The Waystation
The moment the Normandy had made her way back to the Station, they were surprised to see a trio of Turian ships, two of which were the Frigates providing escort to what seemed to be an Envoy vessel, a lightly armed transport of the Turian Navy. They were already docked, meaning that Sparatus, of all people, was sent to talk to alternate-reality humans and a Galaxy-spanning Republic.
That could only end well, Shepard thought as the ship slowly drifted forward to the Docking Area. She breathed a deep sigh, then told Joker, "Keep her warmed up..." with a hint of exasperation in her voice, to which Joker nodded. She turned and paused when she saw Ahsoka approaching, then told her, "General. Guessing you want to see the family, too?"
"A little," Ahsoka chuckled.
As the vessel docked, the two women disembarked onto the umbilical, noting a patrol of UNSC Marines and Clone Troopers sat together. Several of them turned to greet the Commander and General, both of whom offered curt, but kind nods as they walked past. Ahsoka said, "Seems like our soldiers are getting along."
"Waiting to see the Alliance Marines doing stuff like this, too," Shepard quipped, then sighed deeply and murmured, "Oh, right. Now, I'm gonna have to start talking about the Reapers, because I didn't get to brief anyone about it yet..."
Ahsoka nodded, "As good of a time as any to provide information to the Higher-Ups of this intergalactic alliance, not to mention context to what you're doing... Especially with the information EDI found about the Collectors being ancient aliens, converted to serve these Reapers."
"I might ask her to provide you all a written briefing on what we know of the Reapers so far," Shepard commented as they took a right toward one of the tramways. It was then that she realized just how exponentially the station had grown, that they needed trams to traverse between the various points surrounding the technological marvel that connected their four Galaxies.
The two women sat themselves down in the Tram amidst a flurry of crew from all sides. Clone ship crews exchanged small talk with both white-clad UNSC soldiers and the staff of the Colonial Civilian and Military Vessels. Overhead, a fuel tanker of the Colonial Navy floated calmly by, its engines burning lightly to save as much of the precious 'Tylium' as possible.
Farther beyond, the Galactica floated, being tended to by a UNSC Repair 'Cradle', a massive, self-propelled repair and refit station that worked its wonders on keeping the ships of the UNSC Navy afloat and combat-fitted. Right now, it seemed to be installing parts on the Galactica. The Carrier/Battleship combination vessel's skeletal superstructure was being covered by layers of armor...
"Good to see the Girl's getting her dues, eh?" A female voice spoke. Both women turned to see a blond with short hair and clad in a uniform. She greeted them with a nod and said, "Commander. General. Lieutenant Thrace, Big G's Air Wing. I'm basically the ship's bird-flying XO, with a currently-absent Captain Adama being CAG."
"Nice to meet you, El-Tee," Shepard said. All three women then watched a Viper and an ARC-170 Starfighter escorting what looked to be the head of a beaked animal, or, in Ahsoka's case, something that looked like Jar-Jar, minus the weird googly eyes poking out above his head. A Turian Fighter was being escorted around by a Viper and a Republic fighter.
The Commander quipped, "Not a big fan of the Turians?"
"That guy, Sparatus," Kara shrugged, "He came by and started up a stink over a few things. Nothing too different from what the President's been talking about with the UNSC, namely, the use of Artificial Intelligence and all. Prez has been more polite about it, though," only to sigh as she saw they were reaching a stop. She told them, "I'm off here."
"Glad to have met you, Lieutenant," Ahsoka stated, before both women felt the tram decelerate. It stopped in the station and disgorged a few passengers, among them Lieutenant Thrace. The General turned to Shepard and asked her, "Is it that big a deal that the UNSC's using AIs for their operations? I'd have assumed any advantage is good."
"Both here and in the Galactica's world, I'm guessing," Shepard began as she leaned back into her seat, the Tram shutting its doors and departing for the next station, "AI caused a lot of problems. Case in point being the Quarians, a nomadic people that was driven from their homeworld of Rannoch due to their artificial servants, the Geth, gaining sentience... At least, that's what they told us."
"You don't believe them?" Ahsoka inquired. Shepard shrugged simply.
She then told the Togruta general, "I do. I've seen what the Geth can do and, hell, fought them a bunch. But, as I've learned over the past couple of years?" and she looked straight ahead at the Chimaera as it helped shift ship debris into position near the Cradle via her tractor beams, then told the woman, "There's always going to be the other side to look at. Damn if it isn't gonna be hard to find a reason to sympathize with the Geth, though..."
Ahsoka hummed, then crossed her arms to her chest, "I should've guessed as much," before she and Shepard had to stand up as the tram slowed down at their destination. They could see the docked Turian vessels and the Alliance ship, face-to-face as they exited out onto the Concourse, to the sight of Turian riflemen standing guard by the docking points.
They were facing Clone and UNSC Marines, all of whom stood opposite and kept their own weapons at the ready, but with the safeties on. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife, but the Turians greeted them both with staring and nothing else.
The Clones and Marines, meanwhile, waved to the two officers, both of whom waved back at them as they walked toward the central conference room. Inside, they already heard the semi-distorted voice of a Turian being translated into English, or Basic for those like Ahsoka. Councilor Sparatus stood, clad in his standard 'shirt-and-tie' attire for the Citadel as he faced the faux-Council of the Waystation.
"... And it is to this effect that I've been sent to this place by the united peoples of the Citadel, to ensure that-" He paused as he heard footsteps, then turned to face the incoming. A small, seemingly familiar smirk seemed to creep up on his face, though it was hard to tell due to Turians being so weird and alien. He greeted, "Commander Shepard."
"Councilor Sparatus," Shepard nodded, though her face remained impassive, "How's the chat going?"
"As well as it could be," Halsey replied from beside president Roslin. Beside them was Senator Amidala, who only seemed marginally more interested than the two older women, who were presumably having their own argument before Sparatus joined the group. Halsey told her, "The Councilor was just explaining to us the reason the Citadel has seen fit to send him over."
"That so?" Shepard quipped, then walked over to the half-circle table and leaned herself against one side so she could face Sparatus, "And I'm guessing that reason is because they kicked the Batarians' doors a little too hard?"
"One of the reasons would be that, yes," Sparatus replied, relaxed, "The other would be a simple and honest First Contact with the three new peoples you kept mentioning in your report..." then he looked at them, "All three of which seem to be Human or at least Human-adjacent offshoots of some kind..." And he eyed a couple of Chiss officers, presumably here on assignment. He continued, "And finally, the matter of AI-"
"Which, as I've said before to even madam President Roslin and Commander Adama," Halsey interjected, "We will not give up, as they've been an important part of both our War Effort and our Rebuilding Efforts back home, but, by all means, keep lecturing us with historical references to acts we've not yet seen."
"If he brought up the Geth, I can confirm a bit of it," Shepard interjected, looking at Halsey and stating, "The people that made them, the Quarians? They're in a similar situation to the Galactica and the Colonial Fleet. Only difference is that they're actually carrying a few million people aboard. Size of the Flotilla and all," and she watched the metaphorical light bulb ignite above Roslin's head, while Sparatus simply nodded.
"Concerning," Halsey sighed, "However, not our prerogative to deal with as of yet, I'm afraid. Our AIs are under our command and cooperate with us willingly."
"For how long?" Sparatus inquired. He saw the woman furrow her brows at that, seemingly a little insulted, but clarified, "The Geth were considered extremely loyal by the Quarians until the Rebellion, so it isn't unlikely for yours to do the same. Or, Spirits, look at your friends in the Colonial Fleet. Their similarities with the Quarians are astounding."
Shepard interjected again, "I'm not sure Tali, or any Quarian, would like to be used as a scapegoat for now, though, Councilor, so let's keep mentions of them on the down-low," a little annoyed at the man, eyes locked onto his as she glared. It was rather obvious to the entire staff that, by the subtle tongue lashing Shepard had just given, she wasn't a big fan of the Galactic Government here either.
Sparatus sighed, then nodded and replied, "Alas, back to business it is..." and eyed Halsey, Roslin and Amidala, "We'd like to ask you not to further provoke issues with any of your neighbors. The Batarians have already started petitioning the Citadel to deploy a Task Group here to intervene, should you all meddle in their affairs again. Of course, we're ignoring it, but-"
Roslin jumped in this time, asking, "Why has nobody dealt with these Slavers until we came into the picture?" which got a grin from Shepard and Ahsoka and a concealed smirk from Amidala, while Halsey remained stone-faced despite her own eyes twinkling with a bit of surprise and joy. Sparatus blinked, to which the President of the Colonies continued, "The Turian Navy is the strongest galactic naval force, correct? To the point the Citadel relies on you to police its space."
"That is correct," Sparatus replied with a hint of pride in his voice, but all the more concern.
Amidala joined in now, with the approval of Roslin, "So, why not just deal with the Batarians? Going by the designs we have of your ships and those of the Alliance, either of your peoples could have, at any time, completely dealt with the threat represented by the Batarians. Did your Council oppose a pacification mission? Or are there sympathizers to slavery in your people's ranks?"
Sparatus balked, taken aback, then stated, "I fail to see how bureaucratic lockdown would be grounds for you to believe we'd even have a remote chance to have sympathizers to the Batarian cause in our ranks! Councilor Tevos herself is an Asari, one of the preferred targets of those four-eyed scoundrels. It's preposterous!"
"It is also preposterous to presume that we would not defend ourselves or each-other, Councilor," Halsey shot back, looking at the others. She pointed at the Galactica and told him, "The Battlestar Galactica has suffered outer hull damage that is currently being tended to by our Cradle-class repair and refit vessel," while the others simply smiled. "Adding upon that," Halsey continued, "The Batarians initiated hostilities. We were merely pre-empting a second attack."
"Add upon that one of our ships was detached to assist me and Commander Shepard in the Terminus Systems, a place where the Batarians seem to have free reign, and you'd think there'd be more presence, at least Turian one, in the area," Ahsoka butted in next, while Shepard and the others looked on, a bit surprised. She told Sparatus, "Admittedly, we weren't fighting Batarians. We were dealing with worse."
Sparatus scoffed dismissively and said, "Ah, yes, the 'Collectors', the Ghosts from beyond the Omega-4 Relay," as he threw his hand forward, trying to show he'd already 'dismissed these claims, before sighing and pinching the bow of his nose, "Your ship flying under a Cerberus signet is already bad enough, but your comrades simply deciding to defend unprovoked aggression-"
"Unprovoked?" Shepard repeated, her voice low, dangerous. She told him, "'Unprovoked' was the Batarians demanding the Big G and her crew surrender to be taken prisoner, then opening fire when they refused. You guys know Humans don't have the best track record with the four-eyed rat bastards since the Skyllian Blitz. I don't care what happens to them because I'm chasing some very, very real Ghosts."
Ahsoka continued, "If you want the footage, we have a Division of Clones with enough helmet cameras between them to show every nook and contemptible cranny of that Hive Ship we beat the living tar out of," crossing her arms to her chest, "The Citadel should know we're all trying to be as cordial as possible, but we ask them to extend the same courtesy. The Batarians, if they're of the Citadel-"
"They aren't," The Turian sighed, "All they have is an Embassy."
"Still good enough," She shrugged, "And that means you should keep them in check."
"It's harder than you might think to keep a hermit kingdom like them in check without provoking a Galactic War nobody needs right now," The man replied, particularly miffed, before his Omni-Tool pinged. He checked it, then told them, "Ah, wonderful... I have to go, but before I do... All we in the Citadel are asking is that you please refrain from fighting any border conflicts with anyone else for the time being. We will be sending our own Ambassador here and would ask that you prepare yours for the Citadel, too..."
"We will," Amidala replied, smiling.
"It won't be an issue," Halsey nodded, too, though she remained impassive. She told him, "Any unchecked aggressive behavior from the Batarians or any other hostile parties, however," She emphasized, casting a glance at the Turian warships outside, then continuing, "Will be met with an appropriate amount of force, regardless of whatever complaints the Citadel has about it. We will defend our people."
"That is..." The man sighed deeply, "I guess I can't deny you your rights to defend yourselves, seeing as we don't even have jurisdiction. Just please, make sure you keep us updated like you have so far if there are any worse developments."
"Of course," All three women nodded, while the rest of the military staff arrived.
Sparatus hummed, scratched under his neck, then told them, "I suppose I will depart then. It's been a pleasure meeting you all. And Commander," he turned to face Shepard, who perked up. He told her, "Take care of yourselves. The Galaxy needs its Spectres now, more than ever, I'd assume. Farewell," and he nodded his head before stepping off.
"Well," Shepard mumbled, watching the man walk away with his escort. She turned to face the girls, Admiral Thrawn and Commander Adama, then crossed her arms to her chest with a smile and said, "That went a lot better than I'd have expected. Gunboat Diplomacy must've woken the Turians up a bit to reality, eh?"
Halsey spoke, "Speak softly and carry a big stick," with a half-smile on her face. As if to emphasize her point, a Valiant-class cruiser of their fleet flew overhead and joined the Chimaera on her patrol. She told Shepard, "Anything new to report on the matter of the Collectors, Commander? General?" as she stood up and walked to a table nearby to pour herself some water.
Shepard replied, "Confirmation that they're working with the 'Worse Threat'. The Reapers," only to see everyone pause and look at her with some degree of curiosity. She looked at Ahsoka, who nodded her approval, then she walked forward and activated her Omni-Tool, haptic interface immediately linking to a holo-projector in the middle of the room.
She tapped a few buttons... And the scarlet form of what looked like a massive, elongated molluscoid appeared, displaying armaments in its maw and on the tips of its 'legs' or 'tentacles', plus incredibly powerful Kinetic Barriers and all manner of other things scanned. The gasps that filled the room were expected, Shepard thought to herself, but she needed to keep pressing on.
So, she walked forward and said, "This is one of them. A Reaper by the name of Sovereign. An ancient machine, maybe a few hundred thousand years old. They're part of some ancient Galactic Cycle that's been running for longer than any of our species have probably walked on our Homeworlds..." as she pulled up more and more Data that she had now gotten access to, courtesy of her Spectre ranking.
"Incredible," Halsey murmured, looking at the monster, a faint tickle in the back of her mind.
Shepard sighed and said, "More like terrifying," with slight fear in her otherwise calm tone.
Roslin, hands interlaced and hiding her mouth, asked with concern, clearly audible in each word, "You mentioned that this thing is part of a Cycle... Care to elaborate, Commander?" before she leaned back into her seat, while Amidala and the Admiral watched quietly as the Commander made her presentation. Shepard, to her credit, remained steeled and focused, giving a simple nod.
She told them, "It appears the Reapers are here to harvest all sentient organic life for some sort of process only they know about. It's what the Cycles are... Bastards wanna wipe us all out for some sort of pompous end-goal of theirs, going by what little I managed to rip out of this bastard's mouth on Virmire. I'll have a Mission Report ready for all of you to read within the day."
"Apocalypse," Mumbled Roslin, "Out of the frying pan..." And she looked at Bill. The Colonial Navy man let out a deep, annoyed sigh, then looked at Shepard while Roslin and the others began debating what to do with the matter at hand.
Halsey sighed and shook her head, rubbing the back of her neck and mumbling, "What are the Reapers, then...?" before looking at Shepard and asking her, "How powerful is one Reaper, then? You've fought Sovereign. Anything you can tell us about how they operate, how to prepare for them? Any countermeasures?"
"They're capable of Indoctrination," Shepard replied, "Basically, they're able to turn our own against us. If you find Reaper Tech, shield it immediately, keep EM radiation in and make sure all your teams are checked with a psych eval or two, or you might wind up with a Saboteur in your ranks faster than you can say Cheese."
"Duly noted," Roslin nodded, seemingly a little more afraid. She told Shepard, "Though our people won't like this. Trust will take a nosedive amidst the Fleet, military or Civilian alike. It might lead to further riots, issues... Who knows what sort of problems the Reapers may cause even without being present here."
"And if we don't say anything, we'll wind up facing those issues anyway as the Reapers start spreading rumors," Adama stated rather bluntly, crossing his arms to his chest and looking at Roslin. He told the woman, "We'll need to be prepared in case of anything. Whether it be the Reapers or Humanoid Cylons, at this point..."
Shepard understood the concerns and attempted to alleviate them, telling her and Adama, "It'll only be a problem if you all start picking up random tech you don't know anything about. Best bet is to stick to what you know, like the upgrades the UNSC's doing to the Galactica as we speak," before she motioned to the Cradle working on the Big G.
"This is concerning not just for this Galaxy, but all three of our own," Thrawn commented as he walked over to look at the machine, hands behind his back. He stared up at it, his scarlet eyes glowing like the scarlet hologram that stood before him. He told Shepard, "I and Senator Amidala will speak with the Chancellor, see what extra support we can provide."
"The UNSC Admiralty has already been notified about this," Halsey added, looking at the Admiral, "We'll have at least another Battle Group here to support us within the week," then she looked at Shepard, asking, "If your people find no problems with that... Something wrong?" while noting the confusion strewn across Shepard's face. She looked like someone who had just awoken from a very, very long nap.
Everyone looked at the Commander, who stared at them like they'd grown a second head at random. She asked them, "Wait... You guys are gonna believe me," and she snapped her fingers, "Like that. As if I'm not talking crazy or some... Thing..." and then it hit her:These people were from different Galaxies, what might as well have been different damn universes, to each-other. "Right..."
And if she doubted it for a second, Halsey summed it up, "Well, you have evidence that is currently standing in front of us as a Hologram, Commander. Add to that the detailed reports, the information on the craft 'Sovereign' itself and the calmness with which you relayed this information..." then she looked at Roslin and Adama.
Laura simply nodded to William, who told Shepard, "Considering your track record with our forces so far, Commander, I highly doubt there's reason to distrust you. Plus, like doctor Halsey noted, the evidence is standing in front of us in holographic form," and he motioned broadly at the form of the cephalopod-like alien war machine.
Shepard actually needed a minute to process it. Her heart welled a little as she mumbled in a slightly higher pitch than normal, "Holy shit, does it feel good to finally be listened to..." then she scratched her neck. She cleared her throat, then said, "Right, well... I'm transferring the data over to the station computer so you can all have a good look at it. Other than that, this should be it."
"Very well," Amidala spoke, then sighed and said, "It'll be interesting to tell Ani about this one," as she rubbed her eyes, then let out a light chuckle. She told them, "I and Admiral Thrawn will make sure the Republic will provide support as needed, like I said... Right now, though, the war with the CIS seems to be intensifying."
"We'll take anything you can spare... And any chance you have to convince the Citadel," Shepard murmured, then looked at Sovereign. The bastard was gone and yet here the Council was, still denying basic crap like the existence of a highly-advanced alien armada that was about to come and rip them a new one.
She wished it was as easy for her to stick her head in the sand as it was for them. Still, something told her that the Council wasn't exactly playing fair, either. If there were any species that could hold things close to their chests, it'd be the Asari, Turians and Salarians. The Turians were, at least, more open because they had fought Wars before, meaning they respected humanity. The others?
Well, she cared for Liara, but her people were a pain in the ass. Same for Mordin and his people. Sighing deeply, Shepard told them, "We'll depart, then. Take care and enjoy poring over this damn thing. Make sure to also let us know if you find a chink in its armor we can exploit if we come up against one of'em in the future."
After bidding goodbye, Shepard and her shipmate, Ahsoka, boarded the train back over to the old docking site, watching as the Turians took the Mass Relay outbound from the system all the while, boarded the Normandy and began their operations against the Collectors all over again. She made sure to tell EDI to set up a new-she paused as she saw three more armored Supersoldiers ahead.
Blue Team, to be specific... What-