Chapter 43: "Priority: Welcome Back"
Refugees from fallen nations are pouring into UNE to seek asylum number by millions each day. Indar System has 4 planets and 2 moons that, in theory, could house up to 60 billion refugees planetside. However, with the war against the reaper is getting direr, the UNE need every bit of mass to produce equipment, weapons and ships, not only for itself but also for the Citadel Council and Federation's forces. As the result, all building projects within the Indar system were permanently paused leaving the refugees to live in camps and whatever spaceship they arrived in.
Without the bunkhouses built by the UNE, many refugees from races that require a drastically different environment to survive could not land on the planets or moons. They are, instead, forced to stay on their spaceships and live off UNE's provided food from automatic drones. These ships, however, often damaged while trying to escape the reapers and require constant maintenance to stay in one piece. Spare parts and tools are being printed out by a small repair station orbiting Indar 2 planet are enough to keep up with the needs of these ships for the moment, but as more refugees arriving at an alarming rate, it won't be long before it couldn't sustain the demand anymore.
The number of refugees in the system, counting both planetside and in space, is up to more than 50 billion. It is controversial to whether the UNE should stop taking in refugees and divert all its resources to the war effort. People who align with the idea argue that trying to save the aliens is costing too much valuable resources that could otherwise be spent in fighting the reapers, and if we don't win this war we will all perish anyway. The UNE industry is 100% automated and does not require any labor. Human's technology is too far ahead for alien species to help with the development without decades of study and training. Therefore, the only meaningful way they could help is to enlist in the foreign legion. However, not all species are physically and psychologically capable of fighting war.
The living condition of the refugees are extremely hard. However, when interviewed by a reporter, most of them agree that while they would not chose to live like this, given a choice, they are grateful that the UNE provide them with a place for their families to be safe.
-Somewhere in Rondel, GIA safehouse-
The safehouse is an old, abandon, brothel that was obtained by a merchant who is one of the GIA's assets. In return for his cooperation, the merchant receives valuable information from the UNE about safe trade routes, bandit ambush locations and his competition's movement obtained by the network of surveillance satellites. On the outside, it's a busy warehouse with a constant stream of goods coming in from all over Falmart and out to the vendors in Rondel. On the inside, however, the GIA had set up a surveillance center which is also the command center for all their operation in and around the city.
A small room at the back of the building, one floor up, is being used as an interrogation room. To prevent any noise that might be caused by the interrogation method, a force field was erected in the room for soundproof. Shelly is sitting across the table from the, unconscious, messenger. The 2 chairs, the table are the only furniture beside a dim torch on the wall behind Shelly. The room is dark and extremely quiet. She tabs a button on her holographic pad to send a brain wave signal at the messenger simulating a bucket of ice-cold water got splashed on his face which wakes him up instantly and in shock.
"Wh…What" the messenger wakes up expecting to be cold wet but he is not. He looks around the dark room and mumble "Wh…where…where am I?".
"Welcome back, handsome" Shelly says.
His vision is still blurry, in the dark room he could not tell who is sitting in front of him. The voice sound familiar but his head is in pain and confused, he could not and would not even try to remember it.
"Who are you?" he asks trying to lift his hands to hold his head but he can't "Why can't I move my arms?...My feet…my body?" he says getting more and more panic.
The table and the chair that he is sitting on is gravitationally bound to the ground using gravitation manipulation technology. His body, except his head, is also bound to the chair and table. That's why he is feeling an unexplainable, invisible force weighting on him, forcing him down the chair and arms on the table. It feels like stunt magic, yet it does not feel like magic.
"What sorcery is this? Release me at once!" He panics and try to cast some kind of spell but nothing happens.
"Ahhh, trying to cast a spell aren't you?" Shelly says "Look down".
He looks down and sees a circle of runes and recognizes them. They are the magic removal runes that will cancel any magic in its vicinity. These can only be removed by the mage who cast them or be broken by a very powerful mage such as one of the Rondel's council members.
"That's right, no magic" Shelly says.
He looks up at Shelly, his vision is recovering and his head is getting clearer "You! You're that whore at the brothel! What do you want from me? Do you know who I am? My master will come looking for me if he does not hear from me by tomorrow dawn! He'll make you beg him to kill you fast!".
As a trained and experience agent, Shelly does not bother or pay attention to the messenger's insult. All she is focusing on are 3 keywords 'master' and 'tomorrow dawn'. This means that there is at least 1 other dark mage working with him and if they are to get in contact by dawn, this other dark mage must be near or in the city.
"So, tell me, who's your master? And what's your name?" she asks.
Realized that he slipped up important detail to his capture, the messenger knows that his fate is sealed. His master will kill him once he finds out, therefore, it's better that he dies in his own term.
"I would rather die than tell you, whore!" he says then bite his tongue off as the final act of defiance.
Shelly is calmly sitting there watching the man in front of her suffering in pain. She let out a sigh "This is gonna take a while. Can I have a med kit in here please" she says calmly into the comms.
-UNE Embassy, Rondel-
Since there is no construction law or any similar regulation in Rondel, the embassy was built to be taller than the surrounding building and the top floor expand outward like a mushroom to be big enough for 3 landing pads. The architectural design is impressive in the eye of the Falmartians as it is impossible to construct a building like that without a considerable amount of wealth and magic usage. However, the neighbors of the embassy are not too happy about the whole thing as it is blocking the sunlight from shining on their houses. Although annoying, it is not that big of a problem for them to risk a conflict with these people from beyond the gate that is rumored to be extremely powerful.
Ambassador Noah and the rest of the 5th SIF are waiting to greet Ava at one of the landing pads. It's a nice sunny day in Rondel, the city is noisy and lively as ever. Everyone is eager to meet their beloved commander again since the battle of Aurealm. It was either pure luck or some form of divine intervention that the 5th SIF suffered no casualty during the mission. The side door of the D-20 opens, revealing commander Ava in her duty uniform smiling slightly, happy to see her friends again.
"Attention!" Ashley commands as every SIF stands at attention.
Ava steps out of the D-20 "At ease" she smiles and put her hands on her hips, akimbo, she says sarcastically "Really? Is this how you guys welcome me back?".
With that, the guys and girls of the platoon charge forward like a group of kids excited to see their friend and almost throw Ava off her balance.
"It's good to have you back, ma'am" Jimmy says.
"Soooo you're here go get us out of this place?" David asks.
"Thanks, Jimmy, and no, David, I'm here to join you in this place" she replies while tabbing on David back, seeing that Ambassador is standing there smiling and patiently waiting she greets him "Ambassador Noah".
"Welcome back to the land of the living, commander" Noah nods and smiles.
"Thank you, ambassador, how are things around here?" Ava asks.
"I was going to update you on that" he says then he smiles and notion at the SIFs "but it can wait, we're in no hurry. Meet me in my office once you're ready, commander" he nods then turn towards the stairs.
David waits until the doors are closed after Noah then he speaks up "Ok, commander, I gotta ask. What the hell is this?" he says then he sees Ava stares at him little bit confused, he continues "ma'am".
"Erm…excuse me?" Ava asks, still confused.
"We beat the reapers asses resulted in the most decisive victory for the allies since the war started, well you did, but we got you there. And this is what we get as a reward? A diplomatic mission? I mean coooome ooon" David whines.
"Ah, that" Ava chuckles "Well, that is why we're here lieutenant. Something about being a hero, being iconic and they can't risk us dying. That would be bad for morale, aaaand the recruiting lines. It was either this or a marketing tour around the galaxy…what's left of it".
"You mean ceremonial dress, smiling and waving, handshakes and cameras, etc?" Ashley asks with a shaky, disgusted tone.
"Yeeep" Ava answers.
"Okey! Let's annex the hell out of this city!" David says as everyone laugh.
"Better keep your voice down lieutenant" Ashley laughs.
"What are they gonna do? Let them try and kick us out" David replies.
"Well, they could turn you into a pig" Rob smirks.
Ava can only smile and shake her head "Alright guys lets head down".
Ambassador Noah's office is on the top floor, right under the landing pads. The palladium glass wall, which is stronger and tougher than steel, act as a window that provide the office the beautiful view of Rondel. It was decorated according to Noah's taste as a minimalistic. Simple decoration, a few pots of plants from Earth, with light grey and black as the main colors make the room feels relaxing, modern.
Noah opens the door after Ava knocks "Hello, commander, please come in".
"Thank you, ambassador" Ava looks around, admire the office and the scenery outside the window. She then notices a man standing by Noah's desk "And mister…".
"Oh, I'm sorry, this is doctor Daniel Jackson from the PSC" Noah introduces the man.
Jackson hurry over and extends his hand to shake Ava's hand "Hi, I'm Daniel Jackson, PSC 1, nice to meet you, commander Ava".
"Nice to meet you too, Dr. Jackson. Planet Survey Corp, huh, you guys are still surveying this planet?" Ava asks.
"Oh, I see the confusion there, the PSC don't just survey planets, we actually explore its culture and its history as well. There are still Prothean ruins to study and Imarian scripts to study" Jackson replies, he pauses and stares at Ava for a short moment before continues "Erm, PSC 1 was the one that discovered the planetary shield switch and figured out how to turn it off".
"Yes, I remember the report. There's a lot of ex-SIF in PSC, are you one?" Ava asks.
"No, no, no I'm no soldier. Well, I got some basic training but I'm a xenoarchaeologist and linguist" Jackson replies, he stares at her for another short moment then continues "you actually talked to an Imarian, how were they actually look like?" he says, cannot hide his passion for the Imaris.
"Dr. Jackson, you can talk with her in the downtime. We have matters to discuss now" Noah rescues Ava seeing her confused look.
"Of course, I'm sorry, I'll leave you two to it. Commander, I would love to have a talk when you are available. Excuse me, everyone" Jackson say before he leaves.
"Of course, I'd love to. Goodbye, Dr Jackson" Ava nods.
"Goodbye, Dr Jackson, I'll see what I can do about your situation" Noah says as he closes the door for Jackson. He then turns to Ava and smiles "Great guy, let sit down and I'll update you on our situation".
Ava starts walking towards the desk "Yes, he seems like a nice guy" she says then sit down "so, how are we doing, ambassador?".
"Honestly, commander, not so good. The people of Rondel are not like those in Sadera, and most certainly not Earth. We didn't have time to study this city, so, we took what little we know of this city and went in blind. I hated it but it's all we got at the time, therefore, we made mistakes as expected" Noah says.
"I was informed that the odd is still in our favor?" Ava asks.
"Yes, but only by a neglectable margin" Noah replies as he brings up a holographic screen "These are the 9 major guilds with voting power in Rondel. Each of these and each member of the council represent 1 vote" he continues explaining as the screen displace the 9 guilds' symbols and their name alongside with the 4 council members "We need 11 out of 13 votes in our favors in order to win. As of now, we have the elf, one of the humans and the dwarf councilor with us, guild of knowledge, academic, fire and earth are expressing their support for the annexation. That's only half, but that's not the end of our problem".
The holographic screen then displays the voting structure of each guild "This, this is our problem" Noah says "Each guild leader can only make a vote based on the vote of their members. However, there's no single unified structure as each guild has their own set of rules that dictate who can vote and who cannot. Many of them are not even remotely similar, it's like the Citadel Council but a lot more chaotic" he explains.
"We have to find out who can vote and appeal to them, this won't be easy. How about master Cato, can he help?" Ava asks.
"Ah, Lelei's master? Yes, he did help by pointed out VIPs that we can approach and how to appeal to them, but as only a master mage of the academic guild, there's nothing more he can do" Noah replies.
"Then, how can I help? How can we help?" Ava continues asking.
"Frankly, commander, not much for now. You're here as a contingency plan, you know, in case you need to bail us out of the city or to keep our allies and supporter safe if violent event happens" Noah replies, smiling but depression shows in his voice "which by how things are, it's likely to happen".
"Right, babysitting duty, roger that" Ava replies with an obvious tone.
"Well, I wouldn't put it like that but yes" Noah chuckles "On the upside, the sporting event is still going on. We got intel that holding back wasn't a good idea so you and your men can go all out and have fun"
"There's a war against extinction going on and we're stuck here playing politics, ambassador. I would not call that fun" Ava replies, she doesn't blame Noah and she understands that they need Rondel if they want to win this war against the reapers. However, as a soldier, it is hard to do nothing while millions are being slaughtered each day.
"I understand, commander, I was surprised that they sent a SIF unit here, the 5th SIF even. Any marine unit would have been enough. But hey, I'm not complaining, I feel way safer with you SIFs, no disrespect for the marines, though" Noah smiles. His holophone rings just as he finishes, he holds it up showing his assistance is calling "looks like duty call, commander, please excuse me. I'll contact you if anything comes up" he says as he picks up the phone.
Ava stands up and nods at Noah as a goodbye then turns to the door and leaves.
-Citadel Council meeting hall, the Citadel-
A meeting between the military leadership and the council is just concluded, their topics was the progress of the war and their plan moving forward. The plan, however, could just sum up in 1 word: survive. Facing against the overwhelming reaper forces, there is not much they can do but try to hold out as long as possible in the hope the project Excalibur could be finished before it's all too late. All 3 councilors are sitting at the large table, grimly. Behind them is a massive holographic wall with a few thousand different symbols on display, each represent a member nation within the Citadel Council space. There are over a thousand of the symbols greyed out, each represent a fallen nation that no longer has any kind of government and ceased to exist. What left of the military of these nation was integrated into the Turian's military.
The Turian councilor turn his chair and stares at the wall of member nations. After the war with the Citadel Council, which they call the Human First Contact War, the human pitched to become a member of the council. Despite being the first that made contact with the UNE and led the war effort against them and suffered heavy casualty, the Turian Hierarchy was the only council race that saw the potential of humanity and vote in favor of them joining. Some other smaller nations also voted in favor of the UNE. But in the end, it didn't matter as the council declined the offer and veto the vote with 2 against 1. The reason was that the UNE refused demilitarization among many other things.
"Humans" he mumbles.
The other 2 councilors turn over and look at them confused.
He sees their reaction and starting to explain "They expressed the interest to join us, we refused. We hated, we isolated, we distrusted them. Now they're our only hope, and even then, it might not be enough" he turns to the other 2 "We should've trust them when they warned us".
"Even if we did, there was no way we could've prepared for this" the Asari councilor replies, she pauses as her head sinks down "no one could prepare for this in such a short time".
"No, but we are all witnessing the humans giving the reapers a hell of fight. Imagine how technologically advance all the members would be if they joined and share their technology with us, even if it was not the most advanced had, it would still be better than what we are having" he replies and points at the wall of members "Imagine our fleets and armies are armed with their weapon. We would've surely given the reapers a lot more resistance than we are now. But that would only happen if we let them joined".
"But that would mean we let them violate our laws, that's unacceptable" the Salarian councilor replies.
"We could've made them a council race, we could've assigned them security duty alongside the Turian Hierarchy which would allow them to build up their military as will" He argues.
"Even if we were to do that, humans are unpredictable, we could not be sure that they would not turn against us if we let them in. At least we were less likely to be taken by surprise while keeping them out" the Asari councilor says.
"That's the kind of paranoid that got us here in the first place. What's the difference now? Their fleets are the only thing standing between the reapers and us. Without them, we won't be sitting here discussing this. They're building our ships faster than we can build ourselves!" He replies, getting angrier.
"Then…what do you propose?" the Asari asks.
The turian stands up and look at the others "We…capitulate".
He can clearly see the shocks and confusion in the eyes of the other 2 councilors "We join them, become part of them. We serve under the UNE's flag".
"What do you…you mean to ask them to annex us? Are you mad? Our governments won't agree to this! Your government most certainly won't agree to this madness!" the salarian stands up in shock.
"Like the human leader said, either we stand together or we die alone, this is no longer about pride or nationality, this is about survival. By joining them, they could stop wasting resources to build our equipment and start arming our people with the best technology, ship and weapon in the galaxy. We would stand a much better chance of surviving. The Turian Hierarchy is proud but they're not stupid, I'm sure they will agree with me" the turian turns and start walking out of the hall, he stops some distance away say without looking back "And you should, as well" then continues walking out.
-Barrack, UNE Embassy, Rondel-
Ava is standing outside of the barrack, at the door, staring into the little room. The rest of the SIFs are standing there behind her.
"Seriously?" She asks.
"Yep" Ashley replies.
"This room, all 16 of us?" She asks again after she turns to look at Ashley and blinks.
"Yep" Ashley replies again.
"What's wrong, commander? Don't wanna stay with us?" David asks jokingly.
"You do realize that all it takes is 1 grenade and we're all done" Ava says looking over to David.
"Yea but at least we die together, warmly, cuddly" David sarcastically replies.
"Oh boy" Ava sighs.