Petroleum Effect
Chapter Eleven - The Troubled Heart
Terran Dominion Frigate Normandy, Sol, Local Cluster, 1 July 2183
The Normandy entered the Sol system through a portal. They were announced in advance over QEC, so scans were cursory as the Image of Violence, Normandy and Circle of Hermes passed through.
Lieutenant Commander Lilith Shepard stood in the CIC and watched the navigation hologram. They had arrived in Sol near Jupiter. Shepard had learned about the various planetary bodies in the solar system during her early education. Jupiter, she knew, had a lot of moons. The four most famous were the so-called Galilean Moons, the big ones, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto. There were another 91 or so smaller bodies discovered later. She could not remember them all. The ship seemed to be heading towards a smaller body.
"Which moon is that?" Shepard asked Miranda.
Miranda smirked at the word, "moon" and manipulated the display. The hologram zoomed into their destination. A display expanded into a high-resolution image, surrounded by warning markers: "CLASSIFIED" "DOMINION MILITARY SECURE FACILITY" "ENTRY ONLY WITH CLEARANCE" "SECURE AREA".
The object they were approaching was irregular and approximately 50 miles along its largest dimension - around 80 kilometers. The magnified view showed a plainly artificial structure. Unconstrained by gravity, it looked something like a fantastical city in space, covered in towers, vast protuberances, antenna, sensors and unidentifiable things. The material it was made of was unclear. In some places the surface looked like carved rock, in others it looked metallic, composite, crystalline or even organic. The whole thing was studded with tiny bright dots - exterior lights and windows. The Normandy headed straight for it.
"We're approaching the Temple Ship, Lieutenant Commander," replied Miranda with unusual formality, "this is the de-facto centre of the Dominion government and military. The seat, once, of the Archlord and Highlords - now of Demilady Amaoth and the Grey Lords. The most powerful vessel in the Most Holy Imperial Terran Dominion."
"This is a ship? Not a station?"
"Oh yes."
"What about the Palace of the Archlord on Earth and the Admiralty?"
"They function. They can govern when necessary but it's actually mostly done from here."
The Normandy was swiftly approaching the Temple Ship. It headed towards a large tower on the upper surface, near the centre. A tiny feature on the tower grew as they approached. The sheer scale was huge and the small dot was soon revealed as a cavernous docking bay. As the ship approached it became obvious that they were being tracked by numerous defensive turrets. The Normandy flew gracefully into the docking bay and smoothly turned, slipping into an appropriate berth next to another, unusual looking, frigate-sized vessel. Docking clamps attached. A boarding tunnel connected to the airlock. The Normandy had landed.
The Temple Ship, Sol, Local Cluster, 1 July 2183
Shepard followed Miranda into the Temple Ship, wearing her dress uniform. Even Miranda was wearing a reasonable outfit for once - a tight fitting, elegantly tailored, grey business suit, with the badge of a Grey Lord, a sort of opal and silver brooch. Past the boarding tunnel they entered a relatively clean and orderly docking area.
Security was heavy. Heavy scanners were attended by black-armoured guards with bulky weapons. Miranda was waved through after a cursory scan. Yes, it is Grey Lady Lawson. Yes, she is a partial Transcendent with psionics and a myriad lethal combat augmentations. Shepard was completely unarmed but even so was scanned very closely.
After passing through security, Miranda led Shepard out of the docking area and into a clean, subdued, corridor before entering a lift. As the two continued downward they came to something like an internal shuttle train. Miranda's clearance got them on board and they shot near-silently downward. Shepard barely felt any acceleration and suspected there was something like a reactionless drive or inertial dumping in operation.
After about ten minutes, they arrived at another area deeper inside the Temple Ship with yet another security checkpoint. More armed guards greeted them. These were elites, with powered armour and ornate insignia. The women were scanned again and past. Now, the corridors were thickly carpeted and gently lit. Miranda and Shepard passed robed acolytes and functionaries in expensive clothing. This was now a working, government, area of the vessel.
Another lift and a corridor took them to a third checkpoint. They had been moving inwards for nearly forty minutes. Here, Miranda announced herself - "Grey Lady Miranda Lawson. I have an appointed audience with Demilady Amaoth. This is my aide, Lieutenant Commander Lilith Shepard".
The remainder of the walk was short. Escorted by two armed guards, Miranda and Shepard walked down an imposing ornate corridor into a vast hall. The enormous hall was mostly of stone, with polished marble tiled flooring covered in places by immaculate, deep blue carpets with golden patterns and trim. The walls were polished white stone with stained glass windows, beautiful paintings, murals and tapestries depicting the Archlord, the Hunger and the Wyrm. Lilith thought that they were deep in the vessel and the 'windows' must have artificial lights behind them. The distant end of the hall was weighed down with precious metals, metallic ornamentation converging on a throne with people around it.
As they approached, Shepard saw that the ornamentation spread out like a flower or a star from a vast, imposing throne of gold, silver and gems. Above the throne was something like a closed, golden eye, bigger than a human head. In front of the throne at the bottom of a flight of steps was a smaller, silver throne decorated with gemstones, sapphires, emeralds and some diamonds and deep blue cushions.
On the throne sat a beautiful blonde woman with short hair and pale blue eyes. She wore a tight, ankle length, red dress and a silver headband with a sapphire set in it. Around her were aides in robes and business suits. One of them announced the arrivals.
"Demilady, I present to you Grey Lady Miranda Lawson and Lieutenant Commander Shepard."
Miranda curtsied and bowed her head. Shepard copied her.
"Good," said Amaoth. "Ladies and gentlemen I have a private audience with Grey Lady Lawson, which is something of a priority. We shall take it in my private meeting room. You may go about your duties."
The Demilady of the Most Holy Imperial Terran Dominion rose gracefully to her feet and strode down the steps. She hugged Miranda - a purposeful gesture done before the court to signify Miranda's status. "It is good to see you again Miranda. If you and Lieutenant Commander Shepard would follow me."
Amaoth quickly led the other two women to an unobtrusive door in the wall to the side of the throne, within a curtained off private area. Within was a beautifully furnished meeting room and a lavish buffet spread. Sandwiches, grapes, meat, jugs of fruit juice, tea and expensive coffee. A uniformed servant stood quietly. She gestured for the two women to take plates and they all helped themselves.
"Now, I need to speak to Miranda alone in my private study. Then perhaps the Lieutenant Commander can join us."
Amaoth led Miranda into a private study. The servant quietly carried the women's plates and coffee through and then withdrew to the meeting room. Silently watching as Shepard continued munching through the food.
The enormous ornate office was quiet and dominated by a large desk, but Amaoth led Miranda to some comfortable cushioned chairs and a table in the corner. Once the servant withdrew, Amaoth spoke, "Thank you for coming so quickly Miranda."
"I always have time for you, Amaoth, but what can I do?" asked Miranda, bluntly but in a friendly tone.
"I need a number of things I don't have, Miranda," replied Amaoth. "I need ships, tools, weapons, people - I need more Grey Lords. Oh - and more planets. We are on the cusp of becoming the major galactic power, Miranda. But right now, we have only one planet. We have some life rafts now - our eggs are no longer quite in one basket but we only have one properly settled world. There are twenty terraforming projects, well underway - but none are complete. Until recently, I was happy we were on top of it. The only races nearby, the Citadel Council races and the others who use the mass relays, we have a technological advantage over. We have a bigger fleet than the Turians, at least in terms of dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts. We can probably beat all their forces combined, if we had to, and they would have trouble getting here since we dismantled the mass relay."
Amaoth gestured and a large section of a wall turned into a screen displaying the leprous yellow abomination that had visited the planet Lusia.
"That, not so much. The Temple of the Golden Star is a serious threat and it sees us as a serious threat. I have no idea what it can do, or the extent of its forces. I have no idea if it can turn up without warning and wipe out 100 kilometre circles of Earth's surface. I've invited you here due to your recent involvements in the conflict with it. I was going to recall you to talk about the Citadel anyway and just as I was about to do so, you sent me your report on the ... Thorian ... creature on Feros."
Miranda looked up at the hideous creature on the screen - the so called Gold Star. She understood.
"Have you considered ... ascending further?" asked Miranda.
"I had begun to believe I would have to, very soon, undergo the Second Transcendence," replied Amaoth. "There is at least, I hope, good news on that front. The Acolytes of the Archlord still exist. They contacted me. He has returned, renewed, it is claimed. I have spoken to him."
That came as a surprise to Miranda. When the Archlord had withdrawn it was widely believed he had finally reached the end of his life. Apparently it was not so.
"Are you sure it is real?"
"No, but I've agreed to wait another year or two. Certainly, if it is a hoax the Acolytes are in on it. And ... whoever it was I spoke to gave me some useful information. I feel like a child minding my parents' shop in this place, but he pointed out some useful toys and gave me the keys to them."
"So, what exactly do you need from me?"
"There are two major factions in this galaxy aside from the Citadel Council and ourselves. There is the Citadel and whatever it represents. There is the Temple of the Golden Star. You, Miranda, have the distinction that both of these two major factions have tried to open up a dialogue. I want you to take your protégé to them both and ask for their best offer. Find out if we can side with them, what they will tell us about themselves, what they can tell us about the others and what is their best offer?"
"Understood." Miranda was comfortable with the instruction. It was a logical step. Contact the major threats, see if communications could be opened and ask each side for information on the other.
"Speaking of more Grey Lords, what is the position with Shepard?"
Miranda had a lot to say, "I am nearly ready to recommend her for promotion. She was doing well without a doubt until the incident on the Presidium with the Eviloid hybrid. I was concerned when she was attacked mentally, but her execution of the Bad Dreams protocol was exemplary. Even so, I decided to extend her assessment as a precaution. Very shortly thereafter we ended up with rioting on the Citadel. We were in three fire fights. The first was barely even worth mentioning. Whilst cloaked we encountered a hybrid and Shepard shot it in the back of the head without hesitation. No one even knew it was us, and we kept moving. In the second, Shepard fought well but was not responsible for any Eviloid kill. In the third, which I think is most important, she shot and killed two Eviloids."
"My impression was that if she had been subverted they would have played that card during the fight in the Temple. The Eviloids were trying to restrain me for something and she helped stop them. I am satisfied so far by Shepard's competence, loyalty and suitability. I counsel further assessment for caution only."
Amaoth was pleaded with the assessment. "That sounds promising. I want to examine her myself. Bring her in."
Shepard was invited into the room and spent the next hour or so being psionically probed by Amaoth, who pronounced herself satisfied. Whilst an exhausted, shaking Shepard sipped another coffee, Amaoth provided their official orders:
"Miranda, I am reassigning the Normandy elsewhere and giving you another ship. A very special ship. The Archlord himself prepared this vehicle, which is of the same size. It is one of a pair he made for his personal use before he withdrew. It was in its own, secure, docking bay, but I have brought it up and it is parked next to the Normandy. Let's call it the ... Normandy II. I am forwarding you both a briefing. This is an extremely advanced vessel. We actually used the Archlord's notes from this ship and some prototype components that he had left when we made the Normandy and its line. This ship is older, but it is a definite upgrade."
"Shepard, you are still formally assigned to Grey Lady Lawson here. I am satisfied with my examination of you and if you continue to satisfy you will be joining our ranks before long yourself. Miranda's task is highly secret, but you need to know. She is to attempt to open up a dialogue with the Eviloids and the Temple on one hand, and the Citadel keepers and whatever faction they represent on the other. The purpose of this is to ascertain as much information as possible from each faction and what benefits and risks would come from aligning with them. Threat reconnaissance and assessment, basically."
Not long after, Lawson and Shepard took their leave.
Terran Dominion Frigate Normandy II, Sol, Local Cluster, 3 July 2183
The Normandy crew had not expected a change of ship. Fortunately, as Amaoth had promised, it was an upgrade in every respect.
The Normandy II was a frigate of slightly larger size, but with orders of magnitude better technology. The briefing notes for Miranda and Shepard made clear the ship had been built personally by Archlord Lordak at the height of his powers. The size of the vessel was the same, but with a largely fixed body and no need for flexible gaps, leaving it a much large usable interior. The hull material was an advanced composite, exotic material. Far stronger than any conventional armour, it was also capable of changing its colour and had advanced channels in the hull for psionic cloaking.
The ship's exterior appearance was radically difference. The Normandy had a central fuselage with two wings on struts sweeping back on either side. The Normandy II had a large, curved, organic looking central body, like a flattened bud, with 'petals' or 'wings' wrapping around it sweeping forward.
On the Normandy II, the Captain's cabin was a palatial suite and there were two other slightly smaller suites on the same level. Miranda took the Captain's cabin. One of the other luxurious suites was allocated to Captain Anderson and the last was allocated to Shepard. The remainder of the troops got an advanced barracks - that seemed to have been put in on a contingency basis because the Normandy II was mostly automated with a vastly sophisticated computer system. There was something like an AI. She (it used a female persona) was called AEA.
In terms of the Normandy II's facilities, the vessel used a reactionless Petroleum Effect drive and was equipped with state of the art weapons and shields. There was a lab and a fabricator on the cargo bay level, adjacent to it. Not all of the equipment was fully understood by either Miranda or Amaoth, but it had all the science facilities the Normandy had and could manufacture anything they could manufacture on the original Normandy, to a higher standard. Saren had still been on the Normandy, by now thoroughly psionically indoctrinated, and was happy with a converted crate in the cargo bay to sleep in.
Miranda's briefing packet was larger than Shepard's. She decided to keep some systems need to know. Standing in the luxurious CIC, Miranda's gaze lingered on the ornate command chair and the golden, closed eye at the top of the heavy seat. She intended to leave it closed, for the time being.