Earth, Sydney
UNSC HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6
Three kilometers underground
"This way, Madam President."
"Thank you, Adrian." she said to her security detail.
Doctor Ruth Charet had been in these halls only a handful of times during her six years as president of the Unified Earth Government, and its maze-like layout didn't help to remember the turns. Her presence was last required during the New Phoenix Incident and its aftermath last year. And at that time, memorizing the corridors had been the least of her concerns.
The fact that her attendance was once again needed on short notice made her more uneasy than she already was. As far as she knew, the entire UEG Security Council would be present today. If this didn't indicate the seriousness of the meeting, then she didn't know what would – the invitation certainly had.
The grey, undecorated concrete walls made the dimly lit corridor ominous. Strangely enough, the only comfort for her was the light thudding of her and Adrian's shoes against the carpet beneath them. After two more minutes and a final left turn, they reached their destination.
The chamber of the UNSC Security Council.
In front of its open doors stood two MPs, dutifully guarding the most important military officers in human space. As she approached the doors, the soldiers gave her a pristine salute, Adrian remained outside. The faint conversations in the chamber stopped immediately as she entered. The generals and admirals greeted her which she reciprocated when she reached her seat at the crescent-shaped table.
The members of the Unified Ground Command were all here. Only two seats were empty, the two members of Naval Command hadn't arrived yet. This allowed the president to study the other members' faces.
Uneasiness and nervousness.
These were the dominant expressions she noticed. And who wouldn't be? The short message that all of them received in the invitation besides the location and time was like a punch into the gut:
'First contact over Velence. Naval engagement'.
When she had read this message an hour ago, a wave of nausea had washed over her, so strongly that she hadn't dared stand up from her chair. Snippets of the war had flashed before her eyes. Ships spitting out beams of plasma onto a city below, powerful UNSC fleets reduced to nothing in space, glassed colonies, hopelessness, and certain defeat.
Was this what the president had felt back in '25 when the news of the First Battle of Harvest had reached Earth? When the first pictures of a glassed world had been shown in this very room. When previously undefeated ships had been destroyed by energy weapons like they were nothing?
Was history about to repeat itself?
Before she could ask more questions in her head, the last two members arrived.
One of them was Admiral Serin Osman, the Commander-in-Chief of the Office of Naval Intelligence. The chosen heir of Admiral Margaret Parangosky, former head of ONI, to ensure her legacy and policies wouldn't change after her retirement. Osman without a doubt was the most dangerous woman that the Charet had ever met. If half of the rumours were true about Parangosky, then she had every reason to fear her successor.
The other was Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood, Chief of Naval Operations and Chairman of the UNSC Security Council. Once the de facto leader of Humanity. In her opinion, without Hood in charge, Humanity would have lost the war. And she was sure that she wasn't the only one who thought this, she had seen how some soldiers looked at him. To them, he was a war hero.
Hood and Osman were the two most influential persons in the UEG. It had been years since the restoration of civilian government, but the UNSC's emergency military government had left its mark. Some still viewed the Admiralty as the head of state and reluctantly followed the civilian government's rulings. Quite a few people were displeased when the Senate had first proposed that the UNSC would need once again the UEG's approval of budgets and other things that were the norm before the war. Getting back the administrating powers and other governmental tasks were challenging and it was a slow process, but it was necessary. During the war, politicians had failed Humanity, and it was her personal mission to ensure that the UEG would be able to face future challenges without another military government.
That being said, these two people individually still wielded more power than everyone else here combined. ONI had agents, people and informers everywhere. Following and gathering information about anyone who they considered enemy, or anyone of importance – including Charet and the rest of the Admiralty. Not to mention God knew what kind of secret projects they had hidden from everybody else. The Spartan II and III programs, Project: Ouroboros, and the NOVA bombs to name a few. The Prowler Corps. And all of that under one woman's control.
Hood, on the other hand, had equal or perhaps even greater power. Every ship in the UNSC from the smallest fighters to the giant supercarriers, the ODPs in orbit, and different space stations were under his command. The officers held an unwavering loyalty to the English lord whose daring decisions were pivotal to surviving the war in its last year and later able to maintain peace with the elites and the remaining colonies. The civilians liked him too, reestablishing the UEG's power only a year later after the war was a positive move in the people's eyes after how much power he had held. History possessed far few acts like this.
Charet didn't know how the rest of the Council members viewed this power concentration, but she sure didn't like it, but ultimately, she understood that a generation would need to equalize the influence levels that three decades of war had created.
The admirals took their seats, then Hood spoke up. "Thank you for coming on short notice. Let's not waste time." he said and pushed a few buttons on his control panel. The screens in front of them came to life, showing the questioned system and planet.
"Four days ago, during their mission, Battlegroup Trinity detected an unknown energy signal in the outer part of the Belmont System. Upon further investigation by two frigates, they discovered this." A video shown up with a strange structure. Two long curved metal arms surrounding a rotating gyroscope with a blue glowing core. "What you see is a fifteen kilometers long object of unknown origin where a dwarf planet should be. It's not Covenant nor Forerunner."
"Then this ship attacked the frigates?" asked General Nicolas Strauss, representing the army, jumping ahead.
"It didn't. Whatever is this, it didn't respond to our hailing and didn't send us any signals. Besides emitting energy signature, it wasn't doing anything." elaborated Hood. "After five minutes the frigates returned to the battlegroup and shared their findings. The commanding officer decided to send one of the Marathon cruisers back to sector command at Draco III to report the situation immediately."
"Why the cruiser? Wouldn't it be prudent to keep the big guns in the system and send back a frigate as a messenger?" General Hogan asked, the Marine Corps' representative.
Hood glanced at him. "Cruisers are faster in slipspace. And alerting us as soon as possible was a priority because we can send help faster and prepare our defences in the area."
"If it wasn't a ship then how did the fight break out?" asked the Chief of Spartan Operations, Jun-A266. The older generation Spartans always gave Charet a pause. Since she had the clearance to know about some classified material, she had found out how far they had gone as a species to survive the war.
The Spartans IIs and IIIs were prime examples of this. The truth of the second-generation Spartans had made her angry at first – furious even. The kidnapping of children, the augmentation failures, robbing them of a chance at a normal life to send them to save the UEG from its mistakes in the outer colonies. To save them from the bloodiest civil war in history.
But the story of the Spartans IIIs just made her sad, immensely sad. Children who were angry enough to volunteer, seeking vengeance for their family and home, not caring whether they would survive or not. She felt like they had failed them.
"After the messenger ship left, the rest of the battlegroup went silent and hid inside the orbital debris field to reduce the chance of detection to minimum until they recovered the survey teams from the planet below. About 45 minutes later the structure once again showed activation and 16 new contacts appeared on long-range scanners near it." continued Hood.
"The alien ships reached the debris field around when the teams were successfully extracted, 9 corvettes, 6 frigates, and a super-heavy cruiser were detected. After this, the battlegroup emerged from the debris field and the captain of the UNSC Ragnarök – according to protocols – contacted them to identify themselves immediately or they will be classified as hostile contacts, and they will be destroyed. Instead of answering, three of them started to deploy, what appears, fighter crafts. This was seen by the commanding officer as hostility and ordered the attack."
There were a few moments of silence as everyone processed the information, then Charet spoke up. "So, we fired first."
"Yes, we did."
"How many ships did we lose?"
"None." said Hood with a pleased tone.
"What?" said Hogan with clear disbelief. "Didn't you say that there were 16 alien ships against ours 6? One of them almost as big as a super-heavy cruiser?"
"I did. But as you can see in the footage, the alien ships didn't handle the MAC rounds too well." The footage appeared on the screens, showing the battle from UNSC ship-mounted cameras. Six shots, six explosions.
"Once they realized they were outgunned, they retreated using a new form of faster-than-light travel." said Hood.
"New FTL?"
"Their FTL capabilities are unlike anything we've seen. They appear to be able to achieve faster-than-light speed in real space. Section 3 is already looking into it." informed them Admiral Osman. "They think that big spinning structure is involved somehow but we have no solid theories yet."
"The alien ships don't match each other," the Spartan observed, "Are we dealing with another alliance?"
Charet's gaze returned to the footage. The Spartan was right – there was no denying the diversity in the ships' designs. One set of vessels was gunmetal grey with pods on their side, white ones with sleek, elongated wings that gave them an almost predatory look, and a cluster of strangely designed blue vessels that looked like protecting three other ships behind them.
Damn it. Charet's stomach tightened. At least four distinct species appeared to crew these ships. Were they dealing with another Covenant?
Hood answered. "Most likely."
"Do we have a plan?" asked General Strauss.
Everyone's attention turned to the Chairman. "We do." Hood replied, his tone steady. "Fleet Admiral Harper is already en route with the 13th Fleet. It includes 18 Autumn-class heavy cruisers, supported by 30 frigates – Stridents and Parises, mostly. Reinforcement is already there from sector command with 5 more ships" He paused, allowing the weight of the numbers to settle over the room.
59 ships with Battlegroup Trinity.
"The majority of the fleet will remain outside the system," Hood continued. "The idea is not to provoke them unnecessarily. We want to give these aliens the chance to communicate. If they approach us peacefully, we'll respond in kind." He paused for a moment then his eyes narrowed a bit. "However, if they make any hostile moves, the 13th Fleet will jump in immediately to neutralize the threat."
The room was silent for a beat, the tension was thick. Finally, Charet broke the silence. "Do we have any information on their capabilities?"
"Not much." Hood admitted. "Their ships' offensive capabilities didn't cause much more than hull breaches; their defences did nothing against the MACs, so they aren't comparable to Covenant. However, their FTL capabilities are unlike anything we've encountered before. It's a wildcard at the moment."
Charet nodded, her mind was racing. A multi-species alliance with an advanced FTL method that they couldn't afford to underestimate. When she had taken office, she'd vowed to pursue peaceful coexistence with other species while ensuring humanity would never again become a victim of aggression.
But this time humans were the aggressors.
"Why did we open fire?" Charet asked Hood, "Their ships were clearly not Covenant, but we might have cursed us with something similar. Another war with aliens. I want to know why, admiral."
Admiral Hood held her gaze. "Aside from how the aliens reacted when we tried to reach them, the battlegroup's mission was... sensitive. Unfortunately, their attack was the right thing to do under the circumstances."
Charet didn't like Hood's answer. Especially the lack of details. "What could possibly be so important that it justifies risking an interstellar war?!"
Instead of answering, Hood turned to Osman. Charet followed suit.
"In 2532," Admiral Osman began, "nine months before the Covenant glassed Velence, the company that founded the colony had started surveying the underground in some area for minerals that would've been useful to build their fourth space elevator. During these surveys, they found something unusual near a mountain that was rich in titanium. Fortunately, the team's report made its way to ONI due to ongoing surveillance for suspected Insurrectionist activity. After the Office secured the site, we continued the excavation. At a depth of approximately 18 kilometers, we reached the anomaly."
"What did they find?" pressed the president.
"An underground structure. Radiocarbon dating put it at more than 100,000 years old." said Osman, her gaze swept the room.
The same thing was on everyone's mind.
"Forerunner?" asked the Spartan.
"No."
A momentary silence reigned around the table.
"Then what is it?" Strauss pressed further.
Osman took a few seconds to reply. "According to the limited data we've pieced together from Forerunner records, there were only two other significant civilizations in existence at that time. One was the Prophets. The other was..."
"…us." finished Charet, her voice barely above a whisper.
Ancient Humanity, the Ancestors, their first civilization.
While many things about the Forerunners were common knowledge, the Ancestors were highly classified information. Less than 50 individuals knew of their existence outside these chambers, or the wars that led them to their ruin.
Guiding the people's perception of the Forerunners was easier since they were a faraway concept, long gone. But the Ancestors was a more complex matter.
It was about them. It was their own past. A past the Forerunners had gone to great lengths to erase.
Charet knew that sooner or later they would have to reveal some information about this to the public because if anything leaked out, things would become complicated.
"Since the Forerunners went out of their way to erase everything about Ancient Humanity, every piece of information, evidence, and structure from them is considered invaluable, and they are to be protected from any harm. At these sites, protocols are different than normal. Battlegroup Trinity did the right thing by attacking those aliens when they started to release fighters. Not to mention the warship graveyard in orbit poses a significant security risk for us. Slipspace drives from both sides, MAC guns, energy weaponry, and most importantly there still might be intact databases in one of those wreckages. Adding all these together, protecting Velence and its orbit is an absolute must."
"I agree with Admiral Osman on this regard." said Hood. "Captain Blackwood's decision to engage with the aliens was necessary."
"Blackwood? His name sounds familiar." said Hogan.
"You might know him by his… moniker." Hood replied, "The Butcher of Essex."
Hogan's face twisted into a grimace. "Ah, yes. I remember now. Ugly business."
"Perfect choice for a first-contact situation." Strauss said dryly, sarcasm dripping from his tone.
"Do we at least know what that structure on Velence is for, if we're ready to go war for it?" quired General Dellert from the air force. That was something that Charet wished to know too.
"Not yet." answered Osman, "In '32, we didn't have enough time to come up with an idea to get inside before the Covenant arrived. And now, we only did a brief damage assessment to see how much damage the glassing caused at the site. Luckily, it was deep enough not to suffer any damage, and we're ready to continue the operation once the situation calms down in the system."
The President leaned back in her chair; her fingers interlaced. She sometimes wished that she remained in the Senate, especially in these kinds of situations. There were too many unknowns in this short time for her liking.
She sighed. "When will Fleet Admiral Harper and the 13th Fleet arrive in-system?"
"They're scheduled to arrive within 3 hours," Hood replied. "In the meantime, Battlegroup Trinity will hold the line."
"And what's the plan if this turns into an all-out conflict? Do we even have the resources to manage another war?" Strauss's question dimmed the atmosphere around the table.
Hood's expression hardened. "The UNSC has been preparing for contingencies like this ever since the War ended. Our ship numbers are back to pre-Reach level. If it comes to that, we'll be ready."
Charet wasn't so sure. Humanity had endured much, but a war with an unknown enemy – one possibly as organized as the Covenant – could shatter their fragile recovery.
But there was no turning back now.
"Keep me updated on any developments." Charet said, rising from her chair. "And let's hope we can find a way to resolve this without bloodshed. But if they force our hand..." She let the sentence hang in the air, the implications clear to everyone in the room.
As the meeting adjourned and almost everyone left, Charet lingered for a moment. She felt an invisible weight on her shoulders – not because of what had happened but because of what could happen in the coming days. She feared that once again humanity would stand on the edge of the abyss where the Covenant had pushed them less than a decade earlier.
She slightly shook her head and turned her gaze to the wall on her left. There was a panting hanging there. It featured one of the most famous battles of the Human-Covenant War.
A lone cruiser chased by hundreds of ships among the orange clouds. Purple corvettes and battlecruisers, fearsome assault carriers, all set their sight on that fleeing ship, not knowing that they were running into their doom.
This was Admiral Cole's Last Stand.
On that day, Cole destroyed more than 300 enemy ships by turning the gas giant Viperidae into a brown dwarf with a hundred Shivas. Another example how far Humanity had been willing to go to survive.
"Did you know him?" she asked.
"Not really, sadly." replied Hood not far from her. "I met with him only once personally while I was serving on the Spirit of Fire as XO. He came aboard to speak with Captain Cutter about the campaign on Harvest. Cole was a brilliant officer, and despite what rumour you had heard about him, he tried to be a good man. He was a complicated person, but he was the admiral that we needed in those times."
"You sound like you admire him."
"Everyone does in the navy a little. Without him, we wouldn't be here."
Charet couldn't help but wonder, how many more Coles would they need before humanity could finally rest? How many more lives would be lost to secure their place in the galaxy?
"Do you think it will ever end? The fight?" she asked softly.
Hood stepped closer, his hands clasped behind his back. "I hope, but I have a feeling that we've been put on a different path, on a harder path."
"By the Forerunners."
"Yes."
"Is it worth it? This… Mantle of Responsibility seems an awful big burden for me. We can barely hold together what we have left, and now we have a duty thrust upon us, a duty to protect everything that is out there."
"Would you trust anyone else to do it than us?" he asked, seemingly knowing the answer.
No. Never in a million years. But she worried that they could be trusted with this responsibility. The Forerunners had used the Mantle as an excuse to build an empire that kept everyone under them in check. Discouraging entire civilizations from advancing to the Forerunners' level.
Was it what was expected from Humanity? To step back into imperialism?
"So, forever we fight then?"
The English man remained silent, stoic. This meant more than a hundred words would have.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Please inform me if anything noteworthy happens in the Belmont system. And Hood... let's do everything we can to make sure we don't need another painting like this on the wall." She gestured to the depiction of Cole's last moments.
Hood straightened. "Understood, Madam President. I'll keep you updated."
Serpent Nebula, Widow System
The Citadel
Citadel Tower, Council Chambers
"- then we received the first images from one of the probes." said Lincus, presenting the footage to the Council. The councillors put on their usual, natural faces, but Lincus could see how rigid their body language had become.
"As you can see, the planet had suffered an attack on an unimaginable level. Total annihilation of the biosphere, saturated atmosphere, high surface temperature across the planet." Lincus listed. "And the most… noticeable thing is that carving in the planet's crust on the dark side. After this, Probe 3 sent us this."
A short video appeared, displaying the unknown human body in the wreckage. For a brief moment, the asari, turian, and salarian councillor locked their eyes on the human member on their side who looked slightly surprised at what he was seeing.
Lincus moved to the next event. "Less than a minute later, six warships emerged from the debris field without prior warning – five cruisers and a dreadnought. Their design matches with the remains in the field. The capital ship started broadcasting in an alien language, and at the same time, we detected massive energy buildup from all ships alongside nuclear signatures. I ordered Commander Stavros to launch all Vipers into defence position" Lincus stopped for a moment to the video to catch up to the event, and to prepare himself to rewatch the battle for the hundredth time.
"Only a handful of Vipers left the tubes when the dreadnought opened fire on the Athena, then a second later the cruisers followed suit. The spinal guns that those ships possessed destroyed their targets with one shot. I ordered return fire and immediate retreat to Citadel space." finished Lincus his report.
The Council members stood in their spot like they were sculpted out of marble. Neither of them spoke a word, but the turian admiral could tell that they were worried. The asari's and the human's skin turned a few shades lighter from their usual colours, the salarian blinked a bit more than at the beginning of this meeting, and his own species' councillor's mandibles twitched a little.
Councillor Tevos cleared her throat. "We'll go through the events once more before we make a decision. Thank you for your report, Admiral Lincus."
With that Lincus gave a quick salute and left.
"By the Goddess, what a mess." she sighed deeply.
"It's not just a mess. It might be the star of a war." growled Councillor Laetis, the turian representative. His mandibles flared slightly, a rare display of emotion for him. "A previously unknown faction with ships powerful enough to obliterate a fleet in mere moments is on our border, and we have no idea what they will do next."
"They're not so unknown." said Esse from the Union, "Those ships were manned by humans." She turned her attention to the colonial councillor, Salvo Tozzi.
"Those are not our ships, and that corpse's uniform is nothing like ours." reasoned Tozzi.
"Then how you explain what we saw?" shot back Leatis.
"There's only one explanation." He looked into his colleagues' eyes. "It's the Thirteenth Tribe."
"Impossible! Relay 343 is on the other side of the galaxy. If they ever truly existed, they wouldn't have wandered that far from your tribes."
"Since when are you an expert on our history, Leatis? Or are you an oracle perhaps? You speak about a tribe that left us 4000 years ago – 2000 years earlier before we even left Kobol." said Tozzi with a dash of anger in his voice. The two of them were not on a good term with each other. "Plenty of time for travel far away. And please, do not question the Sacred Scrolls. There are thirteen tribes of Humanity, and we finally find the lost one."
Tozzi thought how happy everyone was going to be in the Colonies when they broke the news. Earth and the Thirteenth Tribe were found at last, and all tribes can be united, just like on Kobol thousands of years ago. And with their technology, Humanity would step above everyone else.
"Thirteenth Tribe or not, the implications are… concerning." said the salarian, "They are or were in a conflict that not even the Krogan Rebellions reached. This planet wasn't just destroyed by a few asteroids. It was boiled into glass."
"The question is, is it a human conflict or not? I've noticed a few different wrecks that differ from the rest, they're purple in colour and seem more streamlined than the ships that attacked the expedition." said Tevos. "And of course, we have to find out it's still an ongoing conflict it is just the aftermath."
"Given the size and the composition of the debris field above the planet, I would say it was the humans who defended this planet, and suffered great loses." replied Esse. "With this information, we cannot deduce the conflict's status, but it explains why they fired at us."
"Great." scoffed Leatis, "Xenophobe humans with main guns that can destroy battlestars with one shot. Just great."
"Hopefully they don't hate aliens so much that they'll open fire on us again if we send an ambassador for peace talks." said Tevos, "And we should do it before –"
The chamber's doors opened up and a salarian C-Sec officer rushed towards them in a hurry. "Councillors, someone leaked out the first contact footage to the public! It's on every news channel!" he panted.
The councillors froze as the salarian officer's words hit them like a thunderclap. For a brief moment, the chamber was completely silent, save for the salarian's laboured breathing.
"What?" Tevos finally managed to say, her voice sharp with disbelief.
"Every channel." the officer repeated, his wide eyes reflecting the gravity of the situation. "The footage of the planet, the wreckages, the ships, and the battle – all of it. It's spreading like wildfire across the extranet."
"Spirits preserve us." muttered Leatis under his breath.
Tevos clenched her jaw, her calm and composed demeanour slipping. "How in the name of the Goddess did this happen? That footage was classified!"
The salarian officer hesitated. "We don't know yet, councillor, but we will investigate it."
Esse sighed mentally. Her best guess was that it was one of the scientists who thought themselves too self-righteous to leave this information in 'evil politicians' hands'. "This is a disaster. Everyone will see this before we can make a decision, it will force our hand – and not in the direction we want."
"It's already does." Tozzi said grimly, his earlier confidence in the discovery of the Thirteenth Tribe now dampened. "The Colonies will see this within an hour and will demand answers for the destruction of the Athena. If we don't handle this carefully and quickly, we could see panic, or worse – calls for retaliation."
"And what do you suggest, Tozzi?" Leatis snapped, his temper fraying. "That we welcome these... these xenophobic warlords with open arms?"
"Enough!" Tevos's voice cut through the growing argument. She inhaled sharply, her frustration evident. Tevos turned to the salarian officer. "We'll focus on damage control. Go to my assistant and tell her to draft an official statement – emphasize that this is a delicate situation and we're working to understand what happened. No speculation. No rash conclusions."
The salarian nodded and hurried out of the chamber, leaving the councillors to grapple with the fallout.
Tevos turned to her colleagues, her expression grim. "We don't have time to deliberate anymore. We need a plan, and we need it now."
"We send a diplomatic envoy." Esse said firmly. "We can't afford to escalate this further. Whoever these humans are, they're clearly advanced enough to pose a significant threat. We need to open a line of communication and determine their intentions."
"An envoy?" Leatis scoffed. "And what happens when they fire on us again? Do we just let them vaporize more ships?"
"To do nothing is not an option." Esse retorted. "We cannot risk pushing them into open hostilities without understanding their motives."
"Esse is right. We need to reach out. But we also need to be prepared for the worst." She turned to Leatis. "We send there the Citadel defence fleet and another from the Republics, they'll be on standby on our side of that relay. The Destiny Ascension along with the Prometheus should be enough force demonstration if necessary. That relay is just a jump away from asari space."
Leatis nodded reluctantly.
Tevos continued, her voice steely. "We'll send an envoy to establish communication. If they're truly the Thirteenth Tribe, as Councillor Tozzi believes, then this could be an opportunity for diplomacy since their sister tribes are our allies. But if they are hostile..." She paused, not needing to finish the sentence.
"Let's hope they're willing to talk." Tozzi said quietly, breaking the suffocating silence.
"And let's hope the public doesn't demand blood before we even get the chance." Esse muttered.
As the councillors filed out of the chamber, Tevos lingered for a moment, her gaze fixed on the holographic projection of the battle footage still lingering above the central dais. The image of the new 'human' dreadnought loomed before her. Soon, this blocky ship would be a symbol of death and terror – perhaps it was already.
If these humans were similar to theirs then difficult times lay ahead for the Citadel community. Like the Thessian Water Cats when pushed onto thin ice, the humans could be turned into dangerous and vengeful people if they felt themselves threatened.
The batarians had learned this lesson the hard way.
Cyrannus System
Gemenon
Northern Gramadas, Mount Othrys
The cool air felt wonderful after sunset. The summers on Gemenon were often unpleasant – especially when someone was hiking for three hours. The Gramadas was a giant mountain range that stretched across three continents, it was one of the planet's few tourist attractions that attracted some from other species – if the locals didn't scare them away.
Hector didn't know why was still necessary to relay messages in person when they had extranet or even radio. No, he had to climb these damn mountains almost every day just to keep every part of the order updated with the news.
But at least, this news worthed every minute.
As the top of the mountain approached, he was getting close to his destination as well. The trail ended before a cave. Stepping inside, he met with the well familiar smoky scent that had been in the air ever since he had been brought here the first time years ago. The torches that were planted in the ground, illuminating the inside of the cave very well. The walls were lined with dozens of paintings and carvings made over the centuries, these were mostly symbols and ancient writings that Hector had never seen before anywhere else.
Across from the entrance, the wall was making him uncomfortable, it didn't fit into the cave, it was unnaturally smooth. On it was a single, large circular symbol with angular lines inside it. Underneath it was an altar with candles, and in front of it knelt the lone occupant of this place and one of the leaders of their order.
The High Priestess of Elbrus.
A title brought from Kobol over two millennia ago and passed from one priestess to the next ever since.
She was in the middle of some kind of old praying that Hector couldn't understand, and it was highly unlikely that he should. There were things that only the High Priestesses were allowed to know.
He cleared his throat. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't interrupt her prayer, but the news was too important to wait for her to finish it.
She stopped. Her robe's hood concealed her face, but he suspected that she didn't like his interruption.
"What is so important to disturb me in my evening duties, young Hector?" her voice was serene, but Hector knew better she was displeased with him.
Even if she wasn't facing him, he chose to bow his head. "Deep apologies, High Priestess." he said with dutiful respect, "But the message I bear could not wait."
"What is it? The salarians poking their horns where they shouldn't? Or is it the asari warrior monks who trouble us again?" she asked with a dry mirth.
"Neither, my lady. It concerns the Thirteenth Tribe. The Citadel Council found them."
The priestess didn't reply. She continued kneeling in front of the wall, unmoving, seemingly staring ahead. She looked up at the symbol and slowly rose. "Are you certain?" she asked.
"As much as anyone else."
She turned around. Under the hood, an older woman with greying hair looked at him. Her gaze was determined. "Speak, child. Tell me what has happened?"
Hector told her everything that the whole galaxy had seen by now.
"And the Citadel's response?" she asked finally.
"Nothing yet. Most likely scrambling to decide their next move."
"What about the President and the Quorum?"
"My last information from Caprica is that the President will make a speech tonight. The Quorum members' attitude varies from colony to colony." answered Hector. He received nothing more since he had started his trip here.
"You mentioned a ruined world." she said once she thought through what Hector said.
"Yes." he said, activating his omni-tool and brought up the planet's image. "It was utterly annihilated, rendered unhabitable. But the most concerning thing is that there was carved something into the planet's surface." He stopped the leaked video where it was the most noticeable.
A crescent which had a circle in it, and both were crossed by a half ring.
"Devotion." she whispered, barely hearable for Hector.
"High Priestess?"
"Nothing, Hector." She shook her head. "You said this was a human world along with those warships, correct?"
He nodded. "Everything points that way."
"And it was them who destroyed Battlestar Athena?" She walked past him to the cave's entrance.
"Yes."
She looked outside. In the distance, on a plain, a city's night lights drew her attention. "They won't like this."
"Who won't like this?" asked Hector confused.
"Gemenon, Sagittarion, everyone who worships the false gods." she listed with disdain in her voice.
"Why?"
She turned to him. "You don't read much their scrolls, do you?"
"I'm not interested in their fantasy stories." replied Hector.
The priestess chuckled. "In this case, I tell you why that battlestar's destruction is problematic. In those fantasy stories – as you put it – in Pythia's Scroll she writes about the Thirteenth Tribe's exodus from Kobol. Chapter 13, verse 13." She smiled at the coincidence of the numbers. "When they left for Earth, the Goddess Athena bid them her farewell then she threw herself from a mountain into her death. The zealots might draw a parallel between this and the battlestar. Athena is one of the main Lords of Kobol and many will see this as an insult to her name or an omen. Maybe we can add Libran to the list as well since that battlestar was representing them and Athena is their patron." She looked in the distance again. "But their anger won't matter in the end. Everyone will play their part as it was intended."
"What do you mean? What part?"
"Have you ever heard the name Ananke?"
Hector tried to answer but nothing came to his mind.
"I thought as much. The worshipers of the Olympians like to leave out or downright forget the existence of other gods and goddesses." she scoffed. "Although Ananke is not just a goddess, she's the primordial deity of fate and the mother of the Fates. Mortals and gods alike bent to her will on their foretold path, even Zeus. She is the personification of inevitability, compulsion, and necessity. Doesn't matter how far you run, how fast, how hard you fight, or what you do against it, because your fate is set in stone and her will is absolute in that regard, whether you like it or not. Your duty will always find you and you'll be compelled to fulfil it."
The High Priestess moved away from the cave's opening.
"Maybe this is the reason why they want to forget her, humans by nature don't like to be constrained, being told what to do. But as I said, everyone will play their part. The Colonies, the Citadel, us, and the Thirteenth Tribe."
"Then what should I relay to the others?"
The old woman smiled faintly before turning back to the symbol on the wall. "My council is that the Order must prepare, the time for waiting is over." She glanced at him. "Inform the General to muster his forces if needed and instruct the Observer to continue her work on Caprica."
"And the Croaked One?" Hector queried.
The priestess's smile faded and changed into a serious look. "Tell the Croaked One that it's time to meet again."