Chapter 19
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 19


    “Calm down, we’re here to help,” I told the people that had been herded into cages as I let my rifle fall down on my sling and behind my back. “We got your distress call and came as soon as we could.”


    “How do we know that you’re telling the truth, huh?” A Turian stepped forward and in front of the rest of the captives. “You could be a different set of pirates for all that we know.”


    “Armor’s too good,” an Asari slurred as she shakily stood up with a blanket wrapped around her. “Only the wealthiest of pirates would be able to afford something like that.”


    “I’ve got medical supplies here,” I said as a couple of fireteams met me in the cargo bay where I was located. “And we should be able to get those collars off of you.”


    “You some sort of hotshot merc unit?” The Turian challenged as he refused to move away and let us help the rest of the captives. “Because you don’t look like any respectable unit I’ve ever seen.”


    “You can move and let us render aid, or you can be moved by us and we’ll still render aid,” I stated. “Choice is yours.”


    “What do you think you are? A Krogan?” the Turian scoffed while looking at me clad in my specific armor.


    “Mathis, move him before I shoot him,” I sighed. “I’m not here to argue with idiots today.”


    “There’s always one,” Mathis replied as he yanked the door off of the cage with a sharp tug and then manhandled the Turian over to where the medics were setting up a triage station.


    “What are you doing? Put me down!” The Turian yelled while Mathis picked him up.


    “Should have moved when you had the chance,” I shook my head before turning to the rest of the captives. “We still have more sections of the ship to clear out, but I need to know if there are more catpvies before we start moving out.”


    “This is only a third of us,” the Asari spoke up as she moved herself over to the triage area. “We were the ones that put up a fight and so they stuck us here in this area where we could be easily spaced if they had any more issues.”


    “Any thoughts on the locations of the others?” I asked as an EOD tech worked on the explosive collar on the Asari’s neck while a medic went over her physical body.


    “Not a clue,” the alien shook her head. “Likely over to the barge though, it’s typical pirate behavior after all.”


    “Thanks for your help,” I told the Asari before turning to Mathis and collecting my fireteam. “We’ve still got sixty or so civilians to free. Grab a couple of the EOD techs and medics and let’s get moving.”








    “Pirates,” Natasha scoffed as she led her fireteams through the corridor and to the entrance of the bridge. “They never put up the kind of fight that is appreciated.”


    “You think they’d invest their loot into better gear,” Aethyta agreed. “But for some reason they never do.”


    “Too much work,” Jane Thastus spoke up. “Pirates are rarely professionals, and the few that act like it can be a legitimate threat to a military. It is actually safer for them to look and act like a bunch of idiots because it means that there is no real action that seems necessary. And when a pirate group does decide to get professional it means that they typically stop acting like pirates and realize they can form the beginnings of a nation-state.”


    Regina Levi just stopped and stared at her fellow Galaxy Commander for a minute before moving on.


    “What?” Jane asked the ex Smoke Jaguar warrior. “I got my degree on studying the patterns and habits that pirates fall into.”


    “When did you have time to get a degree?” Jill Viola asked as they pushed forward. “I am always too busy to have time to do that sort of thing.”


    “I am not the only one who has acquired a degree,” Jane responded. “Regina and Alexandra have also acquired degrees. It was recommended by Mathis when we were settled down in a time of peace while on Kentares.”


    “Alright then,” Jill replied. “I shall have to look into this sometime.







    “Finally, a worthy adversary,” Natasha said as she grabbed the Krogan that charged her and threw him into the bulkhead with enough force that it left a dent in the wall. “You are a big one.”


    “Need a hand?” Aethyta asked as she exchanged fire with the group of pirates holding down the choke point that was the entrance to the frigate’s bridge.


    “No,” Natasha grunted as she wrestled with the Krogan. “This is the most fun I’ve had in days. Don’t take this from me.”


    “Banging!” Regina called out as she tossed a flashbang into the bridge before following it. The small rounds pinging off her armor as she moved into CQC with her pistol and combat knife drawn.


    “Following,” Jane replied as she hefted her rifle and followed the other warrior, hosing down a pirate that got in her way before shifting and targeting the next one.







    “I’m not as familiar with all of the different physiologies yet,” the medic treating her told Tela Vasir. “We’ve got the basics down, but we’re still working on getting expert data on advanced treatment. Just let me know if I do something wrong, and we’ll move on from there.”


    “I’ve just got some bruises and scrapes for the most part,” Tela tried to brush the medic off at first before she felt a glare and a finger touch her broken arm.


    “No, I can clearly see that it’s broken,” the medic chided her. “Both you and the Batarians have a similar enough skeletal structure that I can figure that much out at least. I’m going to wrap this up in a splint. It’ll take a couple of minutes to harden, and you may feel some heat, but it’ll keep the arm immobile until we can get you scanned and see if there are any more serious problems. Now, would you prefer a female medic for the next part of the examination? I don’t mind if it makes you more comfortable, it’s not like I have a lack of patients after all.”


    “Why would that bother me?” Tela asked as confusion shown clearly in her eyes. “You are a professional yes?”


    “Different species and culture,” the medic hit the side of his helmet. “Sorry about that. I’ll just finish up and we’ll get you some clothes. I’m certain that we’ve got some that will fit you.”







    “No strenuous activity for three months if not more,” the medic ordered Tela after he had finished checking on the rest of her. “I’ll help you get cleaned up and into some fresh clothes so that you aren’t freezing, but you’re going to need some serious therapy to fix some of that. They made sure that you’re going to need surgery in order to be able to do anything more than hobble, and I’m not even going to discuss the mental health issues with what you went through. I’m not a licensed mental health professional after all.”


    “I can’t be a cripple though,” Tela muttered to herself as the medic helped clean her up with a clean rag and then pulled some clothing out of the pack by his side.


    “You won’t be,” the medic replied as he depolarized his visor just enough that she could see the small smile. “We’ve got some of the best doctors in the ‘Sphere onboard the Argo, and they’ll make sure that you’re up and running again. Why, I’m on my second arm, and I’m still good.”


    “Thank you for the clothing and for the care,” Tela inclined her head to the medic as he helped her into the pair of gym shorts and hoodie that was in his bag. “This jacket, what is it called?” She asked as she stuffed her hands into the pocket at the center of the pullover.


    “That’s a hoodie,” the medic cringed internally. “Sorry I didn’t have better clothes, but that was all that I had in my medbag. I actually forgot to pack the normal clothing that we give out for these sorts of things.”


    “This clothing will suffice,” Tela replied. “Now, I believe that there are others who require your care.”


    “Actually, you’re the worst off, and I’m supposed to make sure that your condition doesn’t worsen,” the man replied. “Now, I’m going to get you something to rest on and to cover you with. And then you’re going to rest. Doctor’s orders.”
     
    Chapter 20
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 20


    “Did you find my son?” A Batarian woman asked as we moved back into the civilian passenger ship.


    “Ma’am,” I knelt down. “I’m afraid that the pirates killed all of the slaves that they had taken onto the barge they brought with them.”


    The Batarian wiped tears out of her four eyes as she looked at me and the fireteam that surrounded me. “Did you recover any bodies?”


    “I’m afraid the pirates used the explosive collars,” I replied with a shake of my helmeted head for emphasis. “The pirate captain detonated them while we were breaching the bridge, and we only managed to get a handful of collars off before they detonated.”


    “Can I go and see if I can find him?” The woman asked.


    “As soon as a medic clears you you’ll be free to go and check,” I replied. “I’m not going to deprive any of you from administering the last rights that your species might follow.”


    “Thank you,” the woman inclined her head.


    “We’re going to be staying here until we’ve managed to police everything and get the ships moving with us back to the Imir system,” I informed the civilians. “If any of you were a part of the bridge crew then please let one of these fine people know. We’re going to be patching the ship together and limping it to the Imir system. “


    “They killed the bridge crew,” the Turian who had been defiant earlier spoke up in a subdued tone. “I don’t know why they captured those of us who were in the security forces and killed the bridge crew, but they did.”


    “Alright,” I said. “We’ve got enough trained personnel that we can make it work, but if any of you volunteer to be of assistance and are trained then we could use the help.”







    “It’s been a while since I piloted anything other than the Messenger,” I muttered as I began to sort out the controls for the passenger ship. “It’s a good thing that this isn’t much bigger than that.”


    “The FTL might throw us off though,” my copilot muttered. “That’s why we’re borrowing him,” he jerked his head backward at the Salarian that was helping us to figure out the correct calculations for jumping to FTL.


    “Everything looks to be correct,” the Salarian said as he finished typing something into the terminal. “You should be good to go ahead and take us into FTL.”


    “Here goes nothing,” I muttered as I pushed the ship up to the proper acceleration before punching the button that sent us into FTL. “Wish we had the Matriarch with us, but she was needed on another ship.”








    “We need to get you into surgery within the week,” the medic informed Tela. “We have the facilities and cloned replacements for some of the damaged tissue on standby, but we’re not going to operate without your consent.”


    “What would the surgery entail?” Tela asked as she sat in the chair of the apartment that she had been issued by the armored aliens. “And do you have any idea on what the recovery time would be like?”


    “We’re having to replace some of the tendons in your legs,” the man said bluntly. “We’re also going to be doing a more in depth scan to make sure that the rest of your internal organs didn’t suffer any major damage and that may require another surgery further down the line.”


    “Can I meet with the doctor who would be conducting these?” Tela asked. “I would like to ask about the possibility of transferring to a facility in council space.”


    “We can do that if you would prefer,” the medic replied. “We are sending a couple of your fellow passengers back to Council space in a couple of weeks, it’ll take time to get a crew together though.”


    “I just want the information so that I can make an informed decision,” Tela told the man who had been treating her for the last week or so.


    “I understand,” the medic replied. “Informed decisions are always better anyway.”







    “Girl, you are really messed up, aren’t you?” Aethyta asked the younger Asari as she sat down next to her on a bench to look at the internal ‘park’ that the aliens had set up. “Your insertion method was good, it just ran into a few kinks. Next time, you don’t put up as much of a fight when faced with pirates. You’re good, but if you had succeeded in fighting them off then it would have played your hand too early.”


    “Matriarch,” Tela inclined her head at the older Asari.


    “Don’t pull that shit with me,” Aethyta shook her head. “Just call me Aethyta,” She leaned forward to look at the greenery that was in full bloom. “I knew what you were when we met, but I didn’t think that Tevos would send you in without good intel.”


    “What do you mean?” Tela tilted her head in confusion.


    “These people are paranoid,” Aethyta indicated the armored people walking the streest of the domed city along with the aliens that were helping them rebuild some of the subpar construction. “They go everywhere in their armor, they all conduct themselves with a military efficiency that not even the Turians can replicate.”


    “And all of this means, what exactly?” Tela asked. “I’m not exactly in a position to do anything with this sort of information.”


    “It means that you would have been here for years before you managed to get anything useful,” Aethyta replied. “These people are soldiers first and foremost. When you ended up getting caught, they would have pulled you into a dark room and you would have never been heard from again.”


    “And you won’t be?” Tela asked. “You’re not even making an attempt to hide.”


    “I’m not supposed to hide,” Aethyta responded. “I’m here to see if any of this will change my opinion on the galaxy,” she shrugged. “And if I have to mentor a Spectre who got caught up in something bigger than expected then I’ll do so.”


    “I’m of no use to you,” Tela gestured towards her injuries. “And I’m not certain that I should continue in my current career anymore.”


    “No,” Aethyta turned and glared at the Matron. “You’re not allowed to quit. We’re getting you fixed up, and then I’m training you properly after you’re healed up,” Aethyta stood up. “Let’s get you into surgery, we’ve got a lot of work to do if we want you to be good at this.”
     
    Chapter 21
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 21


    “So, a cruiser-sized Eezo core works extremely well on our Stings,” Dr. Kelley explained as he showed off the proper calculations and research that they had been conducting. “But it isn’t quite as economical as using a frigate-sized core is. Further implementation should involve turning the frigates that we have captured into system defense forces while mounting their eezo cores to our escorts.”


    “But why not just utilize the enemy frigates?” Another engineer asked. “They seem to have figured out all of the problems already.”


    “Because we can’t sustain or maintain the ships that we have captured,” Dr. Kelley explained. “And with this new technology, we can start to develop in-house ways to implement everything while also taking advantage of some of their schools of thought.”


    “Can you give us an example?”


    “Sure,” Kelley pulled up a diagram of the ship that they were all familiar with. “This is the DRoST IIb. It’s something that we all know forms the base of the Sting personnel dropship/gunship. It weighs in at 5300 tons and is capable of being both an effective infantry deployment vessel, as well as escorting both dropships and Warships. It is the staple of our escort craft, but it has a couple of weaknesses that have been exposed here. Can anyone tell me what those are?”


    “It lacks the range and defenses to handle something that is it’s equal in size,” one engineer pointed out.


    “Before we started using the eezo cores, they couldn’t keep up with the local ships,” another scientist spoke up.


    “Both of those things are accurate,” Kelley replied. “And while we can’t fix the range problem without an entire redesign of the vessel, we can start to figure out ways to significantly upgrade the firepower at medium ranges now that we have the capability to match the speed of enemy ships.”


    “That’s not a refit,” one of them said. “That’s an entire redesign of the Sting.”


    “We’re calling this one the Glamdring,” Dr. Kelley explained. “It’s based on a lot of experimental technology that we were working on with NAIS.”


    “Are those capital lasers?” An engineer asked as he looked over the specs?”


    “No, they’re shrunk down to be able to fit onto a dropship,” Kelley replied. “Due to mass savings we tried to make a full capital laser fit, but we just weren’t able to cram more into the design with everything else that we had in play.”


    “These are experimental though,” one scientist raised an eyebrow. “So it’s possible that this won’t work at all.”


    “We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it,” Kelley stated. “We’re working in the high 70s as far as the rate of success goes.”


    “I take it that this is approved by the Duke and by Dr. Rogers?”


    “Affirmative,” Kelley took a sip of some water. “This was something requested by the Duke personally. So we’re going to try and make sure that it happens.”


    “We don’t have any shipyards though,” someone brought up. “How are we expected to be able to start manufacturing?”


    “Shipyards are projected to start construction in the next year or two,” Kelley replied. “With the first line done by year five with four more lines coming online every year after that.”


    “Is there a reason why we’re going to be moving towards such a rapid expansion?”


    “Everything in this galaxy focuses on space combat to a level that we are not able to compete with yet. So we’re going to be moving towards producing things that we can manufacture and maintain as fast as possible.”


    “That’s an awfully short amount of time to be getting entire shipyard lines set up,” one engineer spoke up. “It took us that long just to assess the New Rhodes shipyards to see what could be salvaged and rebuilt.”


    “We’re going to be using some of the Omniforges to speed up construction,” Dr. Kelley explained. “Our rough calculations put it as being able to fabricate more than 75% of what we need on the large scale. The main issues will be programming, design, and ensuring that we do the small parts and operating systems properly.”








    “Well, I always knew that I wanted kids,” Melissa sighed as she looked at one of the Iron wombs that were growing the next generation for the colony. “I just didn’t expect this to be the way that it happened.”


    “You did request that you get one,” Kerlin Ward stated.


    “I’m just surprised by how quickly everything was set up,” Melissa said after a minute. “I know that all of you trained to do this before we left Kentares, but I didn’t really appreciate it until I saw it in action.”


    “Well, the new technology certainly did not hurt,” Kerlin gestured towards the one Omniforge that was by the edge of the colony. “We would have taken far longer if we hadn’t had that set up a couple of months ago.”




    “It’s certainly a new experience though,” Melissa said as she touched the glass of one of the tanks where the new colonists were being grown. “In nine months there’ll be two to three children for every adult in the colony.”


    “We have a need for the numbers, and this is the best way to increase our numbers in a timely manner,” Kerlin stated as he looked at the pods with a sad expression. “But I had hoped that we had moved on from this method. The lack of warmth that stems from this disturbs me in a way that it never would have decades ago,” the man stroked his no longer grey beard, “But needs must and we are not in an environment in which we can take our time in preparing defenses or for war.” The once old man, now made young again looked to the stars as the two leaders of the colony stepped outside. “A war is coming, I feel it deep within me. And so we must be ready, with both soldiers and machines prepared and ready.”
     
    Chapter 22
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 22

    “Migrant Fleet Ship Vakor, this is the Defender. Please remain where you are until your assigned escort arrives,” a roughly translated voice came through the comms system. “Do not deviate from the course we are transmitting to you or you will be fired upon.”

    “Understood Defender, we are holding until escorts arrive,” the Captain of the Vakor responded before turning to the rest of his bridge crew. “Start initiating low-level scans of the system,” he ordered the sensors officer. “I want to see what we are dealing with,” he turned to the weapons officer. “And keep our barriers up and weapons charged. I don’t want this to end up with us having to fight our way out, but we will if we have to.”

    “I know we’re here to pick Sura back up and to reaffirm our salvage negotiations, but why all of the caution?” The security officer asked. “Sura has been consistent in her messages to me that these people have already cleared out all of the pirates in this sector."

    “We're here to gather intel, and these people are new to this corner of the galaxy, if we can use them or their technology against the Geth then it will be worth whatever price we have to pay," Captain Heeme replied. "If that means that we make enemies of them but obtain their technology, then that is a price that the Admiralty has decided to pay if necessary."





    “Captain Gaas'Heeme!” Sura saluted the Captain of the Vakor as he walked down the shuttle’s ramp onto the surface of Korlus. “I’m glad to see you again!”

    “We’re here for negotiations and to take you home,” the captain stated as he responded to the salute with one of his own. "Now, we've gotten some of your messages, but we weren't sure if they could be trusted given that Seetor'Shaama's reports were vastly different from your own both remote and in person."

    "Well, they are most definitely primitive in quite a few ways," Sura began. "This is actually shown best in some of their ship designs. They didn't have artificial gravity or Element Zero in any form."

    "So they would be limited to whatever speed they could get out of their thrusters, and gravity would have been generated by moving at certain rates of speed," Captain Heeme said as he walked beside the female Quarian. "Are our computer systems compatible with their own? I would be interested in seeing if there's anything we can use against the Geth that we can pull from their systems."

    "No, I am afraid that while the hardware interfaces fairly easily, the actual software is radically different in design and is incompatible at all levels," Sura reported. "While I have tried to persuade them to use Omnitools, they have instead opted to use what they call 'slates'. Seeing them as a superior option due to it being able to interface with their own technology."

    "Interesting," Captain Heeme responded. "Have you been able to obtain any knowledge of the inner workings of some of the technology that you spoke of in your messages?"

    "Surface level only," Sura replied. "I've been given explanations and allowed to see how things work on the surface, as well as see the actual output of the reactors and the ship-scale Overloads, but that is all."

    "I was afraid of that," Heeme sighed. "We're here to not only negotiate for salvage but to also do whatever is necessary to get some of that technology back to the Fleet."

    --
    --

    “Where are you going?” Kal’Reeger asked as he watched one of his marines leave her post.

    “I’m going on a perimeter sweep, Captain’s orders,” the Marine replied as he then turned a corner and vanished.

    “What is going on here?” Kal muttered to himself as all but a couple of Marines left their posts and vanished like the first one. “Do you three have any idea?”

    “No sir,” they shook their heads. “We’re just as in the dark as you are on this one.”

    "Lieutenant Veel'Wal, " Reeger said into his comms systems. "Fitor, Coto, and Hin have vanished here, permission to go collect them and return them to their posts?"

    "That's a negative, Reeger," Lieutenant Wal replied."They're following their orders as they have been given."

    "Their orders?" Reeger asked. "Sir, this is the sort of thing that ends up in disaster."

    "Not our call Sergeant," Wal replied. "This comes from the very top of the chain."

    "Sir, with all due respect, it's our job to tell our superiors when a stupid decision is being made," Reeger replied.

    "Not this time, Reeger," Lieutenant Wal responded. "We're deniable assets on this one. Should anything go wrong we were simply a ship and captain who went rogue."





    “Do you believe that Captain Gass and the Vakor will succeed in their mission?” Rael’Zorah asked Han’Gerrel and the rest of the Admiralty while they were conducting a meeting.

    “I believe that they have some of our best people for that sort of job,” Han replied. “And if they should not succeed then we will have only lost one ship and its crew. Which for technology that will give us an edge against the Geth is something that we cannot afford to waste time on."

    “If we obtain even a fraction of the science behind some of the technology then it will be worth it,” Daro’Xen spoke up. “We can find salvage, but new technology is something that we cannot obtain through normal channels. Aside from that, we have nothing of value to trade with them for their technology. So why take the chance that they side with the Council and the rest of the galaxy?”

    "I still believe that we should go and negotiate with this Systems Alliance," Shala'Raan spoke up. "Before the Council and their cabal sour any potential relationships that we might be able to foster."

    "Which is why we are sending a delegation over to the new species on the other side of Relay 314," Zael'Koris said with a sigh. "We are more likely to get favorable results from negotiating with a developed interstellar nation than from some poor primitives in the Terminus Systems," He paused as he looked over the messages that Sura'Gaalas had sent along with the reports that had been filed by Seetor'Shaama. "The discrepancy in the reports does cause me to worry though. Sura notes that they have a professional military, and are making solid progress on actually building up Korlus to be a world worth living on. Whereas, Seetor insists that they are a primitive race who would be easily swayed by our fleets."

    "Sura's reports also focus much less on the actual people and their procedures to instead show the technology that they have developed," Shala spoke up. "That is part of the problem with having an engineer stay behind. She states that they have taken out several small pirate groups, but that means very little. Most pirate groups are made up of individuals with little to no coordination and ships in ill repair."

    "Indeed," Rael stated. "Being able to take out a few small bands of pirates is no indication of them being capable of the levels of security needed to secure their technology from us should we find it necessary to take it. But if they do have that level of security-"

    "Should the Vakor fail, then we disavow them," Han'Gerrel finally stated as he interrupted Rael. "Claim that they went rogue and do not represent the Fleet in any form or fashion while also sending in a group of negotiators as well as people to pick up our 'traitors' so that we can handle them internally."

    "I am in agreement with that," Dao'Xen stated. "Keeping open the source of salvage could be useful and ensuring that either way we are able to benefit from the situation will be difficult but worth it."






    “What are you doing here?” a voice asked one of the suited crew members of the Vakor. “This is a restricted area.”

    “Take it easy, I was just exploring for a little bit,” the Quarian raised his hands in a non-threatening fashion with his omnitool still glowing a solid orange on his arm. “No need to get upset here. I’ll even go back willingly.”

    “Stay there,” one of the massive armored figures stated. “Don’t move or reach for any weapons or we will shoot you.”

    “We’re taking you back to your shuttle,” one of the armored figures instructed. “We’ve recorded your specific suit profile and will be monitoring you for any further suspicious activity.”




    “I’m afraid that that’s not enough salvage for our needs,” Captain Gaas'Heeme tried to explain. “The previous contract-,”

    “The previous contract that you had was with a slaver baron who had your people taken as captives and enslaved," I interrupted. "I'm sure that I can find him to negotiate with you should you so desire. But I believe that he's currently in salvage sector ten working on feeding the Omniforge there."

    "Surely you don't need as much salvage as our fleet does though," Heeme argued. "Korlus is a wasteland."

    "That we are working on turning into a viable world," I stated. "In the past three months, we've seen an increase in immigration of over five hundred percent. We're barely able to keep ahead of the population's living needs by throwing up more habitation domes and prefabricated homes and apartments," I leaned forward. "All of the salvage out there is feeding a rapidly growing machine. We've already cleaned up two percent of the world out there and are hard at work getting the rest of it cleaned up as well," I sighed. "We can do two-thirds of what the previous contract stated, along with you not needing to send more than the transport ships here or sort through the salvage for the parts you need. We'll handle that end, so that takes out a large portion of the time that you would have spent on it anyway."

    "I suppose that seems agreeable," Captain Heeme replied. "Is there a contract that I can take a look at that lays these out in detail?"

    "I've had it translated into Khelish for your convenience," I replied as I handed him an actual folder with paper inside of it. "Now, I have some other business to attend to at the moment, I'll be back in around fifteen minutes or so to finalize the discussion on this."




    “What is going on here?” Reeger finally snapped as he watched his Marines disappear and then reappear at different times. “Private Coto! What were you doing away from your post?!” He asked with his command voice, trying to figure out exactly what the orders that his marines had been given by both the Captain and the Lieutenant.

    "Captains orders Reeger," the private replied. "You know just as well as the rest of us do that sometimes we have to get down and dirty to make sure that the Fleet comes out on top."


    "I hope that this decision doesn't come back to haunt us," Reeger muttered as he began to lock down his personal squad of marines.

    Author's note: Before anyone jumps down my throat. The Admiralty board is all young members, they've only had the post for five years or less here in my personal headcanon. Also, I'm going to be interpreting the Migrant Fleet a bit differently than Canon portrays them. The PIlgrimage is only important to the Migrant fleet, and they don't care much if the Quarian who brought the gift had to lie, cheat, and/or steal to get it. So there are a lot of potential conflicts that can arise when they are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that the fleet stays on top. Also basing some of this on actual canon where the Quarians literally stole the design specs for the Normandy from Tali having been on board. (Which got the Systems Alliance in hot water with the Turians due to it being a joint project between them). The Admiralty is very much not your standard leadership, having to ride herd on a bunch of people who had to beg, borrow, lie, cheat, and steal to get their pilgrimage gifts done. Now, that's not to say all of them did those things in order to obtain their gift, but the perception of Quarians exists for a reason here in this fic.
     
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    Chapter 23
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 23

    "Captain Heeme," I said as I walked back into the negotiating room. "Perhaps you have an explanation for why we caught some of your crew trying to gain access to one of our Omniforges?"

    "He probably was just trying to see what has changed," the Captain tried to brush it off. "We were the ones to bring our previous negotiators and salvage inspectors here to Korlus after all."

    "I would understand that if it were just one or two members of your crew," I replied. "But we keep all newcomers here under surveillance, and when ten people attempt to vanish and gain access to areas that are more than off limits?" I asked rhetorically. "I can accept spies. I expect it even, I even know who most of the ones that are here trying to spy on us are. But attempted espionage is another story entirely," I glared at the Quarian Captain. "Even if I wanted to be in some sort of alliance then you just burned that bridge. I'm sympathetic to your plight, but if I were to offer you anything other than the contract that we just signed I would have a mutiny on my hands. Where I come from, any attempts at stealing technology are dealt with very harshly.

    You have two options here Captain, you can turn over the crew members who were found, and leave them here to be tried and sentenced, or you can try to hold onto them and see what the consequences are."

    "I will not be turning over crew members who were following my orders," The Captain said with fire in his voice. "So I shall see what your consequences are."

    "I respect you for that," I said as a couple of Ducal Guard members made their presence known from the shadows. "But that does not change reality, unfortunately. Take him to a holding cell," I told the Guardsmen. "And have Paige and her Marines board their ship. Keep it as nonlethal as possible though, hopefully having his crew still alive will help change the outcome of this entire situation."

    --
    --


    "Come on Captain, you have to give me something to work with here," I said to the Quarian who was seated in the interrogation room. "It took me hours to get my people to agree to simply have your people serve their time as penal laborers instead of just having them executed."

    "I'm afraid that my crew and I are not beholden to the Admiralty," Captain Heeme stated. "We acted of our own volition, and must now face the consequences."

    "I see that you won't be budged," I said as I stood up and made my way out the interrogation room door, sagging as it closed behind me.

    "Everything alright sir?" the Guardsmen who was on guard asked.

    "Yeah," I replied. "Just dealing with people who have more stubbornness than common sense."

    "Should've just spaced the lot of them if you ask me," the Guardsman said with some venom in his voice. "Trying to steal tech like that."

    “O’Neill right?” I asked, before receiving a nod. “You’re new to the Ducal Guard, right? Earned your way in via skill after being a part of the Kentates Militia if I remember correctly?”

    “Yessir,” the young man stood up straight. “That’s correct.”

    “Have you started on your degree yet?” I asked. “We normally require that you at least be working on furthering your education aside from the cross-training that we have you go through.”

    “I had just started my distance learning work before this whole mess,” O’Neill replied. “I’m still working on what I can with some help from some of the other members of the Guard.”

    “Something that would have been covered in your second year is the basis of deniable operations,” I said as I leaned back against the wall. “Unless we have undeniable proof that this was ordered by someone high up in the Quarian Admiralty then we have to operate as if what they say is true.”

    “Then what are we going to do with them?” O’Neill asked.

    “We’re going to put them to work,” I replied. “They’re still capable engineers, and we will need their help in clearing out the sections of salvage that we have started work on.”

    “And what if they leak data?” O’Neill asked. “Most of the Quarians have their Omnitools built into their suit or implanted into their wrists, so it’s not like we can restrict their access to them.”

    "There's a couple of options on the table to deal with that," I replied tiredly. "But I'm not going to get into the details right now."

    “Thanks for stopping to explain all of that, sir,” O’Neill shuffled nervously. “I know I’m just a grunt, but I appreciate you taking the time to do that.”

    “If you’re a member of the Ducal Guard then you stopped being ‘just a grunt’ a long time ago,” I chuckled. “Mathis doesn’t pick people who are willing to settle for being grunts,” I jerked my thumb at the shadow behind me as it morphed into the massive shape of Mathis, causing the younger Guardsman to snap to attention.

    “O’Neill,” Mathis nodded his head at the shorter man. “I’ll be assigning you a tutor soon. Expect to be quizzed on everything that Hull here covered today, but in far greater detail.”

    “Understood sir,” O’Neill replied. “I’ll do my best.”

    “Yes, you will,” Mathis then melted back into the shadows as I inclined my head at O’Neill before leaving the interrogation area.









    “I’ve finally gotten everything sorted out,” Natasha told me as we sat in my office while relaxing for the first time this week. “The new Mercenary Review Board will be up and running in a couple of weeks, with Korlus being the world that is the center for our operations.”

    “How’d you manage to pull that off?” I asked. “I’ve been a bit too busy dealing with the Quarian delegation to keep track of all of the reports that have come across my desk.”

    “It took some help from Melissa and then we needed to go and enlist Carter’s aid as well given that she was the one that had the most direct dealings with the MRB back home,” Natasha stated. “But after negotiating with the major merc groups and figuring out a rating system and means of submitting jobs we finally managed to get it done,” she took a sip of the drink that she had in front of her. “And Aethyta was made the current head of the MRB,” Natasha shrugged. “For some reason, all of the major mercenary groups weren’t willing to cross her.”

    “I’ll have to make a note of that,” I replied as I typed said note into an application on my slate. “Given her age, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had some dealings with all of the merc leadership at some point.”

    “Well, Aethyta has really taken to it,” Natasha said as she stood up and stretched, emphasizing her figure in certain ways.

    “We can worry about that later,” I replied as I stood up and moved over to my wife. “Right now though, it’s our break time.” I kissed her and she responded in kind before the door opened behind us.

    “What?!” We both turned and yelled at Melissa who just stood there awkwardly for a minute before smirking.

    “Nothing that can’t be dealt with later,” Melissa replied. “You can continue, I’ll just be here taking notes for future reference.”
     
    Last edited:
    Chapter 25
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 25


    “Are you sure that you’ve got a handle on this?” I asked Melissa one last time before I stepped away to take a well-deserved break.


    “I’m sure,” Melissa waved me off. “Go spend some time on Veil getting some mech training in and some R&R. I’ll make sure that the place is still standing when you get back.”


    “Alright then,” I pulled Melissa in for a hug. “I’m proud of you, you know that?” I said. “And both your father and mother would be proud as well. I’m telling you now because they’re not here to tell you that.”


    “I know they would be,” Melissa buried her head into my shoulder as a couple of tears traced their way down her cheek. “It’s just hard thinking about what they’re going through right now. Did they spend a lot of time searching for us? Or did they just give us up as lost in the depths of hyperspace?”


    “I’m not sure that’s something we’ll know,” I replied as I continued to comfort the Steiner blond. “But we know that they would want us to thrive no matter where we are,” I met Melissa’s eyes. “So if you need a break, I can continue working for a bit longer. I know that we’ve been relying on you to float between Veil and Korlus a lot, and if you need to just sit for a bit and process then I can continue to handle things here until you’re ready.”


    “I know it’s selfish,” Melissa wiped her tears up. “But I think I’ll take you up on that. I’m sorry for making you do more work.”


    “Everyone has a breaking point,” I reminded her. “Sometimes we have to push past them, and sometimes it’s more important that we take a break before we break down completely. Go take a break, I can handle this for another week or two. Natasha might even take it easy on me if it’s to give you a break.”


    “Are you sure?” Melissa’s watery eyes looked up at me. “I don’t want to make more work for you.”


    “I’m sure,” I replied with a soft smile. “Go take a break. I won’t die from a little extra work after all. Besides, I finally have a secretary again!” I cheered, breaking the somber atmosphere. “So that means that it’s nigh impossible for me to overwork on the level that I used to.”


    Melissa just giggled for a minute before giving me a peck on the cheek and leaving my office. “I’ll be back in a month,” she promised. “So please don’t make Natasha have to come and pay me an angry visit.”


    “No promises,” I laughed. “At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Saint Murphy had decided to permanently stake me out.”







    “I was told that you had good news for me,” I said to Dr. Kelley as I walked through the corridors of the Argo.


    “Yessir,” Kelley replied. “We finally finished drawing up the plans for the Glamdring, and have started the planning stages for something quite a bit bigger.”


    “Oh?” I asked with a raised eyebrow as O’Neill flanked me on the right side. “How much bigger?”


    “Something that would compare to the Redemption,” Kelley grinned while he opened the engineering lab door. “Because we took apart the first cruiser that we obtained from pirates we were able to get a look at those spinal guns of theirs, and we got some ideas.”


    “I’ll take a look at them after I see the plans for the Glamdring,” I told the excited engineer. “I’d rather us have one ship that we know we can produce rapidly first before we branch out and start overspecializing on things.”


    “The Glamdring honestly isn’t that complicated,” Kelley said as we sat down at one of the lab desks and began to go over the plans. “Given that we have experts in getting factories set up, and that the advanced tech is made easier to construct with the scaled-up Omniforges, we should be fine,” Kelley then pointed to one critical area. “The hardest part of getting all of this set up is going to be building a working eezo core. Until we can figure that out, we’re going to be bottlenecked there.”


    “It’s going to be the same for K-F drives as well,” I told Dr. Kelley. “Veil has the only Germanium supply that our intel ships have found while searching so far.”


    “Then we’re going to be limited to local monitor-style ships if we cannot lock in a supply of Element Zero,” Dr. Kelley stated. “If we want our ships to be able to compete in speed or to be able to run some of the experiments that we are slated for then we cannot afford to go without it.”


    “There are some plans in the works,” I told the Scientist. “But the point is entirely moot until we’ve gotten our shipyards up anyway,” I turned to look at the planned projects and ship designs that were being worked on. “We’re not going to be building anything bigger than the Glamdring here in the Imir system,” I said after a minute of looking at some of the ship designs for ships that were the size of the Redemption or Manassas. “I want to keep some of our big sticks in reserve for emergencies.”


    “Having a sizable defense fleet for our colony will be essential of course,” Dr. Kelley agreed as he sent me the data on a project that they were calling Narsil.


    “Keeping the Lord of the Rings theme going?” I asked with a grin.

    “It suits our purposes,” Dr. Kelley replied with a smug look on his face. “Besides, I think you’re going to like this.”


    “Hmm,” I said after a minute of looking at it. “I’m no expert, but it looks like this is much more automated than most of our ships.”


    “We took a lot of inspiration from both the upgrades made to the Manassas and the Sovetskii Soyuz,” Dr. Kelley stated proudly. “We’re hoping that this could be run by a crew of ten to fifteen with a platoon of Marines on standby to repel boarders if necessary.”


    “I’m assuming that you’re going to have remote atmospheric controls?” I asked. “Because if you don’t, then this thing is just asking to be boarded and taken over if someone manages to get in close.”


    “If someone manages to get that close then one of these ships is most likely dead anyway,” Dr. Kelley stated. “After all, it still retains the docking collars and should be able to carry both a pair of Stings and a pair of Glamdring’’s along as escorts.”


    “That’s a fair point,” I said after a minute. “If we can get K-F production started then I’ll see about trying to make this a reality, but we may be bottlenecked to just Sting and Glamdring production for a little while.”


    “As long as it’s taken into consideration,” Dr. Kelley said after he closed his slate. “That’s all that we’re asking for.”


    “I’ve got a couple of years to work out the bottlenecks,” I replied as I stood up and began to leave the engineering lab. “Hopefully by the time the first yard is up and running we should be ready to go.”
     
    Chapter 26
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 26


    “We’re being followed,” Mathis told the trio that he was escorting through the streets of Ilium. “I count three with potential backup.”


    “Copy that,” Natasha responded on her comms as she titled her head and informed the two Asari that were following her.


    “Two Batarians and a Krogan,” Mathis said as he confirmed the tails that they had on them. “Marking on the Krogan looks like that pirate band that we’ve had multiple run-ins with.”


    “I recommend that we branch off into the alleyway ahead,” Aethyta said as she considered what she was being told. “We should be able to grab and interrogate them.”


    “Copy that,” Mathis said in his deep voice as he vanished into the crowd and moved behind the trio. “Continue moving, I’m situated for an ambush.”


    Natasha, Tela Vasir, and Matriarch Aethyta turned down a dead-ended alleyway and prepared to receive visitors. Turning around, they pulled out the sidearms that they carried and waited for their tails to arrive. After a few moments, they saw the Krogan and two Batarians turn and make their way down the alleyway.


    “You can’t hide from us!” One of the pirates yelled. “We’re going to take you with us back to Torfan one way or another, it’s up to you how it goes.”


    “I seriously doubt that you’ll be doing much of anything except dying,” Aethyta said as she used her biotics to jerk all three of the aliens into the air before smashing them into the ground with a casual flick of her wrist.


    Mathis, being the man that he was, immediately moved to subdue and secure the temporarily stunned aliens as they tried to recover from what was several times their normal gravity.


    “Is there a place where I can secure these three for interrogation?” Mathis asked as his helmeted head turned to address both Tela and Aethyta.


    “There’s a bunch of cheap motels in the area,” Aethyta said after a minute. “We can hold them there for a short time before disposing of them.”


    “It’s been a while since I’ve done any wetwork,” Mathis said after knocking the Krogan unconscious with a heavy punch to his headplate. “But I’ve still got the basics down at least. So let’s move these three, and I’ll have another guard dispatched from the Serenity to cover my post while I see what sort of information these three have.”


    “Alright then,” Natasha said. “We’ll get these three secured and then make our way back to the Serenity.”








    “Hey,” Mathis stood over the Batarian as he grabbed the sheet of plastic and the cloth that he was going to be using in a minute. “It’s good to see that you’re awake, I was worried that you might end up dead from that hit on the head I gave you.”


    “Where am I?” the Batarian jerked his head around in surprise as he looked around the room. “Look, I’m just a hired hand, the other guy is who you want,” the alien stammered as the Mithril-clad man took a menacing step forward. “I’m just a grunt hired to follow you guys around.”


    “We’ll see,” Mathis said as he made sure that the extranet panel was playing some sort of porn loud enough to cover the screams that would soon be coming from the room. “Lies are your go-to in this kind of thing anyway.”







    “Your man going to be okay by himself?” Aethyta asked once they were back on the Serenity.


    “Mathis?” Natasha asked. “He’s the most solid operator that has ever served under my husband. I trust him with my life and I have trusted him with the life of my children before. He’s probably the single best person for this kind of work that we have with us.”


    “Ma’am,” the captain of the Serenity spoke up to Natasha. “We’re all warmed up and ready to make a quick getaway when given the order.”


    “We are just waiting on Mathis,” Natasha replied. “Once he is onboard you’re cleared to leave.”


    “I’ll let the local ATC know,” Wash replied over the intercom. “Would hate to run into anyone on our way out.”







    “I’ve got the information that we need,” Mathis said once he had boarded the ramp of the Serenity.


    “We’re departing now,” Wash informed the crew as he began to pilot the Serenity out of the atmosphere. “ATC has cleared us and we are initiating our burnout now.”


    “What did you get from them?” Aethyta asked bluntly.


    “A location,” Mathis replied. “This band of pirates is based on a moon called Torfan, looks like they are in cooperation with quite a few other bands of pirates as well.”


    “Anything else?” Natasha asked.


    “I’ve got their Omnitools,” Mathis replied with a shrug. “But I’m not savvy enough with this new tech to pull data from them.”


    “I might be able to help with that,” Tela said as she stepped forward, glad to be able to do something other than learning. “I’ve got an ex-STG operator who owes me a couple of favors,” She stated confidently. “I know where he lives, and if we’re willing to detour a bit then we can probably get him to pull all of the data from the Omnitools.”


    “Give the coordinates to the pilot,” Natasha told the Spectre. “I have a feeling that we’re at a crossroads here that could change things in a major way.”




    -----------------------------------------------------



    “You are the first militia to step through our training program,” Duke Hull said as he looked out over the thousand or so aliens who would be going through a program similar to that which had been utilized on Kentares IV. “This training will push you to the edge of yourself, and hopefully help you to break past that which you considered impossible before. We will equip you with the necessary skills to start a career in defending others from potential enemies. But it is up to each one of you individually to remain motivated and to learn what we have to teach. This will not be easy. Some of you may even decide that this is not the life that you wanted to live.


    But know this, each one of you is going to be made into something new, and we’re going to forge you into a combined armed force that can withstand anything that may come our way. You and all of the other volunteers throughout this world are going to be put through hell. But it is better to sweat now than to bleed later. And trust me, we will be making you sweat, and we will be getting down and in the mud with you to prove that this works. At the end of this six-month journey, you will be able to do anything that is required of you in an engagement. Now, I’m going to turn everything over to your Drill instructors from here on out. Train hard, because the future is not certain.”
     
    Chapter 27
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 27

    “What’s the plan for upgrading our fighters?” I asked Dr. Rogers as we both worked on figuring out the cost in resources that some of the new ship models would cost us. “I’m feeling a battle on the horizon, and I don’t want to lose some of our best pilots to some sort of AA that we aren’t expecting.”

    “Well, we can’t put kinetic barriers on our fighters yet,” Rogers said as she typed up some numbers on her slate. “We haven’t figured out how to produce them on a small enough scale yet, and we’ve been prioritizing getting the Stings and Warships set up with eezo cores and kinetic barriers over getting our fighters outfitted with all of the new technology.”

    “What have we done then?” I asked. “I’m sure there was a report on it, but I see so many reports on a daily basis that they’ve started to blur together.”

    “Blaze only requested inertial dampening in the ASF systems for now, with promises that they get future upgrades as we develop new tech and get more familiar with Element Zero,” Rogers replied. “To hear him talk about it, it’s as if we gave him and his pilots the world by allowing them to be able to take on more G forces.”

    “You probably did,” I said with a chuckle. “Pilots always want to go faster, and you just handed them their dream come true.”

    “Well, I’m finished with my estimates,” my lead scientist and engineer said as she sent the data to my slate. “I’m going to go check on Kelley’s team and then get some rest.”

    “Enjoy,” I told the woman. “I’m going to run the numbers on the Glamdring again and then check on Winston’s pet project.”

    I took a look at the numbers and banged my head on my desk for a minute after Rogers left.

    “I always hated this part,” I sighed as I picked my slate up again and triple-checked the salvage numbers along with what the salvage would be going to, finding that we would be able to make ends meet, but if we didn’t expand the salvage operations then we’d fall behind soon.

    On the other hand, we were flush with the local currency that we had “liberated” from the barons that had been on Korlus when we got here and changed the management, and I was working on investing some of that currency into various companies and ventures that would hopefully bring about profits in the long run that we could use to fund the terraforming operations that we were going to be doing to the junkyard that Korlus currently was.

    After going through all of the numbers one last time, I stood up and stretched. Enjoying the cracks that were produced from my spine as it rippled and some of the stress was released from my body.




    “What the hell kind of game is that?” I asked Nadia as we walked around the perimeter of one of the compounds she was using for the Krogan.

    “Rugby and football were not violent enough for them and didn’t help them to focus on the lessons afterward,” Nadia said bluntly. “So Mackenzie and I have had to get inventive.”

    “And that led to this?” I asked as I looked at the mocked-up battlefield with some Scorpions and other militia-grade tanks that were being used as cover by groups of Krogan as the tanks advanced under heavy fire from what looked like manpack SRMS and some other anti-tank weapons.

    “It is working surprisingly well,” Nadia said. “And while using the ammunition we have issued it ends in bruises or broken bones at the most. With the Krogan’s regeneration, they can do this for much longer and are then able to focus on the other lessons that we have been instructing them on. Also, this is a great way to instruct them in our basic tactics and strategies for when they are eventually deployed.”

    We both looked at what was essentially a battlefield that looked just as chaotic as real warfare. With two main groups fighting and a third trying to sneak its way through to the objective to win the scenario.

    “What does the winning team get?” I asked.

    “The winner of the combat scenario gets to pick their starting point for the next scenario and also gets to decide what lessons the group focuses on next,” Nadia said. “Some of the teams opt for more combat training, and we have others that are asking for more engineering training, and then still others that want to be trained on piloting tanks and other machines of war.”

    “So they still get training regardless,” I said as I looked at the war going on through the Tri-vid display. “And this way they also get to have a little fun with it?”

    “Indeed,” Nadia inclined her head. “We have also mixed the clans up so that they’re not unduly influenced by their standard leaders. While this caused some issues in the beginning, once we established that this was about learning to command people that you might not get along with they took it in stride.”

    “I assume that it took some object lessons for that to be the case though,” I said as I watched a Krogan dart forward and plant a smoke charge on one of the tanks, causing it to act as if it had been destroyed.

    “Indeed,” Nadia said with a laugh. “I was challenged many times until it was finally understood that this was effective.”

    “And now they’re working together, and really well from the looks of it,” I said as the tank crew popped the hatch and the two Krogan hopped out, one of them taking fire before being pulled out of the line of fire by his allies.

    “It took us months to get to this point,” the woman replied. “I am hoping that we have some sort of real engagement soon so that we can prove that all of this really works on the battlefield.”

    “I think we’ll have something for them soon,” I said. “Like I told Dr. Rogers earlier, I’ve got a feeling that there’s a conflict on the horizon, and that we need to be ready.”

    “These Krogan are not ready for a war yet,” Nadia depolarized her visor to meet my eyes. “Or at least not the kind of wars that we fight. Even as warlike as the Krogan are they have not had a serious conflict in centuries, and we are going to shock them once we actually begin to wage a war.”

    “Just have them as trained up as they can be,” I said after a minute or so. “Because this is going to be our debut on the galactic stage.”




    “Here,” a Salarian tossed a data chit to Tela Vasir as he met both her and the other three in a shady bar. “Took me a couple of hours to break through the decryption on there, so it seems that someone in their group takes cybersecurity seriously.”

    “Thanks,” Tela said as she inserted the chit into her Omnitool before sending a copy over to Aethyta. “You need anything before we head on out?”

    “Yeah,” the Salarian said as he took a look around. “I need a lift off of this rock, turns out that people can’t handle losing at gambling too well around here.”

    “Aerdin Ginok, please tell me that you didn’t piss off one of the main casinos here,” Tela said as she buried her face into her hands.

    “Alright,” the Salarian grinned as he sat across from the Spectre. “I won’t tell you that I stole several hundred million credits from the casinos in the area.”

    “We need to leave,” Tela said as she grabbed the Salarian by his collar and threw him over her shoulder. “Now. These casinos do not play around.”

    “Captain Reynolds, you may want to have the Serenity ready to leave when we get there,” Natasha said into her comms. “We’re going to be making a hot exit.”

    “Aerdin, you’re not supposed to get caught!” Tela said as she started running for the aircar that they had rented.

    “How was I supposed to know that they had one of my old STG partners on board as a security consultant?” The ex-STG specialist asked as he was thrown into the back of the car as Aehtyta slid around and into the driver’s seat.

    “You’re just adding to that pile of favors that you owe me, you do realize that, right?” Tela asked as she braced herself and unfolded her assault rifle as she saw a group of Turians and Batarians go into the bar they had just left.

    The Aircar took off as Aethyta gunned the engine and began to head for the spaceport. Not taking any chances on the Casino’s henchmen being able to catch up to them.

    “What can I say? Aerdin replied with a shrug. “I like to gamble with high stakes.”

    “And one day it’ll get you killed,” Tela said as she slugged the Salarian in the shoulder. “And you don’t have that much life left to live.”

    “Just rub it in,” Aerdin said with a chuckle. “I’m an old man, just let me have my fun.”

    “And have you die before I collect my favors? Tela said rhetorically. “I’ll pass on that.”

    “Funsucker,” Aerdin snarked with a wide smile on his face. “One day you’ll be old and realize that you missed out on a lot of life because you were too serious. And I won’t be there, but you’ll remember me saying that you should have enjoyed life more.”

    “I’m enjoying life perfectly well,” Tela replied in an offended tone.

    “When was the last time you took some time off and just relaxed?” Aerdin asked as he switched over to being serious. “Because you’re wound up tighter than you were on that op-”

    “You promised to never speak of that op,” Tela said as she held the Salarian’s mouth shut. “So I would appreciate it if you never brought it up again.” She then recoiled as the Salarian’s tongue left drool all over her hand. “That’s disgusting,” she said as she shook the spit off of her hand.

    “Well, one of us has to be the reasonable adult here,” Aerdin said as he poked fun at the Spectre.

    “And it is currently neither of you,” Natasha said as she glared at the two of them. “We have been at the spaceport for the last couple of minutes, but you two were too busy arguing to notice.”

    “Oops,” Aerdin said as he hopped out of the aircar and made his way up the ramp of the Serenity. “How very Krogan of you.” He noted as he walked into the cargo bay. “But I think I like it.”
     
    Chapter 28
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 28

    “I’ve got a target of opportunity for us,” Natasha said as she walked into my office. “At the end of the month over twenty thousand slaves are going to be held for auction on a planet called Torfan. I want to crash their party, rescue the slaves, and capture and interrogate any of the ones who would be purchasing said slaves.”

    “I take it you have an idea of an operational plan?” I asked.

    “The beginnings of a plan,” she said with a savage smile. “Have we managed to upgrade the rest of the dropships with the new FTL method?”

    “About half of them,” I replied with a shrug. “Certainly not enough for the entirety of the Marksman or Ducal Guard to deploy by the end of the month.”

    “What about the captured haulers?” Natasha asked. “Are they able to tow ships through their FTL method?”

    “I honestly have no idea,” I replied. “But if it is possible then we’re going to be very busy testing it out to see if there are any drawbacks.”

    “Good,” Natasha said as she reclined on the lone sofa in the office. “That gives me enough time to figure out an actual plan.”

    “I can help with that,” I offered.

    “No, you have enough to accomplish as it is,” Natasha said with a sigh. “As much as I would like to be side by side with you and planning the elimination of our enemies I know that you are needed here to get things arranged for the safe arrival of the rescued slaves and what is to be done with them after we are finished with the rescue.”

    “True,” I replied. “One thing that people always seem to forget is the aftermath of this kind of op.”





    “We don’t know if it is possible or not,” Dr. Kelley said as he looked at his slate. “I mean, we’re not familiar enough with the new technology to answer one way or the other as to whether it has even been tested before.”

    “Can you run it by Sura and the Quarians?” I asked. “I’ve got a lot of preparations to make regardless of whether you can tow other ships or not. Just make sure that you have an answer for me by the end of tomorrow. I’m not willing to put our people through something that we haven’t done our very best to test and get working properly.”

    “I’ll see what I can come up with,” Dr. Kelley said. “But you may want to have a backup plan in place for if it doesn’t work.”

    “I’m working on one,” I said as I stood up from the chair I had been sitting in. “Dr. Rogers and I are working on the logistics of everything while Natasha, Carter, and Mathis get the operational plan working.”


    -------------------


    “Alright, initiating test number one,” Dr. Kelley said as he directed the pilot to start plotting a short FTL course with a singular dropship in tow.

    “Starting us off slow,” the pilot replied. “Moving to engage.”

    “I’m keeping an eye on all of the readings from my slate, ”Dr. Kelley said from where he was strapped in.

    “Jumping now,” the pilot said as he pushed the button to engage in FTL.




    “We’ve got to drop out of FTL,” Dr. Kelley said after a few hours. “The static buildup is too high for this to be survivable for longer than ten hours at a time.”

    “We are close to our target destination though,” the pilot said with a shrug. “Even if we were slowed down by towing the dropship.”

    “Speaking of which,” Kelley said as he opened up a comms channel to the dropship crew. “They should be communicating with us now. “

    “Doctor, we lost communications for the entirety of the trip,” the dropship captain said plainly once they had been able to reestablish communications. “Whatever static charge thing is building up is playing merry hell with anything regarding our sensors or our comms systems. But nothing else is majorly affected.”


    “Copy that,” Dr. Kelley replied. “We’re going to discharge the static and then make our way back to the Imir system. We have proof that this will work, but we’ve got some kinks to work out before it’s a solid method of transporting some of our troops.”



    “What can we do to make this a viable way of transporting our people?” Dr. Kelley asked the rest of the assembled engineers, problem solvers, and scientists that he was in charge of. “I need ideas. So I’ll be splitting you up into groups of five to six and having you each try and figure out what can work and be realistically tested and implemented with the resources that we have available. I need your solutions submitted by the end of the week, so don’t think that this is a project that you can be lazy on. We need results people.”




    “So it works?” I asked Dr. Kelley at our regular meeting.

    “It does, but there are some long-term concerns,” the scientist replied. “Static buildup increases dramatically when hauling an extra mass like that, and we’re going to have to find a way to discharge that before we can use this as a way to transport our people.”

    “The report said something about losing external sensors and comms when being transported,” I recalled.

    “Yes, the static buildup temporarily rendered those systems inoperable despite our hardened systems,” he responded. “It didn’t completely shut them down, but we did have to reset them to receive complete comms and sensor data from and for the dropship.”

    “That could be a problem,” I said as I stroked my beard in thought. “If we operated with our dropships still dealing with the comms being down we would have to understand and build our plan around that weakness.”

    “Why aren’t we using our Jumpships and Warships for this?” Kelley asked.

    “Too far away for us to make it in time,” I sighed. “We have a limited time window and the mass relays are faster for this sort of thing. While we are using the Manassas because we already installed a core onto it, we still don’t have the ships. If I had two to three months then I would have already dispatched the rest of them to go hit our targets and get out. But I don’t have that luxury at this time and so we’re having to make it up as we go along.”

    “Copy that,” Dr. Kelley said as he stood up. “I’ll have a solution in a couple of days, even if I have to jury rig it myself for it to work. We don’t let people get traded like that.”

    “Agreed,” I said to the other man as he left my office.

    “Now, time to see what I can do to get set up for the influx of slaves that we are going to be rescuing from this moon.” I cracked my neck and opened up my slate to the data that we had on the pirate haven.
     
    Chapter 29
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 29

    “Dropping you off quietly now,” one of the VTOL pilots said as the troop transport set down just out of sight of an orbital battery and let the twenty-four power armoured infantry out of the craft. “I’ll be setting down somewhere out of sight so let me know when you need a pickup or evac.” The Goshawk VTOL took off and made its exit as the twenty-four specialists began their trek across the airless moon to their objective.

    “Wilco,” Lieutenant Veronica Miles said as she braced her knees for the light drop. “We’re going in quiet on this op, so let’s keep the noise to a minimum yeah?” She said to her troops.

    “Yes ma’am,” the men and women of her team responded as they screwed on suppressors or gave their handheld laser weaponry one last glance.

    “Remember, we’re here to disable the orbital guns so that our dropships can get here without being threatened too much. Also, watch your fire. There’s a lot of slaves down here and I don’t want us to be responsible for accidentally killing any of them.”

    “You heard the lady,” Staff Sergeant Locke said with bark in his voice. “We’ve got a mission to accomplish, now let’s get moving.”




    “Fireteams Alpha and Charlie, with me,” Lieutenant Miles ordered. “Locke, you’ve got Bravo and Delta. We’ll take the guns on the far side, you take the ones closer to the LZ.”

    “Copy that ma’am,” Sergeant Locke replied as fireteam Bravo began to stack up on the entrance to the airlock of one of the orbital guns.

    “On you,” Sergeant Locke Gestured to Specialist Jameson as he set the breaching charges.

    “Breaching!” Jameson said into their comms as he triggered the shaped charges and blew the airlock. The pointman threw a flashbang into the room and waited for it to detonate before moving in and to the left.

    “Six tangos,” the pointman said as he fired his suppressed rifle into the chest of a Batarian pirate until his kinetic barriers sparked and died, the massive rounds penetrating the ceramic-based hardsuit after another burst of fire.

    Jameson, being the second one into the room, went right, his rifle raised and ready to fire on who he found in the room.

    “I’ve got a noncombatant here!” He yelled as he saw a Turian with a slave collar cowering below a pirate.

    “We’ll treat her after we deal with the hostiles,” Locke said as he went in and took out a third pirate before moving to clear another section of the room. “Clear!” He shouted as he cleared his sector.

    “Clear!” The rest of the two fireteams responded as they each cleared out their sectors.

    “Alright, let’s make sure that the rest of this gun is clear and then set our charges,” Locke said. “We’re on a timetable here.”




    “Fucking pirates,” Lieutenant Miles said as she kicked the dead body of the slaver she had caught ‘enjoying’ one of his slaves.

    “Charges are set ma’am,” one of her platoon members reported. “And we found a couple of hardsuits that the slaves we rescued can use.”

    “Get them suited up,” Miles ordered. “We’ve got to get out of here and detonate these charges.”



    “How much longer do you think they’re going to take?” Smith asked his copilot, Fletcher.

    “No clue,” she shrugged. “But I’m not liking the look of these enemy gunship patrols. They keep edging closer to our location.”

    “Someone probably got made,” Smith said as he began to wake the systems back up. “And it’s time to pick up our troops anyway.”

    “Time to move then,” Fletcher said as she took over the weapons controls. “I’ve got the guns.”

    “And I’ve got the stick,” Smith replied with a laugh as he pulled the VTOL up and over the rock pile they had been hiding behind, surprising the enemy gunship as they moved right behind it.

    “Firing,” Fletcher said as the two lasers shot out invisibly due to the lack of air accompanied by the flurry of five missiles from their LRMs. “I’ve got confirmed hits, looks like moderate engine damage on the gunship. And their barriers are down too, must have hit something critical.”

    “Keep it up then,” Smith ordered his copilot as he weaved through some of the missiles that the gunships threw at them while turning around. “This gunship needs to die before we get our people picked up.”

    “Firing five of our rocket pods,” Fletcher said as she triggered some of the rockets to fly out and impact the already damaged gunship. “Tango is down.”

    “Yeah, but they definitely got a message off,” Smith said as he brought his VTOL up to full speed. “Marksman Platoon Mike-Bravo 2, we’re doing a fast pick up, I repeat, a fast pick up.”

    “Copy that, Golf 1-2,” Lieutenant Miles responded. “We’re waiting at the LZ now.”




    “Orbital guns are down,” the report was relayed to Natasha. “We’re having our Stings engage their frigates now while our cruisers come out of FTL and take on their three cruisers.”

    “Good,” Natasha said as she strapped herself into her Nightstar. “Are our scout VTOLs in place?”

    “Aye ma’am,” the report came. “All reports confirm that their main strength is in the spaceports or the strongholds below.”

    “Mathis, I want you and the spec ops teams to begin breaching the strongholds now,” Natasha ordered. “We are dropping our vehicle and mechs on the spaceports as a distraction so you should have less to deal with.”


    “Copy that,” Mathis replied. “What do you want to be done with any enemy VIPs?”

    “Hold them for interrogation,” Natasha responded firmly. “We are going to figure out where they are sourcing their slaves from and where their main buyers are.”


    “Understood,” the reply came back. “I’ll let you know if we run into any major problems down below.”

    “Good hunting, Mathis,” Natasha said as she signaled to the tech that she was ready to be dropped, feeling the slight lurch that normally occurred when gravity took ahold of a mech and began to pull it downward to its impact point.

    “And you as well ma’am,” Mathis replied.




    “Why are all of our orbital guns down?!” Egram Brok'caros screamed as he walked into the command center of the spaceport, “This is supposed to be our most profitable day, why are we experiencing these problems?!”

    “At first we thought it was just a glitch sir, a couple of gunships failed to report in, but that’s normal for us. Then, we thought that it might be a long-range Turian Patrol-”

    “The Turian who is in charge of this sector was paid off well in advance for this, so it would not be the Turians,” Egram interrupted fiercely as he glared at the technician. “So we must be under attack from someone else, have all of our clients informed that we cannot provide them with their slaves or their money if we lose this moon.”

    “I’ll relay the message,” the other Batarian cowered before the still-angry senior caste member.

    “Yes, you will,” Egram said as he drew his pistol. “And find me the commander of the troops on loan from the Hegemony, I have a feeling that we're going to need them soon.”
     
    Chapter 30
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 30

    Natasha looked at her screens, making sure that her fall was controlled and in sync with the rest of the people that would be dropping into the area surrounding the spaceport. Double checking the numbers, she triggered the bolted-on jets at the right time to brake her fall, her rapid descent turning into a controlled fall and allowing her to brace her Nightstar’s myomer muscles to absorb the impact at the same time that Thastus, Levi, and Viola did. The four of them were the only members of Natasha’s Marauders that didn’t have other duties at the moment.

    “It looks like they have seen us,” Regina Levi said as she strode forward in her Hellbringer. “Let us see how they measure up to us in combat.”




    “What is it that you need?” the Batarian Spec-Ops leader, Ran Gasdogan asked Egram with a snarl in his voice.

    “We are under attack,” Egram stated as he met the other Batarian's four eyes with his own, refusing to back down. “If you wish to not have failed in the eyes of the Hegemon then you will assist in defending Torfan.”

    “I do not think that you understand what position you are in,” Ran said as he backhanded the unarmored leader of Torfan hard enough to throw him into the ground. “I am the leader of several squads of the SIU and have the choice and ability to do with you as I wish.” Ran bent over the other Batarian as he spat out a tooth. “You do not command me, regardless of what position you hold over this lifeless rock.” Ran stood back up and looked at the guards who had their hands on their weapons but hadn’t drawn them yet. “We will defend what we deem necessary, no more, and no less.”

    “I’ll take what I can get,” Egram said as he recovered his strength on the ground before standing up after the SIU officer had left the command center. “Get me a hardsuit,” he told one of his guards. “And ready our escape plans, I do not think that this will go in our favor.”




    “Our VTOLS and air support can’t get in close,” Carter told Natasha over the comms from her Von Luckner. “They’ve got enough AA surrounding the spaceport that we’re going to have to push in unsupported.”

    “Understood,” Natasha said as she moved forward and kicked over a small APC-looking vehicle. “We have not encountered any major resistance as of yet.”

    “Same here,” Carter said as her tank crew disabled yet another fast-moving wheeled vehicle with a precise shot. “I haven’t seen any sort of true AFV out here yet so we’re going to push forward.”

    “We’ve got enemy VTOLs,” one of Carter’s tank crew reported. “They’re fucking fast too, one just evaded two rounds from our main gun.”

    “Get our Partisans pulled forward,” Carter instructed. “We’ll keep pushing once those VTOLs are down for the count.”




    “You’re sure you can hack this door open?” Mathis asked Sura.

    “Yes, it’ll just take me a couple of minutes,” the Quarian volunteer replied. “Most people’s airlocks are the hardest to get into.”

    “Once it’s unlocked I need you to get out of the way,” Mathis told the up-armoured Quarian. “I know that you’ve got more armour than you used to, but I don’t want you to get targeted. If you need any extra cover I want you to get behind one of us.”

    “I’ll do that,” Sura said as she looked at the massive armoured soldiers who were stacked up on the airlock that she was opening.

    “I’ve got it!” She cheered as the airlock indicator lights showed it being unlocked.

    “Good,” Mathis said as he took his place as the pointman. “Let’s clear out this stronghold and move on to the next. Our intel puts them as potentially having as many as ten to twenty underground shelters like this of varying sizes.”



    “Enemy gunships are down, Colonel,” the Partisans reported. “But we’re in armor condition yellow, permission to re-armor and return?”

    “Granted,” Carter said as she coordinated the Marksman’s advance. “We’ll take it from here.” Her Von Luckner pushed forward at flank speed, its treads kicking up dust as the rest of the tanks and mechs began to push forward into the spaceport.

    “I want some infantry dropped near those ships,” Carter ordered. “If we seize and hold them then we’ll deny the enemy the ability to retreat from here and we’ll have them boxed in.”

    “Copy that ma’am,” one of the dropships in orbit responded to her request. “Dropping fireteams down in five.”

    “We’re taking heavy fire!” the driver of her tank reported as he threw the tank in reverse to get away from the rounds that were impacting the side of their tank.

    “It’s their AA guns!” one of the crew members reported. “They’re using them against us, effective too, we just lost a ton of armor off of our front, and our SRMs are down until we can get the feed mechanism jury-rigged back together.”

    “Pull us back and hit them with our Gauss and LRMs,” Carter ordered. “I need a fireteam to push around and flank their AA guns.”

    “Copy that ma’am,” A voice responded. “Rifle 2-1 is moving to flank.”




    Mathis moved forward under the intense fire from the turrets and enemy pirates and slavers, his armor pinging as the small rounds deflected off and into the walls around him.

    “Frag out!” He yelled as he primed a fragmentation grenade and tossed it further into the hallway while he ducked down behind a barricade that barely hid his body from view.

    “Sir,” one of the other fireteams reported while he was in the middle of the firefight. “We’ve got a lot of slaves down here, and they all have collars on. I’m afraid that we won’t be able to do anything about them unless we can find the ones who are holding the controllers.”

    “Fuck,” Mathis sighed as the expletive left his mouth. “Change in priorities, try and locate the VIPS and HVTs,” he ordered the other fireteams that were spread out throughout the stronghold. “Disable them, we need them alive if we’re going to ensure the survival of the slaves.”

    “Moving up!” He yelled to the fireteam that was supporting him as he moved down the corridor and policed what was left of the turrets and pirates that were at the end.

    “Covering!” his battle buddy responded as he put his hand on Mathis’ left shoulder.

    “I’ve got some sort of railway here,” Mathis reported to Natasha. “Looks like it might connect to the rest of the strongholds here,” Mathis booted up some translation software and looked through the terminal that wasn’t destroyed by the firefight. “We’ve got more strongholds than predicted, I’m going to need people down here to hold against an enemy counterattack if we want to push forward.”

    “I’ll have Carter reroute some forces over, we just secured the main spaceports and might be able to start pushing on the rest of the strongholds if there’s a system that connects them.”

    “Copy that ma’am,” Mathis said as he coordinated the policing of the enemy’s bodies and weapons. “We’ll hold here until given further instructions.”
     
    Chapter 31
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 31

    “We should be able to make our escape from here,” Egram told both the guards and the lone technician that was with him as they made their way down some secret and hidden tunnels that he had built over a decade ago when he was first put in charge of the facilities on Torfan.

    “How long has this shuttle been hidden away here?” the technician asked.

    “It’s been here since the escape route was constructed,” Egram replied as he got into the pilot’s seat and began the start-up procedures. “I executed the slaves who I had working on it and have maintained all of the required equipment myself.”

    “We’re not all going to fit,” the captain of the guards told Egram. “One of us will have to stay behind.”

    Egram stood up from the pilot’s chair, quickly drew his pistol up, and snapped off a shot at a range that was close enough that one of the guard’s kinetic barriers wasn’t able to react in time, the armor-piercing round driving through the Batarian’s head and sending him crashing to the ground. “Do we have enough space now, captain?” Egram asked as he kicked the lifeless body of the guard out of the shuttle.


    “Yes,” the captain nodded frantically as he eyed the Batarian noble who seemed crazier the more time he spent around him. “We should all fit now.”

    “Good,” Egram said as he holstered his pistol and kicked the rifle that the guard had held up into his hands. “With all of the holdups eliminated, we can now leave this lifeless rock. You, tech boy,” Egram sent over an information packet to the technician’s Omnitool. “Open the external doors.”

    The doors that held the shuttle bay began to open up, the atmosphere and pressure having already been leaked out when the technician had first input the authorization codes.

    “Now, we’re lifting off,” Egram muttered to himself as he began to drive the shuttle forward only to immediately try to pull away when he saw what awaited him. A giant bipedal machine stood in front of the entrance, its hands open as it reached out, caught the shuttle, and threw it into the ground.

    “What in the Pillars is that?!” the guard captain asked frantically as he unstrapped himself from the crash chair he had been in, in a blind panic he bolted out of the rear of the shuttle only to get disintegrated by something that couldn’t be seen by any of the occupants of the shuttlecraft.

    “Attention pirate scum,” came a voice in synthesized Batarian from the giant machine. “Do not attempt to leave this shuttle, any attempts to do so will be dealt with as I did to your comrades. Now, I hate pirates, so I’d prefer to kill you all, but I’m feeling nice today. So you can just sit there nice and cozy until someone comes to collect you.”

    “I need a new set of clothes,” the technician whimpered at the giant machine as it stomped closer to the shuttle door and shot at one of the Batarian-made tanks with some sort of massive gun that was built onto the top of its right hand, some sort of artificial charge moving rapidly across the battlefield and rendering the tank into nothing more than a piece of slagged metal and advanced melted electronics.

    “It’s an avatar of the gods,” one of the guards said in awe as the machine kicked a Krogan that got too close, causing whatever was left of it to soar into the air and impact the recently melted tank. “What else can it be?” he asked as he knelt on the ground and began to meditate on the pillars.

    “It’s just a machine,” the technician began rocking back and forth in his chair as more of the giant machines appeared, some of them looking identical to the one that had stopped them, and others being taller, shorter, or packing more weapons, but they all seemed invincible as they crossed the battlefield, missiles, what looked like tank rounds, and some sort of invisible weapon impacting what little resistance was left of the defenders of Torfan and eradicating it.

    “Is the boss alive?” asked the one Batarian who seemed to have retained his sanity. “Nevermind, I’ll check on him myself,” the Batarian stood up and made his way to the pilot’s seat to see that Egram was unconscious.

    “Well, I’m not dying here,” the Batarian muttered as he triggered a hacking program on his Omnitool and tore into the other Batarian’s systems, collecting all of the information and blackmail that Egram had on his Omnitool so that he had a defense against himself being killed if this new enemy decided to try something.”



    “This is the last stronghold,” Mathis said as he looked at the locked-down entrance to the railway that connected all of the strongholds. “We’ve only captured a few VIPs and HVTs, so we’re assuming that most of them will be here. Remember to watch your fire, there will be hostage situations and we don’t want to kill anyone who doesn’t deserve it.” Mathis turned and looked at the hatch that some engineers were prepping to blow.

    “We’re ready to blow the doors when you are sir,” the lead engineer said. “Just give the command.”

    “Hit it,” Mathis ordered. “Let’s get in there.”

    The engineers and surrounding soldiers all moved to a safe distance from the explosives as the detonator on the shaped charges was triggered. The Charges blowing the door in and towards any enemies that might lie in wait. The first trio of soldiers to go through the door were met by a hail of bullets that pinged off of their armor, and they held steady until a small wave of rockets hit them, the soldiers were knocked off of their feet by the concussive force and into the wall behind them. Instead of falling back though, a full fireteam of Marksman infantry pushed forward and into the space while a mixture of Corpsman and platoon medics tended to the soldiers that were slumped against the wall.

    “Launching incendiaries!” the lead fireteam called as they threw six incendiary grenades at the forces blocking the entrance into the rest of the stronghold.

    Moving forward, the infantry walked through the pools of flame and engaged the rest of the enemy, leaving no survivors before pushing forward into what was most likely the slave-holding pens.

    “Once we clear this area of hostiles we’re on defense,” the fireteam leader ordered. “We do not let anyone try to get any of these slaves while we’re still breathing.”

    “Yes sir,” the fireteam replied as they finished off the slavers and took up positions in the choke points and entryways of the holding pens.




    “Status report,” Natasha called out over the comms as she stood guard over the now silent spaceport that she and her teams had taken over.

    “Last stronghold is nearly down ma’am,” Mathis replied through bursts of gunfire and explosions. “We’ve taken some casualties so far, but nothing that the Argo and some R&R can’t fix.”

    “Good,” Natasha said as she turned to her battlecomputer, checking on the rest of the moon’s invasion. “Everything is proceeding well, just make sure that we get all of the intel and HVTs collected. We have got plans for them later.”
     
    Chapter 32
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 32

    “So, is there a reason that Mathis is chewing out several soldiers from my unit?” Carter asked Natasha as they sat in what had once been the Overseer’s office.

    “Yes,” Mathis himself said as he entered the room. “I gave orders to watch out for hostages, and the minute the greenies saw some of their buddies go down they pushed in with incendiary grenades,” the grizzled bodyguard shook his head. “They were lucky that the enemy didn’t have any hostages at the entrance and had decided to hold them further back in the VIP area.”

    “Give me their names,” Carter sighed. “I’ll have their CO put them on a punishment detail of some sort.”

    “There won’t be a need for that,” Mathis replied. “I think I made it extremely clear to them why they would be listening to the words of their sergeants in the future.”

    “You didn’t break any of them did you?” Carter asked. “I only have a few rookies, and antipiracy and other ops like this one are exactly the sort of thing that lets them cut their teeth without dying against a more skilled enemy.”

    “They’ll be fine,” Mathis said as Natasha tune their conversation out by lounging back in the surprisingly comfortable overseer’s chair, reclining the chair back far enough that her boots could rest on the desk while her red hair haloed around her, cushioning her head as she began to doze off. “I wasn’t too hard on them because this was the first instance and everything turned out fine, I just want to prevent something similar from happening on the next op they get deployed on.”

    “Thanks,” Carter responded. “Now, we should get down to the important bits,” she smacked Natasha’s feet, causing her to jolt awake with her pistol in hand. “We’re done with the discipline stuff.”

    “Sorry about that,” Natasha replied with a half-shrug of her shoulder. “This chair is much more comfortable than the one that Mark has in his office. I almost wish that I had it decades ago.”

    “Well, we’re having that Salarian that Tela brought back go over the Omnitools of the captured VIPs and that of the downed shuttle that tried to escape,” Mathis started going over some important details. “I’ve also got our intel people going over the VIPs with some soft persuasion techniques. We’re hoping that there’s more to this moon than just being a holding ground for slaves to be processed before being sent on to be sold.”

    “I’ve got salvage teams picking the spaceports and everything else clean,” Carter said with a shrug. “Their vehicles are crap, but the AA was decent and we should be able to use the orbital guns should we get the chance as well if we need to defend this place.”

    “Also, apparently we’re now the focus of some sort of cult among some of the enemy soldiers that we captured,” Mathis said as he looked over the reports he had been sent. “Something about us being ‘vessels’ or ‘avatars’ ‘of the gods’,” Mathis shrugged. “The exact word isn’t translating very well, so we’re just trying to make sense of it, but they apparently see our mechs as giant ‘avatars’ of the god of war or some such nonsense.”

    Carter snorted at the thought of someone worshiping a battlemech while Natasha just looked at Mathis with a raised eyebrow.

    “What?” Mathis asked with open palms. “It’s not just one species either, I’ve got Krogan, Batarians, Asari, and Turians doing this. It’s not just the pirates we captured either, some of the slaves have caught on too.”

    Then the door to the office was thrown open, Natasha barely getting her helmet back on in time as Matriarch Aethyta stalked into the room, being closely followed by Spectre Tela Vasir.

    “You going to tell me what exactly those giant AI are doing parked outside of this moon?” Aethyta asked with her eyes blazing in biotic fury.

    “What AI?” Natasha asked as she tilted her helmeted head. “Barring any of Doctor Roger's experiments with an SDS system I do not believe that we have any Artificial Intelligence with us.”

    “Then what exactly the fuck are those eighteen-meter-tall war machines out there?” Tela asked as she stepped forward. “Because they sure as the goddess don’t look like powered armor.”

    “The Battlemech has been a premier weapon of war since the mid-2400s,” Carter said with a shrug.

    “And what year is it now?” Aethyta asked, the rage seemingly leaving her.

    “Well, it was the beginning of 3050 when we left, and by our measurements, it’s been almost a full year since then,” Carter responded. “While some of the machines out there are new, about half of our gear is a hundred years old or older. We’ve made some upgrades to the mechs and tanks, but my Von Luckner has been in service since the early 2800s. We’ve upgraded the weapons in it, and swapped out the fusion engine, but the chassis isn’t changed all that much.”

    “You’re telling me, that some of the tanks and ‘mechs’ out there are over two hundred years old?” Tela asked.”

    “Yes,” Natasha said. “The Nightstar that I pilot originated in that era as well. It is a gorgeous mech that has been upgraded to my husband’s exacting standards.”

    “I’m going to have to make a report to the council on this,” Tela said bluntly.

    “That would not be wise at the moment,” Aerdin said as he rushed into the room and hooked up his Omnitool to the terminal at the Overseer’s desk. “Not until you can meet with the Council in person that is,” he opened up several holographic pictures that meant nothing to the humans in the group but were apparently quite legible to the two Asari. “Turns out that the Turian Admiral who oversees piracy in this sector has been turning a blind eye to Torfan despite knowing that it has been here. I have not only evidence that he was taking bribes, but I have the tracking numbers for the accounts and banks as well.” Aerdin’s eyes lit up with joy. “The Batarian that collected this was holding everything as blackmail for just this kind of situation, he wanted it to blow up in the Council’s face while the Hegemony benefitted from our races accusing each other.”

    “Ma’am,” Tela said to Natasha. “We need a ship so we can get out ahead of this.”

    “Do what you must,” Natasha said to the alien trio. “Just give us a copy of the data before you go.”

    “I’ll convert it into one of the formats that you provided me with,” Aerdin said quickly before turning to the Spectre. “But we need to act on this quickly if we want to expose the corruption.”

    “Take one of the shuttles,” Mathis said with a shrug. “We’re not likely to use them for anything beyond their eezo cores for now.”

    “I’m coming with you,” Aethyta told Tela. “Someone with a shred of sanity needs to be there to keep the old coot and her other two idiots from overreacting.”




    “So, how long did it take us to get workable information from that chit that the Salarian gave us?” I asked Rook.

    “I just finished decrypting everything on it,” the man in charge of all of our IT personnel said with exhaustion evident in his voice. “We’re going to need to figure out a better way to sync our technology than this because while it makes our tech harder to break into, it also makes it harder to share with others when we need it to work.”

    “Have your R&D people look into it once you’re able to get some rest,” I suggested. “You don’t have to do everything yourself, delegation works after all.”

    “I’ll do that,” Rook yawned. “I’ll just get a nice nap in first though. “

    “Not in my office you won’t,” I said with a chuckle. “I have so many people in here that you would get no rest.”

    “Point,” Rook said as he stood up and stretched. “I’ll schedule a meeting once I’ve got the right people reassigned from some projects.”

    “Rest well,” I told the tech as I inserted the data drive into my slate and began to go over its contents.

    “Interesting,” I said as I stroked my beard while leaning back in my chair. “So that’s why they were trying to capture educated slaves. I looked deeper into the data. “Looks like I just found Carter’s FOB,” I muttered. “It’s not like we can leave those kinds of resources without a protection detail after all.”
     
    Council Interlude 2
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Council Interlude 2

    “Spectre,” the flanging voice of Councilor Sparatus greeted Tela. “Thank you for taking the time to meet personally with us. The reports you have sent for the last few months have been interesting, to say the least.”

    “Yes,” Tela nodded. “I sent over the relevant data for your perusal, but I wanted to be at the forefront of any investigations that are led by this information.”

    “Yes, the knowledge that one of our Admirals is being bribed to look the other way while pirates do as they please is,” the Turian Councilor paused for a moment while he visibly restrained his rage. “Unsettling at best, and I have spoken with the council of Primarchs and they are recalling him for a ‘debriefing’ on Palavan with all that entails.”

    “We assigned several Spectres to his security detail,” Tevos stated. “The Admiral will not be escaping the consequences of his crimes.”

    “Now, onto the more pressing matters,” Vedol said as he shifted his cloaked head. “We have read your reports on this new species, and would like to hear what both you and your companions have to say regarding whether they may be a stabilizing influence in the Terminus Systems or not.”

    “They have the potential to stabilize the region,” Tela said after she had gathered her thoughts. “But their existence will be polarizing and may lead to further conflict in the short term.”

    “Why is that?” Tevos asked. “Have you not managed to gain a measure of their trust?”

    “They despise pirates on a level that we have not seen before,” Tela stated. “While I may be biased due to my own rescue at their hands, they do not see pirates as a simple nuisance to be dealt with as they come. Instead, they have dealt with every pirate band that is in their immediate cluster, and have gone out of their way to not only strike at one of the biggest pirate havens in the Attican Traverse but have taken it and eradicated all of the pirates within. Given time to build their strength even further, they may end up taking the fight to the Batarians themselves.”

    “I concur,” Matriarch Aethyta spoke up. “And while they may not be up to par in space just yet, any ground fight with this species would end in a disaster for any of us.”

    “Explain,” Sparatus said. “I find it hard to believe that any force could oppose one of our races should it come to open warfare.”

    “They’d lose if it came to full-scale warfare,” Aethyta said bluntly. “But I’m not sure that we could afford what it would take to put them down permanently. They would bleed us for every kilometer of ground, and every section of space that we tried to take as well,” Aethyta met Tevos’ eyes. “And Goddess forbid we miss some of them. Because they would come back for revenge.”

    “There was something in the reports about ‘giant bipedal robots’,” Vedol said. “Is that a reference to this species making use of Artificial Intelligence or just advanced VIs in their war machines?”

    “It’s neither,” Aerdin finally spoke up. “I took many scans and examined as much as I could of all of their technology, and I found no evidence of either. In fact, while their technology is advanced in some areas, it is also primitive in others. And while it appears that their computer systems have seemingly made a giant leap forward recently, given that our current operating systems and computing techniques are incompatible it makes it much harder to try and breach their systems,” Aerdin sent over some data to the Salarian Councilor. “I’m quite certain that they do not have an AI or VI advanced enough to make something of that size work. While they have chosen to not show us the technology that enables them to pilot these machines of war, I have pieced together some clues as to part of why they may be able to get these bipedal machines to work and have sent over the data on that so that the STG may have some better analysts go over it and potentially come up with research options for us to potentially begin manufacturing something of the sort for our forces.”

    “They were extremely effective,” Tela cut in when Aerdin paused to breathe. “These machines were able to take on anything that the pirates threw at them without falling. Gunships, Tomkahs, and anything else that the forces on Torfan could bring to bear were shattered by these ‘mechs’. They were used in concert with air support, artillery, and tanks of their own to utterly crush any opposition to them on the surface while their infantry made entry into the pirate strongholds.”

    “Yes, we have the reports on that,” Tevos said. “What are the chances of us establishing trade relations with these newcomers?”

    “I would say that they are likely to trade with anyone providing that they’re not assisting in enabling piracy or slavers,” Tela stated.

    “That will be all,” Sparatus said with a wave of his hand. “We have a meeting with the Batarian Ambassador next.”

    Tela, Aethyta, and Aerdin all left the Council chambers and headed for the elevator.




    “The Hegemony asks that the Council intervene in negotiations,” Dosk Sab'notor, the Batarian Ambassador stated. “We have multiple officials of our government being held captive by a new species in the Terminus and if we cannot negotiate their release then we shall make every effort to regain them. By using force if we must.”

    “We will try,” Tevos said diplomatically. “We have already made some contact with this race and will make every effort possible to achieve a peaceful resolution.”

    “I expect the Council to intervene on my people's behalf should this new species attempt to harm any of our government officials,” Ambassador Dosk said. “We have been a member of the Council's species for centuries after all, and trust that the Council will find it in their best interest to continue to have us be allies instead of enemies.”

    “We are sending our trusted Spectre, Tela Vasir back to treat with the species,” Sparatus said with a slight glare at the Batarian. “She will do her level best to get your countryman out alive so long as your government doesn’t commit to doing anything rash.”

    “I thank you for your time, esteemed councilors,” Ambassador Dosk said as he tilted his head in a measured Batarian greeting. “I will attempt to persuade my government to do as you wish.”

    Author's note: I'll be starting NaNoWriMO for an original work starting tomorrow. While I'll be trying to maintain updates on this as well, I'm not going to be making many promises.
     
    Chapter 33
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 33


    “So, you think that we’ll be able to set up mostly automated mining operations on Torfan by the time that the first of the shipyards are finished next year?” I asked one of our experts.

    “Yessir,” Dr. Waters said as she nodded her head. “The pirates and Batarians there had already excavated to the level required, and now we will simply need to push on from where they had started to begin harvesting the Element Zero that is on the moon.” The woman paused as she flipped through some of her data. “In fact, we should be finished before the shipyards are finished. Which will leave us plenty of time to work on core designs and test them out for the first production runs of our shipyards.”

    “I believe that Dr. Kelley and his team are working on both ship and core design,” I said as I lifted my eyes up to look at the excited scientist. “Can I assume you have also provided them with this information?”

    “Of course,” Waters replied. “I’ve been coordinating with our other science teams since we arrived here. There’s so much of what we do that ties together currently that we have been pooling all of our resources and using the other teams as sounding boards for outside-of-the-box ideas.”


    “That’s good,” I said tiredly. “Thank you for meeting me and working on this on such short notice.”

    “It’s been an interesting challenge,” The scientist smiled. “Exploring the unknown is every scientist’s dream, and now we are doing it on a level that would make the great minds of the past green with envy.”

    “Just don’t get carried away, doctor,” I said as she stood up to leave. “We don’t want to do anything drastic like blow up a sun or something.”

    “What kind of madman would cause a star to go supernova?” Waters asked with a raised eyebrow.

    “I have no idea,” I shrugged. “It was just the first warning that popped into my head. Have a good rest of your day Dr. Waters.”

    “And you as well, Duke,” She inclined her head and then left my office. Leaving me with the massive amount of paperwork that was involved in helping nearly twenty thousand slaves be reunited with their families.

    “Lots of work to be done,” I sighed as I flipped through the documents that were labeled as the most important by my secretary. “So we got all of the intel that we could from the high-value targets and executed them, along with the rest of the pirates and slavers,” I mused as I read the report.




    “So, I took the time to go over what you had planned for Torfan and double-check everything that you sent me,” Melissa said as she lounged on my office couch. “It looks solid, having Carter settle the Marksman down on Torfan, and having them take over and making that their base of operations for the foreseeable future is a good idea. And with the resources there we can start working on some production of the rarer things that we will need to become a power not worth messing with in this corner of space. Eezo cores and armor are the biggest issues that we were going to be bottlenecked on. While we’ll still be having to manage our germanium supply in order to manufacture some of the designs for bigger ships that Dr. Kelley and his teams have been working on.”

    “If we want our ships to be able to utilize K-F Drives, then we’re going to have to locate more sources of Germanium,” I agreed. “It’s a good thing that Veil has some of the resource deposits that we need, because when we eventually get a hidden shipyard to start manufacturing some of our bigger ships.”

    “On the bright side, using Element Zero to assist is going to make manufacturing easier in many ways,” Melissa said as she scrolled through some reports on the manufacturing processes that had been tested over the last few months. “Having both Endo-Steel and Double Heat sinks manufactured in the exact same facility as the mechs and tanks will make a world of difference. And having all of our mechs redesigned with Endo-Steel in the manufacturing will mean that we can cram more weapons in as well. I’ve also had some of our autocannons submitted for a redesign to use some of the mass accelerator weapons to boost both range, accuracy, and the ammo that we use. While missiles will remain much the same, we can do a lot more with our autocannon should we make the changes that I’ve seen recommended.”

    “I’m going to leave that sort of decision up to the astechs and engineers,” I replied. “I’m not an expert in manufacturing, I’m just good at seeing opportunities and putting the right people in the right places.”

    “Well, based on the facilities that they were starting to prepare on Veil, I imagine that we’ll be able to start replacing any material losses soon enough,” Melissa said. “And I’ll be leaving to head back to Veil in time for the first of the Iron Womb babies to be viable.”

    “We’ll keep you updated via regular HPG transmissions,” I said to the woman who had essentially stepped in to fill the role of 2IC since we had arrived in this strange new universe.

    “Just remember to take breaks,” Melissa reminded me. “You have a tendency to overwork yourself when you’re not careful.”

    “I’ve been delegating more lately,” I replied. “Once we get some decent trade going I’ll be able to assign more people to take over some of the things that I’m doing now.”

    “You better,” Melissa glared at me. “I fully expect you and Natasha to come to spend time with your godson sooner rather than later after all.”

    “Give me three months,” I chuckled. “Barring any big emergency that Murphy tries to send my way I should be able to break away to spend some time relaxing.”

    “I’ll hold you to that,” Melissa said as she stood up, gave me a quick hug, and then left my office.

    “Looks like I’ve got a vacation to plan,” I said to myself as I rested my head down on my desk. “But I think I’ll lay down and take a nap first.”
     
    Chapter 34: Prelude to War
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 34: Prelude to War

    “Duke Hull,” Tela said as she greeted me in the open cafe that had been relegated to the diplomatic meeting place for these negotiations.

    “Tela, Aethyta, Aerdin,” I nodded to each of them in turn. “I don’t believe I have had the pleasure of being introduced to your two new companions though.”

    “This is Dosk Sab'notor,” Tela introduced him. “He’s the current ambassador of the Batarian Hegemony and is here to negotiate the release of several prisoners taken from your eradication of the pirates that were on Torfan,” She then pointed to the second Matron that was with her and Aethyta. “This is Revratia, she is the daughter of one of the most prominent diplomats in recent Asari History. She’s here as an observer and to ensure proper protocols are observed.”

    “We’re a nation in the Terminus,” I replied. “While the Council is welcome to trade with us, we are not beholden to your rules or rulings,” I looked between the Batarian’s four eyes from underneath my helmet.

    “Cut the bullshit, Hull,” Aethyta said bluntly as she quickly figured out what I was doing.

    “Fine,” I shrugged. “Every pirate or slaver scum present on Torfan has been summarily executed. Our laws on both piracy and slavery are extremely clear. And even the most oppressive of nations back home would have done the same.”

    “Those were Batarian Hegemony officials!” Dosk spat at me. “What gives you the right to do with them as you please?”

    “The right of conquest, and of the right of every sovereign nation to deal with pirates as they deem fit.”

    “The Hegemony will not stand for this!” Dosk stood up from the table angrily before looking at Tela and Revratia. “I demand that the Council do something to assist in us collecting reparations from these filthy primitives!”

    “The Council has not approved for us to intervene in the affairs of the Terminus,” Tela shook her head. “We are merely here as observers.”

    “Then we shall take matters into our own hands,” Dosk said furiously. “I hope you are prepared to lose everything that you hold dear to you as the might of the Hegemony comes crashing down around you.”

    “We’ll see,” I said with a shrug as the Batarian stormed out of the cafe.

    “You know that you’re not ready to take on a full stellar nation,” Aethyta said as she looked at me. “What’s your plan here?”

    “They won’t be able to bring their full might to bear immediately,” I said as I laid out some facts. “A battlegroup or two maybe, but even getting the proper authority to task those will take more time than they’ll expect. I’ve looked at your codex, and the Batarians haven’t fought a war in centuries. And quite frankly, the only thing keeping their nation alive is the fact that the council species haven’t cracked down on their slaving,” I grabbed my slate and showed them some rough estimates. “I’ll have around six months before they can shift enough forces to cover wherever they’ll move the battlegroup from. That will give me enough time to truly prepare the Imir system for whatever they’ll bring to bear against us.” I looked at the trio of Asari. “The Batarians are a face culture, and constantly have to not only claim that they’re the best. But they have to prove it as well. Should their first battlegroup fail, then we’ll start to see where the cracks are.” I then showed them the contract that had been submitted to the MRB on my behalf. “And the salvage rights on here are good enough that a merc unit would be a fool to not take this.”

    “You madman,” Revratia said as she stood up. “You would allow mercenaries not beholden to any nation to possess ships up to the size of dreadnaughts?”

    “Should they manage to capture one, then yes,” I replied. “If it’s too damaged, then I’ll pay them for the cost of the dreadnaught and fix it up for my own nation's forces.”

    “This is madness,” Revratia said. “And you’re all going to die underneath the weight of a nation that has been around for much longer than you.”

    “No, this is the Terminus,” I simply replied. “The Council washed their hands of the affairs here centuries ago. What did you expect to happen? That we would come crying to someone else when an ‘unlawful’ act is committed? Nay,” I shook my head. “We stand or fall on our own merits. And this is the proving ground where nations truly rise and fall. This is the start of the Terminus Commonwealth. A place where the Rule of Law means something.”

    “I can see that you will not see reason,” Revratia stated. “My report to the council will indicate that you and your nation have chosen stellar suicide rather than something logical.”

    “There is evil right before us,” I said bluntly. “Slavery is wrong, no matter the institution that practices it. What kind of people would we be if we allowed evil to flourish where we could have a hand in stopping it?”

    “I’ll see my own way out,” Revratia said as she walked out of the room, leaving me with the trio that I was more familiar with.

    “So,” Aethyta grinned madly. “Where can I pick up a suit of armor like yours? I want in!”

    “We’ll have to do some R&D to get that sorted out,” I replied with a matching smile underneath my helmet. “But either way, your experience is welcome.”

    “I want to help,” Tela said with a sigh. “But I’m afraid that if I were to assist you then it would most likely drag the entirety of the Council into the war. And I’m likely to be reassigned anyway.”

    “I am in,” Aerdin replied quickly. “Only have a few short years of life left anyway, might as well see if I can assist in bringing down a stellar nation. Would be one of the first Salarians to do so in centuries.”

    “I might need your input on some of the defense planning,” I told the two aliens. “While we’re aware of most of the capabilities of the enemy warships, I’m going to need as many specifics as possible while we prep our defenses.”




    “How fast can we speed up the construction of the first Shipyard and still have it viable for the long term?” I asked Dr. Rogers.

    “We can finish it in three months if we cut some corners,” She replied with a frown. “But I guarantee that we’ll start to see cracks in our process within the first month or so of production.”

    “We might need it done that fast,” I replied. “We’re going to be pushing up production of everything. We’re about to enter into a war and we’re going to be pushing this as far as we can.”

    “We have the Element Zero to make the Glamdring work,” Rogers said. “We can put out one every three months or so with the shipyard built. And I expect that you’re going to be pushing to have the rest of the yards built quickly as well?”

    “Unfortunately yes,” I said in response. “But Dr. Kelley’s team had a brilliant Idea for temporary shipyards. Admittedly, they’ll only be able to put out two to three ships before it won’t be viable, but with that and the defenses that we’re working on, we should be able to hold off any attack long enough to build up properly.”

    “You’re counting on a Pearl Harbor-type situation, aren’t you?” The woman asked me.

    “No,” I shook my head. “I want them to think this is a Pearl Harbor. I want them to attack us first, and for them to be not only found lacking but for them to be so aggressively stopped that they have to reel back and catch their breath while we do limited strikes.”

    “What kind of defenses are you prepping?” Rogers asked.

    “Do you remember just how long Taurus held out in the Reunification Wars?” I asked with a smirk. “Let’s just say that the Taurians among us are going to be bristling with envy at the defenses we’re going to put in place around the entirety of the Imir system.”

    “Oh,” Rogers said as she leaned forward. “Tell me more.”

    “Well, given that we’ve got the ability to manufacture much larger components using the Omniforges…”
     
    Chapter 35
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 35
    Imir System, October 2164

    “Keep pushing at this rate for another twenty minutes and we’ll be finished with this batch,” Captain Mike Ranger of the Elephant class tug Dancing Queen, ordered. “Then we’ll take an eight-hour break while the Killer Queen takes over setting up the defenses.”

    “Aye sir,” the pilot said exhaustedly. “Holding course for the next twenty minutes.”

    “We only have one more shift after our break and then we’ll be done setting up the defenses,” Captain Mike told his crew with a smile. “We’ve done a lot of work in the past month and a half. And I’m damn proud of you all.”

    “Incoming transmission from Korlus, Captain,” the comms officer relayed.

    “Send it through,” Captain Ranger nodded at the comms officer.

    “Captain Ranger, this is Duke Hull,” the Duke’s voice echoed through the bridge. “Finish up whatever you’re doing and head on back behind the thickest defenses.”

    “They starting to push, sir?” Ranger asked as he gestured for the pilot to speed up the process.

    “Just received word via Omega that a battlegroup just left Batarian space and is heading for a relay,” the Duke replied. “We want y’all back in cover just in case they’ve hired anyone to screen for them.”

    “I thought we hired all of the mercs though?” Captain Ranger asked as his crew sped up the deployment of another asteroid defense station.

    “We hired the biggest ones,” the Duke replied. “Eclipse and the Blood Pack are working for us due to the salvage rights, but the MRB is neutral, and the Batarians hired a bunch of smaller groups to harass our interests. Some of them have already met their end at Torfan, but we’re expecting the rest to be utilized as defense screens for the main Batarian force. Just because we have the intel advantage on them doesn’t mean that they’ll behave like idiots after all.”

    “Copy that,” Mike said as he checked their progress. “The link is good on this battle line, and we’re nearly finished with placing the defenses, sir. But if we don’t put the last ones in place then we’ll have a gap in our defenses here.”

    “We’ll have to deal with it,” the Duke replied. “Y’all are too valuable to lose. So finish up with the job you’re on and get on back here. Hull out.”

    “Aye sir,” Captain Ranger said as he sat back down in his chair as the transmission ceased. “You heard the Duke, let’s finish up this deployment and go grab the last few defense stations.”

    “Aye sir,” the pilot said with a grin as he shook off the with a look of joy in his eyes. “I always worked best under a time crunch.”

    “We’ve got three more defense asteroids to relocate to finish out this defense line,” the sensors officer relayed. “They’re already synced up with the rest of the network, they just need to be moved into the right locations.”

    “We’re going to pick up the pace quite a bit,” Captain Ranger told his crew. “Those three shouldn’t take us more than a couple of hours if we push ourselves.”

    “Copy that sir,” the ship began to accelerate past what it could have handled in the days of the Star League as the newly Installed Eezo Core began to allow them to move through the void with a speed that would have been unheard of back in their old lives.

    “Ease us in,” Captain Ranger coached. “I don’t want any accidents to happen.”

    The Dancing Queen slowed down until its nose was touching the defensive station. Then, a group of men and women in Mithril hooked up a tether and boarded a Small craft that was waiting for them.

    “Accelerating to safe delivery speed now,” the pilot said. “It’ll still take time, but we’re going to be pushing the envelope on this to get it at the right spot in time.”

    “So long as we don’t mess up the defenses already deployed, Lieutenant Lovell,” Ranger said as he ran some calculations on his Slate. “We should be fine on time assuming that it takes them eight hours to make it through each of the Relays and to assemble outside of the system.”

    “Dancing Queen,” a voice came over the comms. “This is the Killer Queen, we’re here to assist with finishing the defensive setup.”

    “We’ve got a few more stations left to deploy,” Captain Ranger replied. “I’m having Liza send over the data on the stations left now.”

    “Receiving data, we’ll handle stations 4 through 6, you take 1 through 3.”

    “Copy that Killer Queen,” Ranger grinned. “Whoever finishes their defenses last has to buy the drinks once this is over.”

    “You’re on, Dancing Queen,” the response came back.




    “Here they come,” Duke Hull muttered under his breath as he saw a couple of frigate wolfpacks stream through the mass relay and begin moving toward Korlus. “I don’t want them intercepted by anything other than our captured ships,” he ordered as the staff of the Command and Control center relayed the command. “We don’t want to show our hand just yet, after all.”
     
    Sparatus Omake
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    (This occurs at the same time as the Prelude to War)


    “You’re sure that this is all legal?” One of the many Primarchs assembled for this private meeting asked Councilor Sparatus.


    “Yes, I had every specialist that was at my disposal take a look into it, and they’ve confirmed that it’s legal in both the Terminus and council space under our jurisdiction,” Sparatus said with a spread of his mandibles that indicated a grin to his fellow Turians.


    “This is the opportunity we’ve been waiting for,” one of the Primarchs said as he looked over the data in front of him. “A chance to both blood new recruits and to finally act against the Batarians without repercussions.”


    “We’ll have to ensure that once the group is formed that they receive no orders from us until their contract is complete,” Sparatus clarified. “But yes, provided we file everything appropriately we should be able to at least send over two battle groups under the umbrella of a ‘newly formed mercenary group using ‘outdated’ hardware.”


    “It’ll take some funds to bring the ships that they’ll need out of mothballs though,” one of the Primarchs who rose through the logistical side of the Hierarchy stated. “But this could be what we need to finally fight in a war that’s more than a policing action.”


    “I’m putting it to a vote,” one of the Primarchs said after he had finished going over the data.


    “All in favor of pursuing Councilor Sparatus’ plan, please cast your votes” a chorus of green lights lit up on the board. “All against,” a minor amount of red lights shown. “Motion passes,” the one who had called for a vote stated. “We’ll get everything assigned and planned out before this potential conflict erupts.”


    “This is one area where I have disagreed with both of my colleagues,” Sparatus stated. “Both Tevos and Vedol believe that negotiations will continue and that peace will go forward, but listened to what Spectre Vasir said about their hatred of slavers and pirates, they will not shy away from this war.”


    “Then let us see if we can maybe tilt the scales in their favor a touch, eh?” An old haggard Primarch stood up. “I’ve got a small fortune that’s sitting in a Volus trust doing nothing but growing, I’ll donate it to this new idea as the basis for their starting funds. After that is exhausted, however. They’ll be on their own for funding.”


    “Then all that is left is for us to begin the paperwork,” Sparatus said to the council of Primarchs. “I’ll do my best to divert the attention of the other two councilors while we get this set up. Hopefully something else will come along that will distract them from our movements until it is far too late.”
     
    Chapter 36
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 36
    Imir System, October 2164

    “What kind of defenses do they have in place?” The Batarian Admiral, Darek Crerbolak asked the Turian that was in charge of the scouting frigate wolfpacks that they had sent ahead of the main force.

    “The Mass Relay is clear, Admiral, and we’re detecting only around six cruisers and a dozen or so frigates,” The Turian replied. “Our Wolfpacks can begin harassing the enemy frigates and cruisers at your command.”

    “Remain there until the rest of the battlegroup arrives,” Admiral Crerbolak said as he conducted the tactical data he had been sent. “We’ll push in together, see if we can overwhelm them with both superior numbers and technology.”

    “Copy that sir, we’re holding on this side of the Relay until your battlegroup arrives.”

    “Take us through the Relay, Captain,” Crerbolak ordered.

    The Batarian Heavy Cruiser that was serving as the flagship for this fleet was grabbed by the relay and shot across the stars, the rest of the fleet following suit as they exited in a rough parity to what their formation had been beforehand.

    “It seems that they didn’t update the star charts recently,” the navigator said as he looked at the brief scans of the system. “Some serious mining operations are going on in the belt according to our scans.”

    “You’re sure that they’re mining operations?” the Captain asked as he leaned over the shoulder of the sensors officer.

    “Yessir, they’ve been evacuating on unarmed shuttles and moving to Korlus as fast as the shuttles will carry them since we arrived in the system.”

    “Good,” Crerbolak said as he overheard the tail end of the conversation. “Keep an eye on the mining stations that they were evacuating from anyway. I’ve seen pirates and rebels use repurposed mining lasers to cause some serious damage to ships in the right circumstances.”

    “Aye sir,” the sensor’s officer replied. “I’ll task a VI on it so that I’m given an alert if something suspicious happens.”

    “Good man,” the Admiral said before he turned back to his tactical map. “Looks like the enemy has finally started moving,” he muttered. “We outnumber them two to one, and I’m fairly certain that we have an advantage given the age of some of those cruisers and frigates. Now, that doesn’t mean that we can take it easy, we’re going to cautiously push forward, and probe their defenses, get a feel for what kind of opponents they might be.”

    “Start with having both our frigate wolfpacks and the mercenaries push forward,” Admiral Crerbolak said as he leaned over the tactical map. “Let’s see if we can bait them into making a mistake.”


    ------------------------


    “Hold steady,” Admiral Jewel ordered the largest fleet that had been under human command since the Second Succession War. “Let them probe us, we can afford to bleed them on this, we don’t want them to see our defenses just yet, after all.”


    “Aye, ma’am,” the Batarian militia officer that was manning the helm replied. “Transmitting instructions to the fleet.”

    The Batarian wolfpacks began to move forward in groups of three or four, making sure that all angles of attack were covered as they pushed forward through the Imir system at what felt like a small pace until the first of the wolf packs shot forward as a group, angling to try and maneuver behind the defense fleet that was waiting for them.

    “Group Alpha, I want that wolfpack busy, I don’t need them gone, just kept busy,” Jewel ordered a Cruiser with a group of escorting frigates.

    “Copy that, moving to take out the designated wolfpack,” the leader of the small group of dispatched ships responded.

    “Admiral Jewel, this is Blaze, we are in position and awaiting authorization to drop the hammer,” Blaze’s voice came over the command channel.

    “Copy that Blaze, hold your position until we’ve got the enemy maneuvered properly,” Jewel ordered.

    Jewel looked at the enemy battlegroup that was gradually picking up speed and pushing towards her arrayed forces. “Come on, we’ve got fewer forces than you do, we’re the perfect bait for you to sink your teeth into.”

    The Batarian Fleet then seemed to wink out of existence for a split second on the sensors before reappearing closer and within the spinal guns of both battlegroups.

    “Groups Bravo through Delta, you’re cleared to engage as your CO sees fit,” Jewel ordered before focusing on the big picture. “Captain, keep us alive and in the fight, but do your damned best to take out some of these bastards in the process.”

    The Cruisers of both battlegroups were the first to open up and begin firing at the other battlegroup. The lead Batarian Heavy Cruiser was the ship to get the first kill of the space battle as its main gun flashed twice before one of the frigates under Jewel’s command went dark.

    “Hold steady for a bit longer,” Jewel ordered as the enemy started to suffer minor losses as well, a trio of her frigates chasing a light cruiser flew past her lone heavy cruiser.

    Jewel’s heavy cruiser shuddered as an enemy frigate round bounced off of its shields before the cruiser returned fire, the frigate’s barriers flickered and died right as the Cruiser’s round impacted, causing the enemy ship to drift away leaking atmosphere and coolant.

    “Blaze, I need your ASF to begin moving now,” Jewel ordered. “And tell the Stings with you that you have the authorization to use the Peacemaker on that Heavy Cruiser.”

    “Copy that ma’am,” Blaze’s voice responded. “Wardog is moving to engage, prepare for a rapid boom and zoom.”

    “All Forces, prepare for allied ASF,” Jewel told the rest of her forces. “Watch your fire, and make sure that you’re not in the way as they move past.”




    On the far side of the system, Blaze’s aerospace wings began to accelerate from where they had been waiting for the past several hours, their few Sting gunships keeping them updated on the fight that they could barely see on their scopes.

    “Alright people,” Blaze said as he kicked his Stuka’s fusion engine on and threw his Aerospace fighter into an acceleration that would have killed him before the installation of the inertial dampeners. “Remember to watch your targets, we don’t want any friendly fire mishaps. We’re here to make sure that the enemy's barriers go down, and to cause as much damage as possible before bugging out, so make sure that you have a way out because this is going to be the fastest boom and zoom we’ve ever performed.”

    “Copy that lead,” Edge replied as she stayed on Blaze’s wing.

    “This is the Serenity, I assume we’ve got an escort given that we’re carrying the party with us?”

    “This is Hitman actual, we’ve got you covered Serenity,” the no-nonsense voice of Hitman’s Squadron leader came through.

    The gunships and ASF soon were moving through the void, steadily picking up acceleration and finally holding course until they had the appropriate firing arcs that were being fed to them courtesy of the Heavy Cruiser that Admiral Jewel was on.




    “All units, get as far away from the enemy heavy cruiser as possible, we have multiple November-Whiskeys targeting it and would hate for you to get vaporized in the process of them detonating.”

    Jewel’s small outnumbered fleet then began to see the tide turn as Blaze’s ASF began to zoom past, the weapons they fired overwhelming the barriers on enough enemy ships that there was now a rough parity in the number of forces that the two groups could bring to bear. Then, what seemed to be a series of miniature suns appeared where the Batarian heavy cruiser used to be, the five nuclear weapons that hit the heavy cruiser breaking it apart into fragments that then spun into the frigates that had been escorting it, causing their barriers to pull double duty and defend against both incoming fire and the debris from the once flagship of the Batarian battlegroup.
     
    Chapter 37
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter 37


    Kar’shan December 2164


    “Captain Ghathan Gon'nakan, I do not recall giving instructions that included possible retreat,” Orosk Drac'newar, the current Grand Admiral of the Batarian Hegemony’s fleet stated coldly. “In fact, I believe I sent you and Admiral Crerbolak out with a battlegroup made up of our most up-to-date designs.” The Grand Admiral folded his arms across his chest. “Now tell me, why have you fallen back in the face of a nation that only had one planet to its name at the time?”


    “Because I wished to preserve what was left of the battlegroup and to ensure that the Hegemony received as much intelligence on the enemies we face as possible,” Ghathan groveled before the Grand Admiral. “I am entirely at your disposal Admital.”


    “Yes, you are,” Drac’newar stated coldly. “You will continue to live for now. Though you are to be stripped of your rank and the privileges that are granted to you and your family.” The Grand Admiral looked at the lower caste Batarian with an expression of seeming disinterest. “Should you manage to regain your rank then I will restore your family’s place. But should you fail, then you know what the penalty for that is.”


    “Yes Admiral,” Ghathan bowed low, averting his eyes. “I understand. I shall make every effort to redeem both myself and my family.”


    “Yes, I believe you shall,” Drac’Newar agreed. “You are dismissed, Ensign, do not return unless otherwise ordered by myself or another general.”







    “They are a weak species and we should continue to strike,” General Grey Ghendekan said as his fist struck the table, his four eyes looking at the recording of the battle recently fought in the void of the Imir system. “They only had a small outdated fleet, if we push now then we can overwhelm them, and force them to bow to the superior might of the Hegemony.”


    “We do not know what other defenses lie in the system though,” Grand Admiral Drac’Newar stated. “And while this ‘Terminus Commonwealth’ only has the resources of one world currently, our spies tell us that there are quite a few worlds that are in negotiations with them. I agree with General Ghendekan though, the Grand Admiral slammed his hands down on the table for emphasis when some of the other military leaders of the Hegemony looked distracted. “We must strike fast, because if we give them time to build up their forces then this war will turn into one of attrition.”


    “A war of attrition that we can afford much more easily than they can,” the smug voice of the Hegemon’s main advisor spoke up. “We also are more willing to use slaves as fodder, so let them start this war of attrition, because for every slave or lower caste soldier that dies on the field of battle is one less that has the chance to turn against us here in the Hegemony, let us send off the troublemakers, and the outcasts, and anyone who dares oppose us.” Dhorlak Son'dahan grinned, and many of the assembled leaders began to smile and cheer. “This is the chance to purge our society of those who are sympathetic to those who would be our enemies, and to make the Hegemony an even greater bastion of our way of life.”


    “I am in favor of Dhorlak’s plan,” the Hegemon spoke plainly. “We will make every effort to see that it is done.”


    “As the Hegemon wills,” the assembled officers and leaders stated in unison.


    “You are dismissed,” the Hegemon said with a wave of his hand. “There is much for me to consider and meditate on.”







    “We should have done something,” Ghendekan said to Drac’Newar. “We both know that this war will be the undoing of the Hegemony if our predictions are correct.”


    “We have been given our orders, Grey,” the Grand Admiral sighed as he looked at his old friend. “And we must do our best to carry them out in the way that the Hegemon has commanded.”


    “Orask, should we fail to do this properly, then the Hegemony will fall to its own internal turmoil as the cracks that we have been releasing the pressure on slowly become ripped open gaping wounds,” Grey stated. “You may be willing to fall in line and obey that sniveling coward of an advisor, but i and those who follow me shall not stand for it.” General Ghendekan stormed off.


    “I’ll not be the one to give you up old friend,” The Grand Admiral muttered sadly as he went to walk in the opposite direction. “But I will not sacrifice everything I have built for your dream of a free Hegemony.”
     
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