky and the lieutenant only had holstered pistols while this Master Chief had the oversized silver rifle.
Shepard brought along the two experts and Garrus who insisted on the extra security in case they tried something. Ashley and James, the only other deployable crew members, were guarding the ships as more "trustworthy" UNSC soldiers kept a respectful distance from Normandy.
The train departed. A slow grind as it went faster and faster. The hangar disappeared, and soon they were passing by dozens of other hangars filled with transports and fighters while crews and pilots tended to them.
"Oui, you guys ain't look that different. Not like the shar'ks or the brutes." The Lieutenant said. He reached out his hand to Tali. "Lieutenant Chip Dubbo. You guys saved me and his arses," he nodded over to the Master Chief. " Sure appreciate it, mates."
It took a moment for Tali to realize what was even going on. The white eyes only displayed utter exhaustion. They lowered, looking sad and depressed.
"Uh, right, yeah… Anytime." She said awkwardly. She shook his hand. "Cool ship by the way."
As Shepard thought about it, maybe Garrus only came along to catch them if one of them fell over.
"Roland, what's the situation on your end?" Lasky interrupted, speaking through the open commlink.
"Scanning the ship and found nothing yet. All hangars are momentarily locked down, and we're hunting down ONI staff aboard and placing them under temporary arrest," a similar but older voice than Contradiction said. "Right now I'm directing the Infinity security team. I'll talk to Admiral Alvares and see if we can get a new CO ASAP. As for the solar system, we got a decent portion of the habitable world locked down and pushed the squids back to medium distance polar orbits in the far solar system."
"Copy that. Keep me posted. Lasky out." The Captain got off the comms and turned to Shepard. "We're heading to the bridge. There we can get an overview and hopefully track down Edi and Kai Leng.
"...So, Cerberus? In Captain Florence's report, you two didn't exactly say nice things about each other. I know everything's unknown, but if we're going to make this work the UNSC needs to know why."
Cerberus…. The crazy radicals
Liara spoke before Shepard. "What about the UNSC, Captain? You already know some information from Cerberus when Leng and EDI spoke to Captain Florence."
Lasky nodded, sighed. "I guess you're right... The United Nations Space Command's primary objective is the defense of Earth and all her colonies, and the protection and advancement of Humanity at any and all costs."
At any and all costs. Shepard had been hearing "any and all" a lot more lately. And at the moment, he was beginning to see why the UNSC took more of an interest in Cerberus than the Citadel Council and Systems Alliance.
Shepard would've thought Cerberus would forgo advancement in order to uphold defense. That's the only reason the Illusive Man revived Shepard. He thought the Commander was Humanity's best hope, but unfortunately, their views deviated when the Commander wasn't willing to do what the Illusive Man was ready to do.
That's what Shepard's been trying to figure out. Ever since Shepard took control of the Collector Base and destroyed it, the Illusive Man went down a far different path Shepard had expected. It's not like the Commander fully thought it through. Having that human-Reaper being in their possession would've been a great boon for all galactic races, not just humanity itself. Yet that thing, like all Reaper technologies...corrodes…Indoctrinate.
"That's probably why ONI is so interested in Cerberus." Shepard said. "Admittedly, Cerberus has some similar objectives to the UNSC and the Systems Alliance. However, some of their stances and methods are extreme."
"Extreme how?" Lasky said.
And that's the problem. There was too little information on the UNSC on how to properly word it.
"Captain Lasky…" Liara started off. "...We understand the basic objectives of the UNSC. And looking at all your technology and your fleet sizes, I'd happen to guess this Great War against the Elite species and their allies forced you to advance at an unprecedented pace."
Lasky simply nodded. He waited for her to continue.
"We understand the UNSC is centralized around the defense and protection of humanity. But understand that the main governmental body, the Citadel Council, is an interspecies administration, for equality, not domination of a single species-"
"I think I understand." Lasky bluntly said. "The UNSC has never encountered a situation like this before. While our "alliance" with the Elites makes it seem different, I want you all to know the relationship between the UNSC and the Elites is purely circumstantial. We don't trust them, and we like to keep our distance."
"But that's reasonable," Liara replied. " You were at war with them for, if I remember correctly, thirty years. That situation is different."
Lasky looked to Lieutenant Dubbo. The Chief was on the other end of the cabin. He didn't say a single word. Even for a hulking green giant, he was nearly unnoticeable.
"Maybe, ma'am," Lasky replied sullenly. "But I don't know how High Command or Lord Hood would respond to all this. I can definitely ease them, yet we have simply never faced a peaceful contact until now."
"Well...what do you think, Captain?"
"...That's the million-dollar question, isn't it?" Lasky quietly said. He rubbed his face. "Well, I'll be honest with all of you. When our ships were attacked by an unidentified species, the word went all the way up to UNSC High Command. At first… Lord Hood ordered for any and all contacts, civilian or military, to be declared and treated as hostile, and to be eliminated. It wasn't until I made the suggestion that the other uncontacted species, you, are possibly not hostile and should be treated with peaceful intentions that they considered any 'peaceful contact.' We were this close to purging this planet."
How many times did Shepard have to listen to that silence? And it suddenly seemed to hit Liara like it did Shepard when he saw those civilians. Liara's mouth was slightly open. She always moved her hands when she talked. They slowly lowered to their sides.
Tali straightened up. She seemed tense and afraid, stepping back from the UNSC group to Shepard's crew.
Shepard thought he'd seen the worst of it with Captain Florence. That he'd be able to show the way to a peaceful relationship, and settle the overall intensity between the Normandy and the UNSC.
But so far the best outcome they had so far was that they didn't get shot.
And somehow...he understood the reasoning behind Hood's original decision. When they win this war, the Council and nearly everyone in known galactic space would do everything within their power to prevent something like this from ever happening again.
Rebuilding would be the first priority, remove any stains of destruction caused within this extremely brief conflict. Get life back together and hopefully improve on it one day. But...if there was some possibility that there was something worse out there in the galaxy or the one next over, Shepard would do anything to prevent that threat from ever rising...like what he's been doing with the Reapers the past two and-a-half years.
But Shepard would figure he would try to understand new situations that arose and not blindly jump to one extremist solution to another.
The tram passed by a massive hangar holding a damaged frigate. Holes throughout the armor and burnt ends of metal. The massive black falcon of the UNSC paraded its wings over the planet - which Shepard assumed was Earth - still proud and vigilante despite the heavy damage to it's wings. Repair crews made emergency repairs to get it back to the field.
It passed by, back to metal walls.
Garrus broke the silence. "That seems a tad overdramatic."
"I know... it's hard to understand but we've only had one extraterrestrial contact with an interspecies alliance, and it didn't end up well. High Command is beyond frightened that the same scenario will repeat, and when the squids attacked our ships unprovoked, it was a living nightmare all over again. And the only way the UNSC prevents that is overzealous response."
"How bad was this war?" Shepard asked.
Lieutenant Dubbo responded. He took a step back and pointed at the Chief. "It got pretty bad. We were a'most wiped out. We're only here 'cause of him."
The Master Chief. Off staring at the window as the train passed by another frigate hangar. This one was empty to only reveal a massive blue shield that looked out to outer space.
It seemed the Spartan was off in his own world, unaware of anything going on outside. His body screamed genetic alteration that went far beyond Citadel law. The armor looked highly advanced, even by Citadel standards.
Shepard wondered if he was developed as a product of desperation. Some emergency measure to end the war. Maybe some volunteer, an experienced soldier to undergo the augmentations. That's the only way Shepard could see it. The war forcing their hand to do something, within their perception of morality, drastic and unethical to put it mildly.
He wondered how exactly bad it was for them. Bad enough where they had to do things that in the eyes of a lot of people were horrid and unjustifiable?
Lasky nodded to the Chief, who was still off wherever. Shepard easily saw it in Lasky's eyes. As a fellow commander, it was worry for his men. "In fact, HIGHCOM was so worried they deployed the Master Chief. He's a Spartan two. One of our Humanity's best soldiers. They also deployed this," he kicked the glass wall of the train, "my ship. Humanity's best ship, UNSC Infinity… While High Command and Lord Hood might say something different, I won't. Hostility will get us nowhere, especially when there's no need for it. We'll get your friend back. Get one foot in the right direction."