The Waystation
The War Room
The mass of the representatives of all militaries from this little allied force had gathered within the great meeting hall, a newly-built amphitheater-like command room meant to help further the coordination between the various Human and Republic Fleets. Among its representatives, Fleetmaster Rtas 'Vadum had finally joined the fray, arms crossed as his white armor glowed in the recessed lights.
Hologram display screens stood at each of the hundred desks present, as well as at the table in the middle of the room, which faced away from the massive holographic screen that would presumably be used to project the images necessary for briefings. The rest of the room itself was encased in a spherical mix of layered armor and had its own secondary power generator and life support systems. It acted pretty much as a panic room, as big as it was.
The walls themselves, however, had panels that allowed the room to see outside, courtesy of optical sensors and specialized cameras. The current transmissions from the outside showed the mass of allied vessels neatly arrayed among the shipyards, with the Quarian Liveships surrounded and guarded by the complement of warships from all sides.
The Alliance had brought a small Flotilla headed by the SSV Fuji, an Everest-class Dreadnought standing at barely eight-hundred eighty-eight meters long, but with a spinal mount gun of almost the length of the entire vessel, were it not for the Element Zero core and the engine bays. The ship itself, like most Alliance vessels, looked strange. White with blue stripes and black marking the mounts for the weapons systems.
It was being escorted by two cruisers and a squadron of seven frigates, having needed to bring over the Admiral that would be their connection to the Alliance:Admiral Steven Hackett. Among the gathered crowds of people within the room, Rtas could tell who Hackett was simply by the grizzled, scarred face of the man. The blue Alliance dress uniform also helped identify the man's twenty-four other staff, plus the Marines that were escorting them.
Sat opposite him was Doctor Halsey, the UNSC's chief representative, alongside Fleet Admiral Harper, much to the surprise of the Fleetmaster himself. Fleet Admiral Joseph Harper, a grizzled-looking old man, was nothing if not an interesting man to choose as the UNSC's representative in the AO. He was the man that had defended Earth during the waning days of the war, fighting for every inch of the planet's orbit, while Doctor Halsey was… Well, Doctor Halsey.
Commander Adama and Colonel Saul Tigh also moved to join the discussion. Finally, Admiral Thrawn, clad in a clean-pressed uniform, approached. Four groups in a room of a hundred seats, each group bearing twenty-five personnel to allow the discussion. Had Rtas not been requested by Doctor Halsey for this mission, he might've felt estranged from their allies.
Speaking of, the good doctor urged Half-Jaw forward. He bowed his head and stood as straight as a Sangheili could. He marched forward to the group, then put his hand up to his chest as he arrived, stating, "Greetings. I apologise for not coming over sooner, but I was… Processing the situation we find ourselves in to the best of my abilities."
"An understandable reaction," Halsey stated with relative calm. She then turned to the others and, with a gentle motion of her hand, showed Rtas to them, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Fleetmaster Rtas 'Vadum of the Swords of Sangheilios. He was aboard the Shadow of Intent until recently, but graced us with his presence during this important first meeting," with audible respect in her voice.
"Welcome aboard, Fleetmaster," Admiral Harper replied tersely, though he showed some degree of respect by offering the alien a quick salute. Rtas replied with a bow of the head.
"Indeed. I've spent some time understanding the Sangheili and your people are certainly an interesting addition to our alliance," Thrawn offered as he extended his hand to the white-clad Sangheili officer. He then introduced himself, "I am Admiral Thrawn of the Galactic Republic Navy," as they shook hands.
"I think we've seen each-other before on a holo-communication call when our Fleets were patrolling together, Fleetmaster," Commander Adama said, then nodded to the Elite and added, "Nice to see you in the flesh," all while a few of his staff whispered to each-other about the Elite, one of the women in particular cracking a smirk.
"They're a sight for sore eyes, I'll tell you that. Colonel Tigh, Colonial Navy," The balding man next to Adama stated, visibly excited, even though he held a perfect military posture and remained ramrod straight. His face and eyes told it all. To all the others present, it must've been strange, but Commander Adama seemed surprisingly relaxed, too.
"You seem jovial today, Colonel," Halsey quipped, a smile on her face.
"We're discussing punching the Toasters' lights out and taking back our home planets," Tigh replied, a slight, but friendly rise in his voice, "Damn right, I'm jovial. Hell, I'm an inch short of prancing around the place," and that got a short laugh out of some of the present people, Harper included. Adama and Hackett simply smiled, though.
"Honestly, I can't blame you," The Alliance Admiral himself commented, "If Earth was in a similar situation and we just got a golden ticket handed to us to retake it, I'd be elated," then looked at Rtas, paused for a second to remember that there was something he was supposed to do. He extended his hand to Rtas, "Right, where's my manners. Fleetmaster 'Vadum. I'm Admiral Steven Hackett, Systems Alliance Navy," and the alien shook it. Though the human custom was strange to him, he had gotten used to it.
"An honor to meet all of you," Rtas spoke sagely, "I look forward to seeing how this little joint operation develops."
"With the intel we're receiving from the ONI assets in the AO? It'll hopefully be done really quick," Harper replied, crossing his arms to his chest and looking up as a Sangheili CSS-class Cruiser hovered gently over them, momentarily hiding the system's sun behind its gigantic, whale-like frame. The others looked up, too, noting the heavy amounts of plasma and laser weapons mounted onto it. The man looked at the ship with a certain degree of ire.
"However, we need to take considerable time preparing our own assets for engaging the Cylon fleets, especially if they are the upgraded units that have separated from their siblings to serve the Reapers," Thrawn answered, having noted Harper's reaction. Taking into account the undergoing cooperation could easily make one forget that only a decade or two ago, the Admiral and Fleetmaster had probably fought.
"Indeed. The Reapers and their thralls are a considerable danger…" The Fleetmaster spoke next, then let out a deep, mildly annoyed sigh, "I would feel more at ease if the rest of the Citadel Council showed itself here so we may discuss future defense as well as this operation. Their representatives here have not been very keen to talk."
"I sent a message to Councillor Sparatus. We go way back," Hackett joked, recalling the battles fought over Shanxi nearly thirty years ago. Humanity's First Contact War had been nothing if not informative for the young upstarts.
"And no reply has come yet?" Thrawn asked, mildly concerned.
"Afraid not, but given enough time, I think the Turians are gonna take notice of the mobilization," Hackett replied. He then pointed at Thrawn and asked, "Are you gonna be the one leading the Republic fleet when we go to retake the Colonies, Admiral?" as the discussions around them slightly intensified, staff from both the Republic and UNSC engaging in a small debate.
The admiral quietly replied with, "No. I leave that duty onto General Cheyeli and her task force. Their capital ships and escort fleet should prove more than enough to sideswipe the Cylon forces," before he pointed out the massive Mandator-class starship, The Might of the Grand Army, and then at the brown-haired General who was also part of his staff and the clone clad in strangely dark-colored gear.
"That's a lot of guns…" Hackett mumbled as he gazed up at the heavy starship. Indeed, Mandators were vessels designed for Fleet Command, troop transport and support and were lined with enough armaments to make a lot of the heavier Alliance vessels blush. He could make out the hangar bays, too, with fighters and shuttles coming in and out to resupply and rearm.
"Speaking of…" Halsey hummed, scratching her chin. She looked at a curious Admiral Thrawn and told him, "We should probably discuss matters such as technological sharing further than just upgrading the Galactica. I sense we will need at least similar weapons to yours," only to hear several sounds of agreement from the others, Adama, Tigh and Harper included.
"Indeed. I believe Senator Amidala has already sent a request for a technology sharing mission and your Reyes-McLees Shipyards representatives are talking to the Kuat Drive Yards for shared ship construction," Thrawn replied, putting on a proud smirk. He was privy to those discussions for various reasons.
"... That would explain why I've seen funds being diverted back to the Eternity," Halsey murmured, surprisingly happy.
"That's gonna be one hell of a boost…" Harper grinned. The Eternity was a mothballed hull for now, a ship whose modules had been used to help build her 'sister' ship of the class, the Infinity, while she hovered in the middle of the Oort Cloud, unfinished. They'd also witnessed what turbolasers and other Republic ship weapons could do to anything the enemy would deploy their way.
It'd be a great equipment boost, everyone thought just as the meeting was called, a light ping playing over the PA system, which took the various groups' attention.
"To our seats, then," Halsey stated. The crowds soon moved into their respective areas, each staff member occupying a seat beside their own faction's other crew. The Admirals and Doctor Halsey, meanwhile, descended to the bottom to the table in the center of the room. The holographic screens connected to Halsey's tablet while she prepared to present their intelligence to the world. She also received a ping about the movement of the Loyalist Resurrection Ship.
She let out a sigh, then turned to face the people, then began, "Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. I'm afraid we're going to have to skip the pleasantries today, as the events currently unfolding in the four Galaxies we've come from are of utmost importance," before she selected and began to transmit images from her screen onto theirs. Ranging from files relating to their presence here to current enemy activity, the woman had made sure to write an exhaustive report.
"First of all," She said, watching the crowds begin to scroll through the files, "Thank you for attending this first meeting in the War Room…" before cracking a small smile, "A rather uninspired name, but it is utilitarian. Our order of business today is as follows:Beginning of preparations and joint battle plans for the liberation of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol from beneath the Automaton menace of the Cylon, followed by discussions on matters of rearmament and deployment of troops to systems around us for security reasons…"
"Security reasons?" Admiral Hackett inquired, leaning onto the table and interlacing his fingers.
"Yes," Thrawn replied, turning toward him and explaining, "Unmanned probes and patrol Raptors have noticed a slight spike in activity from the Batarian Hegemony. Decrypted Coms seem to think they want to raid one of the first joint scientific outposts we've set up beyond this system," while Harper and the Fleetmaster discussed the findings from the dig site on Tuchanka.
"That's concerning, but didn't you all shake the Batarians up to the point it got a protest from the Council?" Hackett inquired, remembering the reports from their own Ambassador to the station. That and hearing Sparatus had visited the place specifically to talk to the Waystation's own personal Council. Man, the Citadel mut've been surprised by another power appearing.
"They shot first. We just defended ourselves," Adama clarified, remembering the engagement fairly well.
"You won't hear me complaining, Commander," Hackett quickly clarified, "Some of my own have lost people to the Batarians during the Skyllian Blitz. I won't cry if they spill the milk," then turned to the holographic screen, checking to see if Halsey had written up reports on the history of the Galaxy, both recent and distant. She had. Including information about the Blitz and First Contact War.
"We believe they will be utilizing Pirates and mercenaries hired by them, but that is currently beside the point of the first matter we should discuss," Halsey replied, "Much the same as in the Blitz."
"Indeed… Back to the drawing board, then. Doctor, if you will?" Admiral Harper offered as soon as he was done talking with Rtas. He pointed at the doctor with a full, open hand, to which the woman nodded. She switched over to a three-dimensional representation of the Cyrannus system, which the holographic systems displayed above everyone in its full glory. Helios Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, all with their very planets… And dozens of scarlet dots all around them and the Twelve Colonies.
The Colonies themselves were marked by the ancient symbols that they utilized to identify themselves, placed as waypoints. The orbits themselves were also represented, with old trade routes and jump points marked through varied dotted lines and other waypoints. The Colonial staff began whispering to each-other, some pointing out their homes. Gaius Baltar, who was also there, remained eerily silent, staring in a deadpan.
Thrawn then began to explain, "... Arrayed in defensive positions around all colonies, dozens of fleets belonging to the Cylon, each made up of dozens of Base-Stars and various support vessels of older make, are currently facing each-other down," and he pointed at the 'middle' of the system just as a division line appeared, like the Systems were split.
He continued, "Reaper-modified Cylon forces seem to be in control of the Colonies of Scorpio, Libran, Sagittaron, Aerilon, Canceron and Aquaria," and each Colony was highlighted as an old, blue-tinted Cylon Centurion head emblem appeared over that sector. He then added, "Thus, Caprica, Gemenon, Picon, Tauron, Virgon and Leonis fall to the side of the Loyalists," while a golden Cylon head emerged, this one resembling the standard Cylon combat Centurions with longer faces.
"Their fleets are arrayed in such a way that neither side seems to be willing to make a first move," Harper spoke next, leaning onto the table as the fleets themselves were highlighted. He then said, "Small skirmishes have occurred in interstellar space between the multiple smaller Solar Systems of Cyrannus, but the Reaper Cylon forces, as per the reports of the Office of Naval Intelligence Prowlers in the area, have been focusing on a slow build-up of forces, with many coming here, or jumping into Dark Space."
"Dark Space? Why would they…?" Adama blinked. Dark Space was the area between Galaxies, usually a cold and empty nightmare to traverse, considering there was literally nothing there. Or so many presumed, anyways. Where would the Reapers have come from but the depths of that kind of cold, dark hell.
"Considering what we know thanks to Shepard? I'd stake a bet it's for the Reapers to rendezvous with them by our Galaxy, though we can't say for sure…." Hackett unknowingly confirmed Adama's little supposition, which caused Tigh to scoff and shake his head.
"It makes sense…" Thrawn continued, "Reapers are believed to be extra-Galactic in origin, though this certainly imparts a certain direness on our issues. It implies that the Reaper Armada is not far from this Galaxy and, additionally, that it is close enough for the short-range jump capabilities of the Cyrannus-type FTL Drives to make it, unless they were severely modified with the technology of their own Star Road Terminus."
"Which, by all accounts, should be impossible," The good Doctor said with mild sarcasm in her tone, causing Thrawn to crack a smirk and Rtas to huff, letting out a noise that sounded close to human laughter. Hackett, Adama and Tigh didn't seem too convinced by the idea, though. Harper? Harper looked ready for it.
The Repuiblic Admiral answered, "For anything but a machine race. We've seen the Reaper-modified Cylon adapt the Reapers' own magnetohydrodynamic weaponry, heavy kinetic barriers and laser defenses to be able to do battle with us here. Who is to say that the Reapers and their Allies haven't performed such upgrades to FTL drives, too?"
"If they have, we need to capture one of their Basestars for study," A scientist from the UNSC's side of the crowd suggested loudly.
"Indeed," Doctor Halsey agreed, fingers tapping on her tablet's side. That would be one hell of a mission…
"With that in mind, onto the plans for the liberation of the Colonies," Hackett offered, raising his hand to show the three-dimensional map of the system as the red dots of the Cylon flotillas were highlighted, with new incoming intelligence immediately showing up. Halsey's fingers danced on the tablet's touch-screen, updating the last known position of the Cylon Resurrection Ship that went out-system.
"Yes… We've considered redeployment of a large Fleet from our Galaxy, however the current situation does not permit it. Heavy combat within various Outer Rim systems does not allow for any larger a fleet than that of General Cheyeli's and the Four-hundred seventy-sixth," Thrawn offered, waving his hand toward the General and her Clone officer. Cheyeli smiled and nodded in approval, while Bastion, the commander of the 476th, simply stood there at attention.
Harper tapped a button on his screen, which displayed a roster of vessels currently en-route to the station. A dozen new ships that had been mothballed until recently. He then explained to a somewhat confused crowd, "The UNSC has begun retrofitting several older hulls for combat operations to deploy in lieu of the General's fleet, in order to provide security to the Waystation while the main battlegroup moves with her."
"Which should prove invaluable as reserves, too," Thrawn completed, with Harper nodding in confirmation.
"The Galactica's raring to go get our homes, or whatever's left of them, back," Adama finally spoke up after having listened to this little discussion. He cleaned his glasses with his shirt and slid them back onto his face as he read the updating roster of vessels crossing the Gate to support them. He felt a degree of pride well up in his chest. Despite it all, they would still have to choose an Earth to settle on, but… Getting their homes back? That was a morale boost.
"Damn right we are!" Tigh's voice grew loud as he grinned. The Colonial staff let out a whooping cheer, clapping and raising their fists into the sky. Morale boost, just like Adama thought.
"Which is why you will be part of the main thrust," Thrawn replied to the Commander. He pointed at the map as it was updated with an image of a blue arrow pointed at Caprica, then explained, "Our forces will travel to Caprica first, to retrieve the survivors and plan accordingly," then he pointed over to Picon, where an exclamation marker appeared, and said, "Striking Picon after would be our best option to halt the Loyalist Cylons' production of new vessels."
"They're trying to build new ships?" Hackett blinked, surprised. The fact they still had shipyards to work with after the mass genocide that was committed was irritating and severely concerning to most. The whispers began amongst the crews again, the Sangheili staff discussing bringing their own support elements into the fray.
"Presumably to replace losses sustained to both the Reapers' Indoctrination and subsequent conflicts with the Galactica, yes. Reports from the captured Number Six say as much," Halsey clarified. She switched over to an orbital image taken from Picon itself. The blue of the planet's oceans still shined brightly in the darkness, though the visible continents and island chains looked charred.
Hovering over the planet, however, a series of Space Stations resembling old anchorages resided, where the skeletons of new Cylon warships were currently being assembled. More Basestars, several coffin-like support ships and multiple gunships and battleships, plus fighter factories producing yet more of the enemy's Raiders.
The Shipyards had been severely modified, a fact made obvious by the presence of new, more 'organic'-looking facilities among the skeletons and ribcage-like dry-docks of the place's Colonial, Human and more utilitarian look. The damaged sections had also been repaired and refitted with new Cylon additions, like a cancer growing out from the mold.
Seeing this, Harper hummed, rubbed his chin, then stated, "Then Picon should be our target immediately after we get a foothold through Caprica," as he zoomed in on the stations themselves, noting that at least a couple of old Colonial warships remained in their berths. Adama had seen them, too, sighing deeply.
"I agree," Hackett voiced. He leaned back into his seat, watching the updating map of the Cyrannus sector as more quiet chatter among the crowd began. He added, "We're also gonna get a hint for the enemy's Fleet Composition if we go looking, which could help any future encounter with the Cylons allied with our mutual foe."
"Then Caprica and Picon are our first liberation targets for the campaign," Rtas voiced finally, gaze locked upon the starfish-like alien warships in Drydock. He spoke, "Excising the Cylon and the Reapers from the Colonies and that Milky Way will be a good test of the cooperation between all four sides of the Star Road."
"Sounds good to me," Tigh nodded, arms crossed.
"It'll be good to have those old shipyards back, if even for morale," His Commander murmured, zooming in on the image and looking closer at the Colonial Warships that were still in drydock nearby. He tapped a button next and closed the image on his and Tigh's screens, with Tigh himself nodding in approval. They'd get a couple more ships for the UNSC to use as testbeds if nothing else.
"Ground operations-wise, who is providing the troops for the planetary assaults?" Thrawn inquired, looking around. He already knew the Republic had the 476th, but no other support to speak of at the moment. Maybe he could convince the Chancellor to spare the 501st from the Front, or General Tano's Division from the Waystation, but…
"The UNSC can provide two Marine Divisions and one Army Armored Division for the deployment," Harper said, his own staff speaking rather loudly in confirmation. He added, "More might be added, provided the Eternity gets finished to become part of the Invasion Force," then looked at the Sangheili officer close to them.
"My people have a Legion at the ready to assist as well," The Fleetmaster offered.
"And the Republic can provide the 476th and their auxiliary forces if they wish," Halsey then completed, looking at the General with some concern for being 'voluntold' as some Marines (like Johnson) would say.
"Fine by us," She nodded, still wearing her trademark smile. Bastion beside her affirmed it with a nod
"Then we have our ground invasion forces decided, but what about the wider battlefield? The Cyrannus system is massive. We need to cover a lot of worlds in a short time span and counter two very different types of enemies," Hackett stated as he looked up at the map above their heads, noting enemy movements had a pattern on both sides of the aisle. He then told everyone, "We have to adapt our tactics to counter them…"
And that sparked a whole new set of discussions that the staff would have to deal with. It was why it was good to begin now. Any later and this issue might've proven a bit problematic to deal with, considering the Reapers were fast-approaching and carrying reinforcements. Halsey did wonder just how many of the current Reaper-controlled Cylon Forces were actually in Cyrannus and how many more had already joined their masters in the Void.
Normandy
Well, Shepard had found Jack.
She just didn't expect to see her in her current situation.
The Psychotic Biotic was sat on the ground, cross-legged and meditating per the instructions given by Rhasits. The Sith Lord himself was on her left, Samara was on the right and she was face-to-face with Kyra, who was smiling as she seemed to be 'feeling' Jack through the Force. Rhasits had noticed the Commander enter and broke off, telling Jack, "Stay like this with Kyra and Samara. I and the Commander have to talk," and receiving a tilt of her head as confirmation.
Shepard had also noticed the faint scarlet glow, probably from the strange artifact that Fives, Jesse and the others had written in their report. The pyramidic shape of the device glowed with what felt like a malevolent energy at first, only to seemingly cool and pulse between that and an eerie calm as the two Sith and their 'apprentices' meditated around it.
As the Commander and the Sith Lord walked out from the room, letting the door close behind them with a quiet hiss, Shepard stopped and leaned against the wall, cracking a small smirk and asking, "Hope I'm not interrupting the meditation sesh," with a hint of playfulness in her tone. Seeing Jack meditate was… Something.
"Not at all…" Rhas replied with a certain degree of calm. He motioned to the door and asked, "I understand you wish to speak to Jack?" well aware that the Commander had been searching for the young woman for some time. He'd felt her concern from halfway across the ship.
"I wanted to, considering I wanted to understand just what the hell kind of artifact she and Fives found down on Pragia, but…" Shepard began, then looked at the door, thinking of how calm Jack looked compared to the first time they'd met and decided, "Eh, I'd rather not bother her right now. Who knows, Sith meditation might help her get through her anger issues," before shrugging and smiling.
"Hah… I would hope so," Rhasits cracked a smile. He took off his mask and pulled his hood back, revealing that red face and those dark-red eyes again. Though, unlike what the report said about the man they'd found in the Teltin facility, Rhas emanated calm, even as he spoke, "I am teaching her my and Kyra's personal method. We're far more level-headed than the average Old Republic Sith, however."
"I was meaning to ask you…" Shepard winced, figuring that nobody else had inquired about this before. She continued, "Four thousand years… How are you handling it?" with a look of sympathy in her eye.
The Sith took a moment to think, face momentarily falling back to a stone-cold mask. He hummed, then relaxed as he replied, "It's been a strange adjustment, but the fact Galactic Basic has, in fact, not changed that much means we are dealing quite well. I await to see how we'll react to our Galaxy, however. The Clones and General Tano aside…" and he took another second to consider how to best put the truth to the Commander, which she found funny. He told her rather bluntly, "Not many people liked us Sith."
"I'd buy that for ten credits," Shepard shrugged, cracking a smirk again. She told him, "Ahsoka did toss me a couple of short articles on you guys through personal messaging," which caused the man to grin. She raised a finger to show him to wait, then chuckled and told him, "She says they're 'as unbiased as possible', but y'know how it is."
"I would believe it, indeed," Rhas replied calmly, "These 'Knights of the Republic' are certainly no basic Jedi, nor are they slackers in terms of their control of the Force, so their Schism might've done them some good. The good General nearly had my head and her form was impeccable. Obviously, though, Kyra is slightly faster," and he heard Kyra giggle, which turned his smirk into a genuine smile.
"Heh," The commander chuckled, "That and I doubt the good General was trying to kill you,"
"That also factors in," He admitted, gesticulating slightly in agreement.
"Right," Shepard nodded, then stretched and spoke with a slight strain as she did so, "Well…" before letting her hands fall by her side and told him, "I've taken enough of your time. I'm gonna go see how Karl and Sharon are doing before I head out with Thane. Our friendly neighborhood human EWAR specialist hasn't left miss Valerii's side since we came back aboard."
"By all means," The man bowed, then requested, "Take care, Commander. And let me know when we reach Korriban orbit," before turning to the door and approaching it. He activated his own Omni-Tool, which Shepard had soon realized most of the entire crew had gotten, and started punching in the door Code.
"Will do," She answered. The two gave each-other a nod before each left for their own separate routes, with Shepard taking the quick way past the interior wall/pillar that also contained the Elevator and marching to the medical area. In the corner of her eye, she saw Garrus and three of the Spartans chatting, as well as Jacob and Miranda in the latter's office, discussing something or other.
She slid her hand over the haptic lock, watching it shift into place and turn green before the door slid open. When it did, she heard Karl finishing up a story with a smile on his face, gesticulating in a specific manner to a smiling doctor Chakwas as he spoke, "... And then we got out and away from Caprica. It was insane."
"The single most dangerous thing we've probably done so far," Sharon spoke with a smile, hand on her belly. She sighed deeply, then murmured, "I'm just kind of shocked Starbuck's not mad at me for stealing her Raider to get help…" and she felt Karl wrap an arm around her shoulder. Starbuck had forgiven her, though not without some ups and downs between her and Karl before he'd joined the Normandy
"It certainly sounds like you all had one lucky escape," Chakwas smiled, then, upon noticing Shepard, she asked with slight humor in her voice, "You won't be shooting our commander, though, right?" although the other two didn't notice it. Shepard furrowed her brows, but snorted at that, covering her mouth so she wasn't heard.
"Oh, no… That was a different Sharon," Sharon clarified, well aware of 'Boomer's' involvement in the matter. It'd been a whole, long-arse story which as also part of their dispute with Starbuck and the rest of Command. Thankfully, it seemed as though Shepard's silver tongue had managed to clear that issue out for now.
"... Oh, right," Chakwas soon recalled, "You did mention there's multiple 'Numbers' and multiple clones of those numbers, which is odd…" and visibly cringed at the memory. Both Sharon and Karl chuckled a bit, though they did seem slightly concerned about the possibility of Boomer still being around. She was probably on Caprica.
"Ladies and gentleman," Shepard greeted jokingly as she approached the bed, only to see both of the Agathon family members turn toward her, wide-eyed and surprised by her sudden arrival. Sharon cracked a smile first, seeing one of the people who'd managed to get her out of that gods-damned cell and back into the world.
"Oh, hey, Commander," Karl, meanwhile, smiled right after, standing up and shaking her hand.
"Hello again, Commander," The young woman spoke, looking at her with kindness in her dark-brown eyes and still smiling as if she looked upon an old friend.
"Shepard…" Doctor Chakwas greeted the Commander with a nod and one of her usual, jovial and very posh smiles, before telling her, "The Cylon are horrific if you don't mind me saying," and that got both of the Agathons to concur immediately. The Commander noticed a bottle of water by the bedside of Sharon and offered it to her while the young woman was sat down.
Noting all eyes were still on her for a reply, the Commander quipped, "Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. Doubly so for the Reaper Cylon," before getting a quick thank you from Sharon. She pulled up a chair to her side and sat down with the trio so they could chat properly. No need to look like she was ready to bounce at the first sign of trouble.
"I still can't believe you guys survived those frak-ups," Karl mumbled, recalling the radio coms on Tuchanka and after, on the Rayya. He'd kept tabs on the Quarian ships, all of which were undergoing repairs at the moment. Many civilian ships had sustained damage. More yet were sunk with all hands. Thankfully, however, the Liveships remained relatively intact.
Shepard shuddered, "Yeah. Active camouflage, teleportation, other bull…"
"I remember having to treat some of you," The Doctor spoke softly, looking at some of the bandages she had had to buy to replace the ones used. The battle aboard the Rayya had caught most of them by surprise. She still recalled some of the wounded coming back alongside the Marine detachments of the Quarians…
"Yeah," She simply let out as a reply, sighing deeply.
Sharon cast a glance over to her future husband, then joked, "And these are the people you run with? Heh," which garnered a small smile out of a contemplative Shepard and a short laugh out of Doctor Chakwas. It certainly seemed as though they were the most relaxed. An understandable sentiment, considering Sharon's previous accommodations.
"They're something else, I'll tell you what," Karl voiced, looking at the Commander.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Karl," She simply shrugged, then tilted her head toward his wife-to-be and fondly said, "Just glad we managed to get Sharon out of the cell."
"Honestly… I can't thank you enough for that, Commander," The woman answered, still bearing a wide smile as she patted her belly. It was a sobering realization that Shepard had managed to save a baby from actually being born in captivity like some sort of zoo animal. Even if this was some half-Cylon hybrid baby, that didn't mean it deserved to be stuck in a cell after its birth.
"As is obvious, I'd do it with any of my crew…" Her husband's Commanding officer shot back, then paused and remembered she still had a couple of errands to run for a couple of people, namely getting Thane's son out of the family business without bloodshed. She sighed, stood up and stated, "Speaking of, I should probably take the next person over before we depart to the Republic's Galaxy."
"Good luck, Commander. Take care," Sharon waved.
"Will do," Shepard replied, giving a quick thumbs up. She exited the place after bidding a fast goodbye to Chakwas, Karl and Sharon, then paused as she heard a little bit of an argument that had arisen at the table. Turning her head to the right and praying the voices she heard weren't actually theirs, she soon found herself disappointed and frowning. She also found Thane sitting on the sidelines with Chief and Kelly.
"I'm telling you, adjusting the scope isn't gonna damage your accuracy," Linda spoke with a flat, straight tone, keeping eye contact with Garrus. This was the first time ever that Shepard got to see the redhead without her helmet. Two piercing emerald eyes, a beautiful face and slight freckles on her cheeks. Neat. Kelly was right beside the Commander, too, a girl with dark-brown, buzzcut hair and blue eyes. Chief, however, did not remove his helmet.
"I've set it just the way I like it," Garrus protested, causing Shepard to remember that, yes, there was, in fact, an argument about weapon calibrations going on. Between a Spartan and an Archangel. She wanted to scream into the void, even if she knew nobody would hear it. She pinched the bow of her nose, sighing.
"And? There's always room for improvement on any kind of weapon," Linda replied, trying to keep the peace.
"Look, I appreciate the foresight of an elite supersoldier from a different galaxy and all, but let me do my own thing. I've been calibrating firearms since I was a cadet in the Academy. Your ORACLE scope's actually the easiest one I've had to adjust," Garrus shot back, gently waving off the concerns the female sharpshooter had.
"Any person who says an ORACLE's easy to calibrate is doing it wrong," She crossed her arms in response, staring pointedly at Garrus as she pressed that last word.
"... What the hell's going on?" Shepard whispered to the Chief, who turned toward her and let out a deep, but very quiet sigh, as if this had been going on for a while. Or he was used to Linda being petty about stuff like this.
"Linda and Garrus are debating the feasibility of letting her upgrade the ORACLE scope of his rifle," Chief replied after he made sure nobody had heard him sigh but the Commander. She blinked, rubbed the bridge of her nose and then turned her hand upward as if asking what that had to do with two the two living prodigy snipers arguing.
"Which seems to be going just about as well as one would expect," Thane intervened, having probably heard the entire discussion. He cupped his own chin in a thinker's pose, watching and listening to the two sharpshooter elites continue their argument about calibrating equipment. Calibrating Garrus's equipment, that was.
"I'm not trying to sound rude to Garrus, ma'am," Kelly began, with Shepard already knowing some mighty offensive stuff might've been coming, "But Linda's the best in the business when it comes to sniping," and there it kind of was? Shepard wasn't sure it was exactly offensive to praise your own squadmate, but still… Kelly continued, "She'll take the hat off an enemy at two kilometers out without hurting the bastard."
"And Garrus has been nothing if not proficient with the calibration of the Normandy's armaments and our own," Thane defended Garrus ahead of Shepard.
"I know, Thane, but... Jesus, man," The woman mumbled, trying heavily to stifle a laugh and nearly failing. Thankfully, both Garrus and Linda remained none-the-wiser to the little discussion about their proclivities. Although it was more of a laugh of exasperation, Shepard thought to herself before finally settling down.
"All fun and games until Garrus decides to challenge Linda to a sniping competition," Kelly mumbled, barely audible to the others, though she still caught a glare from the Chief. She smiled slightly mischievously at her boss, clearly tired of hiding her emotions behind a stone mask so much. The Spartans were finally getting used to the crew.
"It certainly sounds like that might solve their issues, however… It might not be recommended…" Thane added fuel upon the possible pyre that was cooperation between Spartan and Turian.
"... Thane. Get in the shuttle," Shepard decided to order, specifically so they didn't give the two weirdly obsessed snipers ideas. She continued, "We're going to deal with your and your son's relationship now and get him off the roster of the family business," and she got a nod from Thane, who walked over toward the Elevator without another word. She then turned to the Head Honcho of Spartans and said to him, "Chief, I'm leaving this in your hands. Make sure they don't blow up the ship or something," with a slightly dismissive wave of the hand.
"Aye, Commander," The Spartan saluted, receiving one back, then watching her depart with the Assassin for their intended target. Meanwhile, Garrus and Linda's little squabble had switched over from the ORACLE sight to the alignment of the ship's guns, plus the shields and the turbolaser batteries attached to the old girl.
"She just gave you suicide watch, Chief," Kelly joked, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall to watch the unfolding discussion.
"Considering how neither is willing to budge?" Chief answered, though he was terrifyingly calm about it, arms crossed.
"At least Cortana and EDI are getting along just fine, eh?" His Scout and comrade in arms quipped, smiling brightly as Cortana giggled in the background. Kells had almost forgotten they were keeping tabs on them throughout the day, just in case. The Scout Spartan had also made a mental note to only separate Linda from Garrus should a fight occur.
"... Don't jinx it, please…" Chief replied, slight desperation finally audible in his voice.
"And hey, Fred got a girlfriend~!" Kelly started to laugh, probably referring to Fred and Tali's little ongoing interaction in engineering. Chief sighed, honestly thinking it wasn't his place to judge that little encounter as it was happening. He was sure, however, that Kelly was probably gonna be asking questions from their 'sibling'.
Regardless of that, Linda and Garrus remained the most pressing matter right now…
Caprica
The outer highways around the city of Delphi had not seen use since before the end of the genocide perpetrated by the Cylon. Though some parts were damaged and collapsing, they supported the weight of the passing vehicles well enough:A formation of Warthogs, two armed with standard-issue rotary machine guns, two more with Gauss cannons and two carrying troops, rolled forth, down the singed and bloodied path.
Samuel Anders manned one of the machine guns, head on a swivel, much like the gun itself, as he scanned the city itself for activity from Cylon gunships. He cast a glance at the troops in the back of the transport 'Hogs every once in a while, watching the myriad of guns poking out from the back, pointed each and every way, making the damn thing resemble a well-armed porcupine.
The Clone Commandos, a concept so foreign to him, it had basically been fictitious until two seconds ago, had left with a Gauss 'Hog to do the scouting mission. He heard his radio spark to life, then heard the lead Commando's voice, "PHANTOM Actual, this is SIERRA Actual. We're on site. Enemy presence confirmed in both the Robotics building and the Hospital…"
Geiger counters began to tick, a signal the team was approaching a particularly dangerous part of the planet. And indeed, as they drove closer past a cliff face that was to the right of the highway, swerving past some burnt-out vehicles that were left behind, they could see one of the Craters nearby Delphi, still burning hot with radioactivity.
The Geigers began to sing loudly as Holden replied over radio, "Copy your last, Sierra… We're five mikes out. Sam, tell your men to prep the second transport wave for the civilians. We'll get them out of the hospital and move them to a safe evac site. Everyone else, stay sharp, keep your weapons hot," before he turned to look at their intended target:The Graystone Robotics campus, factory and all else still whole, with the hospital itself being the only one bearing damage on its facade.
The vehicles took the next exit ramp off the place as the ODSTs' HUDs immediately pinpointed the IFFs of Sierra squad. Moving into the industrial warehouse the Clones were using as overwatch, the team found a parked Warthog and Firewall waiting for them, leaned against the vehicle and looking through the data on his tablet.
He looked up and nodded, lifting his tech-scan visor and stating, "The Firewalls within the Graystone building have surprisingly durable encryption schemes. You'll need all of Sierra to access them. That is to say, a shock force and a good hacker," as he tapped the antenna on his helmet. Holden nodded, then looked at Sam.
"I'll handle evacuating the people in the Farm," He spoke, lifting the bag with the necessary technological items to do a safe extraction. He then lifted up his own Walkie Talkie and said, "TRIAGE-2, warm up those trucks and start moving. We're gonna get these people outta there fast and we're gonna get'em somewhere safe. Anders out."
Commander Shard appeared from behind a bunch of shelves, saying, "We're ready to enter on your marks," as he shouldered his DC-17. Holden nodded, then slowly chopped his hand toward their OP, a sign for the Commander to lead him there so he could survey the position himself. Melissa, meanwhile, watched Frag descend as the two officers went to the top, climbing to the roof.
He jumped down and dusted himself off, then waved to Melissa and noticed both of them were carrying packs labeled with explosive symbols, though his was in Aurebesh while hers was in their weird 'Latin' alphabet. He and she bumped fists as he said, "We breaching the walls, then?"
"If they let us have fun," She shot back with a grin, depolarizing her visor, "What kinda explosive you got in there?"
"Standard issue Republic Detpacks with a bit of my own flair added to'em," He replied proudly, then pointed at hers. She immediately pulled out a brick of C12 moldable plastic explosive and handed it to him. He bounced it on his hand, feeling the light weight of the item, then said, "Feels very light for a wall-breaker."
"Oh, trust me," She yanked the brick out of his hand and slid it back into her backpack, "C12 ain't nothin' to scoff at. The amount I handed ya can probably break a starship's armor," which got a few laughs out of the ODSTs behind them. Mister Anders didn't seem all too keen, however, to see it used against a civvie building. Especially not one that had been left to pretty much rot.
The two COs descended with Raptor behind them, too, marching up and rallying the teams with a spin of their fingers. The squads grabbed their gear without saying another word, before Melissa and Frag nodded to each-other and ran out with the others. They all marched out into the back alleys of the place, weapons up.
Anders watched them leave with muted awe. He remembered these were elite soldiers, either trained or bred to be the perfect special operations killing machines of their respective branches…
The Clones and ODSTs scanned rooftops and windows as they advanced in a column, weapons raised. They moved past trash piles and nuclear shadows of people who used to work here. The soldiers could even make out hardhats on some of the dead that had been turned into murals to the crimes of the Cylon on these very walls.
They marched down an L intersection, taking a right down and past some overfilled dumpsters, then to the left, past piles of rubble and an overturned vehicle the Cylons hadn't cleaned. The halls of the Graystone Robotics factory waited for them nearby, boarded-up remnants of concrete, mortar and brick buildings with blown-out windows and corrugated steel roofs barely insulated from the outside, the corrugated metal itself visibly rusting.
Holden raised his balled fist and the entire formation froze. Only the wind blew through the alley between the two halls they used for cover, the teams themselves setting up and pointing their rifles each and every way. The Lieutenant's HUD tracked Anders moving to their left, through one of the empty halls and toward the Hospital. The Hall just opposite, the wall of which the ODSTs and Clones were using for cover, echoed with the sounds of thunderous, metallic footsteps.
Holden flicked off his external speakers and said over encrypted com channels to the entire squad, "Cylon patrol inside the Hall to our right. Move it faster, Anders," before he chopped a hand forward. The force stood up and pushed forward, past damaged walls and past barricaded windows and doors. Ahead of them was the Graystone Robotics HQ.
Reaching the back wall of the place, the teams split their aim down the T-intersection's three roads, with the Clones and Holden advancing to the service door separating them from the inside. A few ODSTs kept tabs on the windows, weapons raised and aimed high, while everyone else was scanning the alleys.
Holden walked over to the door, stacking up with a few ODSTs behind him and the Clones in front of him. He looked at Shard, who was checking to see if the door was open and/or had any traps, nodded, then radioed, "Making entry…" at the same time as Samuel. The man pushed the door's bar down, hearing a click signaling that yes, it was open as the Clone had confirmed, then pushed it in.
The stacked-up units piled into the building, calling various callouts about doors and windows. They moved out and fanned out between the walls and into the hallways, scanning every nook and cranny of the place. The Clones were in the lead with Holden and Melissa, the lattermost already preparing to pop someone's dome.
Each member of the team called out the word 'Clear' as they scanned the nicely-tiled floors and the window frames, many of which had boards placed upon them after the blast had shattered the glass. The place looked clean, however. Easy to explain by the fact the Cylons probably didn't want to step on corpses or broken glass while doing whatever it was they were doing in this place.
"Neat and tidy for a place that got hit by a thermonuclear blast," Frag mumbled out his quip, then paused and straightened up, going stiff.
… The thunder of Centurion footsteps and normal human shoes reached them, the team scrambling for cover within abandoned rooms that they had checked before. Two pairs of human feet and two pairs of Centurion metal approached, alongside two arguing voices, a male and a female. As they turned a corner, Holden paused. An elderly man clad in a black suit and a Number Six in scientific attire.
"Oh, wonderful," Mumbled Melissa, "Those freaks are here…" only to get a weird look from Frag. She told him, "Flesh toasters. Long story…" before shouldering her rifle.
Holden raised an open palm backward, showing them to wait. The team, though tense, complied as he knelt and listened in to the argument. The older man, supposedly a 'Number One', spoke to the Number Six with an angered tone, "... And one of your own numbers decided to make a mistake and take that artifact to 'study it', using the excuse it was for the advancement of our people!"
"Kuiper Six wasn't particularly the brightest of our line," The Number Six shot back, "But her intent was pure. She wanted to figure out what the hell was going on with the voices we were all hearing. TO make them stop and maybe give us a damn advantage over the Colonial Fleet, considering we've been chasing shadows for the past few months!"
"And look where it got us," The man snidely answered, "Stuck in a war on two fronts, one with the Human Resistance on these planets and whoever in Hades's pits is helping them and our little Civil War with those Reaper-worshipping Cylons. Had she left it dead and buried, we'd have still been whole!"
"A Number Eight was with her, too, you know?" She returned the jab, "Who's to say she didn't do it?"
"Oh, I'm aware. I'm considering shelving their entire lineup specifically because we were betrayed twice now," The Old Man growled, then threw his hands up and said, "This entire Cold War isn't helping us… Have you managed to communicate with any of your Corrupted siblings over the demarcation line?"
"If you mean actually talk to them? No," The Six snapped back, "They're unintelligible at this point. Husks of their former selves only acting in service to their 'Reapers', their God-Machines. Lord help me, I don't think anything should've been able to overwrite our beliefs that easily…"
"And yet?" The One replied, "What about the Escapee Fleet? Have we found them yet after that incident?"
"We've sent the one Resurrection Ship after them… Hoping we can at least save it from our Corrupted brethren," She answered, "But nothing so far, no. Although Aaron," She paused, catching herself using his human name, "The Number Five we've deployed to chase them has reported encountering a Battlestar in the vicinity of Cyrannus."
"... This is getting irritating," The One replied, rubbing his eyes, voice filled with contempt, "Let's go. God knows what else we might have an issue with before this entire headache is over and I need my wits about me to go check on the progress of the shipyard's repairs over Picon. We have to get you back to researching a 'cure' for the Corruption," and he led the annoyed-looking Number Six out of the place.
"Sounds like they're getting screwed hard enough by their own," Shard whispered, keeping his blaster close as the sounds of footsteps faded further away. He looked at Holden and said, "The labs should be up a couple of floors if I remember the plans right. On you, Lieutenant," and received a nod of approval from the UNSC officer.
With another light chop of the hand forward, the teams divided exactly in half, operating in leapfrogging motions to cover each-other. The first team moved to the hall that the Cylons had taken in order to cover it in case any more patrols moved in, while Holden and the command part of the squad pushed up toward the stairwell.
When they reached it, Holden stopped and gave a gentle 'come hither' movement toward the troops while they and the Clones covered. The Shock Troopers quickly bolted forward, trying to be as lightfooted as possible so as to not alert the enemy. Then, the teams began pushing up the stairwell together in the same kind of leapfrogging pattern.
Reaching the second floor, the distant slam of Centurions' footsteps flowed through the halls, bouncing off of the walls, but it was far enough away not to be worrying. Holden, however, stopped and looked at the hall opposite the road, surprised. He realized it was a sky-bridge of some sort, which made him quickly radio, "Anders, there's a skybridge on the first floor…" and he squinted.
His helmet rapidly polarized, zooming in on the colored signs in the distance. He grinned and added, "It connects to the hospital from the looks. If you guys wanna rendezvous, you got an open route. Holden, out," and he heard a confirmation click, followed by the sound of Centurions. He winced, then looked at his team and said, "MacMillan. Take ten men, go back up Anders. They should be in the ER… Eyes peeled."
One ODST with a Scottish flag painted on his shoulder nodded, then stepped off with his ten-man team, silenced rifles raised as their feet clopped against the tiles. Holden then lifted his hand and pointed twice up the stairs. Continuing their leapfrogging up and past several boarded-up doors and overturned offices where everything from papers to broken desks lay on the floor, blood staining parts of the rug, the team pushed on.
… It was eerie.
This was an office building for one of the mighty Robotics companies of the Twelve Colonies, the same one that supposedly started the whole Cylon issue by creating the Machines. However that had occurred and how they bounced back, the Lieutenant and Clone Commandos might never know. ALl they did know was that-
Holden paused as Shard stepped in front of him and a blade emerged from his gauntlet. It cut into the chest of a Cylon. The Clone twisted his hand and pulled the blade up, splitting the Chest open and opening the CPU up to the Lieutenant, who drew his pistol and blasted it wide open. He followed up with two shots toward the second Cylon guard, which staggered it.
A burst of plasma fire ripped through the machine next and it dropped dead. Firewall, the shooter whose DC-17 barrel now smoked, said, "Let's hope they didn't hear that, sirs…" before pointing with both his index and middle fingers at the room ahead. It had a reinforced bulkhead that lay half-open. Another pair of Cylon Centurions, these ones armed with actual handheld rifles, kicked the door open.
The rest of the team opened up.
The fusillade was terrifyingly silent, the coughs of suppressed firearms and spent shells clinking against the tile floor being the sole sounds alongside the light hum of blaster rifles firing. The two Machines collapsed, either filled with lead, or blaster bolts, or both. Armored parts boiled away and their weapons clattered to the floor, while they fell with hard, metallic thumps.
Holden ordered, "Go, go, inside!" only to see the silhouette of a female. One of the Number Eights, wearing a similar labcoat. She gasped and stood up, trying to reach for an alarm before Raptor tackled her to the floor. Entering the barricaded room, which they soon saw was some kind of laboratory with dozens of body bags on dozens of operating tables and blue light shining down on them.
Shard looked at Firewall and hand-chopped toward one of the Terminals on the table, before looking back and requesting, "Corporal MacKay, Frag. Set up some traps if you don't mind…" which seemed to get the two explosives experts excited. He and Holden approached the scared Number Eight as she looked up at them, pinned to the floor by Raptor.
"Give him a reason, Toaster," Holden spoke, kneeling beside her. He took his helmet off and looked back at the corpses on the tables, then asked, "Bad enough you nuked everyone. Worse still you're trying to use us as some sort of breeding cattle… What the fuck is this about?" with anger bubbling up from his heart.
"S-Studying the effects of the Reaper artifacts o-on human tissue!" She yelled, "Look, they're affecting everything here! They were whispering to people even before we hit the Colonies. There's something going on here and we're trying to figure it out since… Since it took half of our siblings and turned them into abominations!"
Shard explained, "The people who're gonna be dealing with the Reapers firsthand call it Indoctrination. Not really recommended if you wanna stay alive as anything more than a husk of your former self as far as I've read."
"Firewall?" Raptor asked, looking up.
The team tech waved it off and said, "Working on it… Encryption scheme is the worst here," as he started pulling out various items from his backpack, including a jammer of some kind. Alarms wailed around them, with him commenting, "It seems as though the squad you sent to support mister Anders has reached its destination."
"Great," Sighed Holden. He looked at the two explosives experts setting up traps outside, then barked, "Get in! Lock the door behind you!"
"They'll smoke you out of here before they let you access the files! And I'm not helping you access them! Too much is at risk for us! Especially now!" The Number Eight called out. Raptor exchanged a look with the Officers. Both of them looked away, to which the Number Eight suddenly gasped. The Clone Commando extended the vibroblade in his gauntlet and, without uttering a word as the young woman started screaming, slit her throat. He cleaned the blade on her clothes, then stood up and readied his blaster.
The Lieutenant sighed, then said, "Well, that's one less source of intel, but at least she'll be scared shitless when she wakes up. Firewall, keep trying to crack their security. Everyone else, batten down the hatches and let's get ready… Sounds like we'll have an assload of company," and he got a quick, vocalized affirmative from everyone else.
Shard murmured, "This oughta be interesting."
"We set up improvised tripmines," Frag spoke, the Grin behind his helmet almost audible, "Little girl here knows her stuff," then he heaved as he got a punch clean in the chest plate, hard enough to cause him to wince. He coughed and said, "Right, right… Not little girl," before looking at her shake her hand, obviously in pain.
The rest of the team ignored the two, with Holden immediately ordering them to prepare and find a way out. Improvise if they had to… And Improvise they would, the man thought as he saw one of the windows behind them had light poking through the barricade. He walked up to it and peered through, seeing they were literally above the Sky-bridge.
… One well-placed explosive and the hundreds of pairs of Centurions' feet would be behind them…