"Speaking normally, Outgoing Vox/Comm Channel communication"

"Incoming Vox/Comm Channel communication"

(Internal thoughts)

*Mental/Telepathic commutation*

(?) Unknown language (?)

{ Terminal information/Message }

Chapter 5 Politics and Property Damage Part 1 Welcome to the Citadel

Thought for the day. The dead cannot cry out for revenge; it is a duty of the living to do so for them.

Anderson

SSV-Normandy Crew Deck CO's quarters

April 10th 5:29 Hours Earth Standard

Anderson rose a little before the dayshift every day. It allowed him to make his rounds, checking on the various sections of his ship, and, more importantly get a head start on the coffee.

(Speaking of coffee…) Andersons thoughts trailed off as a scent flooded into his room as he opened the door. He was fairly sure it was not coffee, it smelled close but it was just off enough for him to tell the difference. Anderson headed for the mess hall to find mostly full pot of something underneath the coffee machine. At a table nearby Kasteen and Radek had steaming mugs of what looked like the coffee pots contents while at another table Vylena nursed a cup of something which looked like tea with her good hand, but Anderson wasn't sure.

Hesitantly Anderson pulled out a mug and pored a small amount of the liquid out of the coffee pot and took an experiential sip. The drink was definitely different. It tasted like a mix of coffee and what could be mint tea. While not bad or even unpleasant, it was not coffee. Even if it did taste better than the flavored coffee's crew members tended to bring aboard. Anderson finished what was in his mug and started looking for the spare coffee pot.

Chakwas

SSV-Normandy Med-bay

5:45 Hours Earth Standard

She was awake early, after all she had two patients still under her care. She checked the various medical instruments which monitored the two imperials, guardswoman Sola had made some small amount of progress over the course of the night but remained unconscious, while Samael had remained in the same state as he had been when she had checked on him last night.

Chakwas sighed as she exited the medical bay, her omni-tool set to notify her of any changes in her patients and headed for the crew deck and breakfast.

Back in the medical bay a machine continued to whir and attempt to process a sample of blood. Its report logs visible in the dim light.

{Error}

{Error}

{Error}

{Err-Recalculating… Adjusting analytic process. Please stand by…}

Chakwas paced to the elevator door and pressed the call button, in less time than normal the door opened allowing her to join Darius and Ronon in the lift.

"Good morning." She said to the pair.

"Doctor."

"Doc."

Came their responses as the lift continued to ascend to the crew deck. As the trio exited, they heard Andersons exasperated voice.

"Jenkins go run laps around the cargo bay until you calm down."

"YESCAPTAINOFCOURSECAPTAINONMYWAYCAPTAIN!" Jenkins replied in a rush.

A few moments later Jenkins ran past them calling.

"GOODMORNINGDOCTORRONONANDDARIUS!"

They last saw him jogging in place as the door closed.

"What was that about?" Ronon asked.

"My guess is he had too much caffeine." Chakwas mused. "How I'm not so sure."

"I have a hunch." Darius muttered as they all headed for the mess hall.

As they entered the mess hall section of the deck, they noticed a small number of the early risers among the crew near counter which held the coffee machine. Next to it there were two pots of black liquid one was simply labeled coffee the other one was labeled recaff. While the coffee pot which was about half empty, held most of the crew's focus, the recaff had attracted a few brave crewmen and crewwomen.

"I'm amazed Jenkins managed to drink that stuff, much less three cups of it." Sergeant Wynwood stated as he motioned toward the pot of recaff, while leaning next to the coffee, a steaming mug in his hand.

"Well that explains Jenkins reaction." Darius muttered.

"How so?" Anderson asked.

"Recaff changes depending on the regiment and available ingredients, Captain. Some like it stronger, others like a more, well mild brew, and there are a few who make it even more exotic. Valhallan brewed recaff is on the stronger end of the scale." Darius explained. "We're just lucky we don't have Catachan's, theirs is interesting to say the least."

"What is recaff anyway?" Ronon asked cutting in while he looked at the pot with some amount of curiosity.

"It's coffee, sort of." Darius shrugged slightly before he continued. "More to the point I think it started as coffee until selective breeding left the coffee plant a hyper condescended stimulant, and stayed that way. Never tastes the same however, but it's an extremely highly caffeinated drink to wake you up in the morning."

"How caffeinated?" Chakwas asked as she brewed herself a cup of tea.

Chakwas watched as Darius open his mouth to respond before speaking to Sergeant Kasteen in the language they called low gothic. Darius narrowed his eyes a fraction as if calculating something, before he responded.

"Two to three large shots of expresso per mug? Maybe, depends on the plant."

"Seriously?" Ashley asked as she entered the mess hall rubbing her eyes. "I'll have some of that."

Darius

As the early morning banter continued food was brought out. True to his word Anderson supplied the imperials with Alliance rations, which to the alliance personnel's amazement the imperials ate with relish. As people began to spit off for their shifts at half past six Darius approached Anderson.

"Captain, I heard there is a firing range on this ship. Could I have access to it? Darius asked.

Anderson thought for a moment before he replied. "I don't see why not. Why do you need access?" Anderson replied.

Darius shrugged as if it was not a big deal. "I need to adjust the heavy stubber for Ronon's use and it would be better to do that at a range."

Anderson nodded understanding. "I'll see you have access but remember we still need to discuss somethings."

"Of course. Thank you, Captain." Darius acknowledged before he signaled to Ronon to head for the range.

Chakwas

As she entered the medical bay the chiming of one of her pieces of equipment caught her attention. Chakwas hurried over to the machine to study its results. As she did her eyes widened, then they narrowed. There was no way in Chakwas's mind that the results were accurate. With a snort of annoyance, she set the machine to run a diagnostic and retest the sample, before refocusing on her work.

Elisabeth

SSV-Normandy Crew Deck

6:30 Hours Earth Standard

As the mess cleared, she and Isabelle, watched the few people who remained, Ensign Barnett, and one of the Imperials, Gwynira she believed. Both looked somewhat… Lost. She decided assessing both of the women's expressions, and gaging their moods. Elisabeth looked to her sibling.

"Want to put some of our schooling to good use?" She asked Isabelle.

"This seems a good a time as any. I know why I minored in counseling and psychology after Elysium, why did you?" Isabelle replied as she focused on Gwynira.

Elisabeth looked sheepish as she replied. "The instructor was cute…" Catching Isabelle's incredulous glance. "What?"

"I'll go speak to the Imperial; I think her name is Gwynira." Isabelle stated shaking her head while trying and failing to hold back her mirth.

"You only want to speak with her because you think she's exotic." Elisabeth teased.

"Well she is, but that's not my only reason." Isabelle replied somewhat exasperated, as she paced to the Imperial.

Elizabeth smirked slyly as she headed over to speak with Barnett.

Isabelle

She was still shaking her head when she settled down across the table from Gwynira, and took in her appearance. She was wearing a spare standard alliance uniform and had a strip of fabric around her head covering the upper half of her ears. Gwynira looked up after several moments.

"Can I help you Commander?" She asked.

Isabelle smiled slightly. "I was about to ask you the same thing. You looked a little lost."

Gwynira adjusted the sling her arm was in, and grimaced slightly before responding. "Lost…" She said rolling the word lightly as if contemplating it. "Yes, lost is a good word for it…" She trailed off and looked at her drink.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Isabelle probed leaning forward slightly.

Gwynira's eyes snapped up and she stared wide eyed at her for several seconds before looking away again. "I… I'm sorry, Commander, I don't know you. I would like to be alone with my thoughts, if you don't mind." With that she got up with her mug and retreated toward the cabins.

Isabelle sighed slightly and shook her head. (That could have gone better.) She thought to herself as she leaned back.

Elizabeth

She sat down next to Barnett who was clearly lost in her own thoughts as it took her several moments to react to her presence. When Barnett looked up and turned to face her, Elizabeth could clearly see the beginnings of bags forming under her eyes, clearly, she hadn't slept well.

"Commander." Barnett acknowledged as she started to rise to salute.

Elizabeth caught her shoulder before she could get very far, and pulled her back down into her seat. "At ease. It's too early in the morning for that."

"Yes ma'am." Barnett replied.

Elizabeth restrained herself from rolling her eyes before she asked her question. "I just came over to ask, how you're holding up."

Barnett's eyes dropped to the table. She looked like she was about to speak but closed her mouth at the last moment.

Elizabeth nudged her gently. "Come on spill it. What's eating at you?"

Barnett stared at her hands for several moments before burying he face on her hands and sobbing. "Everyone's dead…"

It wouldn't take a genius to know what Barnett was talking about. The SSCP Roanoke had been completely destroyed and, save for Barnett, was believed to have been lost with all hands. Elisabeth wasn't quite sure how to help Barnett, but she had had to pull Isabelle out of a dark place after Elysium. So, she started there.

Elisabeth reached up and laid a hand on Barnett shoulder and gave it a faint squeeze. "Hey. I know it's rough, and you feel alone, but you aren't. If you need someone to talk to, somewhere to hide for a little while, you find me or my sister. Can you do that?"

Barnett sniffed a couple of times before nodding. "Thank you, Commander. I think I can do that."

Anderson

SSV-Normandy Crew Deck

6:45 Hours Earth Standard

He was about to head toward his office when he decided to head for the range instead, it was usually empty at this hour, plus getting a good look an operational ballistic weapon was a fairly rare opportunity, as most of them had been decommissioned following the advent of mass effect technology and those which still existed were fairly rare collector's items.

Little over two minutes later he entered the range to see Ronon in full armor holding the heavy weapon in a firing stance while Darius, who was also in full armor, took stock of where the Thunder Warriors hands were on the barrel. Anderson vaguely heard Darius muttering as he marked the barrel with a small piece of tape.

"All right put it down Sergeant. I got a couple of foregrips which I scavenged. Give them a feel let's see which ones you like." Darius instructed as he handed over the component.

Anderson cleared his throat to announce his presence causing both men to look his way.

Ronon nodded. "Captain."

Darius on the other hand was checking the built-in computer on his gauntlet. "Is it seven already?" He muttered.

Anderson shook his head. "No, I was just interested in getting a close look at the heavy machine gun you brought aboard. Most of what are in museums these days are replicas or are in private collections."

Darius and Ronon looked that the heavy stubber and shrugged. "I don't see why not, it's nothing really special." Darius stated.

"Careful Sir, it's heavier than the weapons you're used to." Ronon added.

Anderson nodded as he ran his hands along the weapon. It was simple in construction, rugged in design, and was clearly meant to kill. With a slight grunt Anderson managed to set and balance the weapon on one of the firing ranges tables, before deploying the bipod and righting it. While grabbing some eye and ear protection Anderson asked.

"Do you mind if I use some of the ammunition?"

Darius shook his head, before he detached a length of twenty rounds from a short belt and handed them over. Anderson studied the rounds as Darius manipulated the weapon so it could be loaded, he was fairly sure they were 7.62, each one stamped with the double headed eagle on the casing. Splitting the belt Darius loaded five rounds and selected single fire.

"These are standard full metal jacket, but given how mass accelerators work it should be fine." Darius stated, eyeing the small range.

"The ranges barriers can handle several consecutive shots from a M-98 Widow." Anderson replied and catching Darius's quizzical glance he elaborated. "It's an anti-materiel rifle, quarian design, and one of the most powerful rifles in its class available. So, it should be able to handle a few rounds from a conventional firearm"

"If you're certain." Darius remarked as he grabbed a couple pairs of ear and eye protection before tossing one of them to Ronon.

"Range is clear. Targets active." Ronon stated as the target dummy popped up.

Anderson braced himself and focused, before squeezing the trigger. He had expected the recoil yet it was still stronger than he had anticipated. Five thunderous roars echoed through the range, with the sound still ringing in their ears despite the ear protection, they all surveyed the damage to the ballistic gel dummy. It was fairly underwhelming, there was a single hole drilled between the space which would have been the dummies eyes but it had taken the first four shots to break the dummies shields.

Anderson nodded slightly as he unshouldered the heavy weapon. "It's good to remember where our modern weapons came from." Anderson looked at the weapon again as Ronon held up a foregrip, examining it.

"I like this one, but I am now somewhat unsure of relying on that weapon." Ronon stated as he tossed it to Darius.

Darius caught it, and looked at it, before looking back to the dummy. "I can see that. The slavers gear must have been garbage. I'll modify it anyway; a suppression weapon can usually have a use in battle, but I agree exotic ammunition may be a requirement. Captain do you mind?"

Anderson rested the weapon on the range table and stepped back, allowing Darius to begin his work to attach the foregrip. This took a couple of minutes before Darius stood back and let Ronon heft the weapon, testing its balance.

Ronon held the weapon, aiming it down the range and finally nodded. "It's good, though a scope would be nice." He stated setting it back down.

Darius checked his gauntlet again, before saying. "It's seven. Do you want to retire to your office Captain?" He asked.

Anderson cocked his head to the side slightly, before he shook it. "No, we can talk here. I highly doubt this ship has any bugs, even if it did, I don't think they would have had placed any in the firing range."

Darius raised an eyebrow, seemingly in concern, as he located what looked like a medium scope among the rifle components he had brought. "You think there are bugs on your ship?"

Anderson sighed. "Honestly I don't know anymore, but after the leaks Alliance Intelligence suffered from the data packets I sent, I intend to have the ship swept once we get to the Citadel."

Darius frowned at that statement. "That's bad... How much did they get?"

Anderson shrugged. "It's hard to say, but likely everything. I plan on handing in my report on this conversation in person, and every report from this point forward, until I've gotten to the bottom of this. It's the best solution."

Darius snorted and muttered under his breath. "I always hated spooks."

Anderson, having heard the response, nodded his sympathy. "As do I, but it's an unfortunate reality of ops work."

Darius tapped his fingers on the heavy stubber before speaking. "Ronon, you're dismissed for now. I'll let you know when I'm done."

Ronon shifted his glance between Darius and Anderson before he inclined his head and stated. "Captain, Sir." Then he departed the range.

Silence descended on the range as Darius started attaching the scope. Once Darius had finished, he leveled the weapon downrange before he spoke.

"So, what questions do you have this morning, Captain." Darius asked as he sighted down the scope, he had just attached to the heavy stubber.

Anderson thought for a moment torn between personal curiosity and what information he was expected to gather. In the end his personal curiosity won.

"What was that device you were using last night?" He asked as he set his omni-tool to record the conversation.

Darius froze for a moment. "Which device are you talking about?"

"The one you were using before we spoke last night." Anderson stated.

Darius sighed and rested his head against the machineguns stock. "You weren't supposed to learn about that. It's a mulit-dimensional storage device. It's not dangerous but it is extremely useful. It allows me to carry things which would normally be beyond my ability to carry, as well as safely store items which are to dangerous to be left lying around, and keep them away from people who may not have the best intentions."

"You don't trust me or my crew to leave your gear alone?" Anderson asked adopting a hurt air then he realized something and returned to a more serious tone. "Do you have something that could be a danger to my people in that device?" He demanded.

Darius dismounted the heavy stubber and leaned it against the wall before turning to face Anderson. "I do to a point, but it's not a matter of trust, it's a matter of experience. I just rather keep temptation away from those within your Alliance or other parties who are less scrupulous. Especially given your warning last night. Tends to be less messy that way. As to your second question that depends on what you define as dangerous. Anything in the wrong hands can be dangerous. A book for example can be dangerous especially when it leads to a breakdown of what was intended."

Anderson tapped his fingers on his arm for several moments before he nodded. There was a story behind that last line, he could tell, but when Darius didn't elaborate further, he let the matter go for the moment. He however made a mental note that Darius was never unarmed when he had access to that particular device. "I can understand that reasoning. I hate to ask. How does that device work?"

Darius shook his head. "I honestly don't really know. The theory I can vaguely understand but the devices inner workings are a mystery. I've never heard of anyone being able to understand jokaero technology."

"Jokaero?" Anderson asked raising an eyebrow. "They weren't in the files you gave to Nihlus."

"Don't ask. They are a whole new level of strange." Darius replied. "Anything else you want to know, within reason of course."

"Alright." Anderson stated as his curiosity sated on the strange device for the moment, he shifted to the official questions.

"I would like to hear about your home, the Imperium on Man." Darius who had returned his attention to the heavy stubber snapped his gaze back to Anderson, and Anderson saw for the first time the age Isabelle had described in his eyes, then it was gone, as quickly as turning off a light. Darius broke eye contact looked down at the floor for a few moments then shifted his gaze down the range.

"I don't really like talking about the Imperium Captain." Darius said his tone carefully neutral, yet Anderson caught an undercurrent of sorrow in his voice. "I wish I could tell you that the Imperium is a glorious place to live, free of famine, pestilence and war, but I can't. There was a brief instant in the life span on my humanity when that could have been possible following the long night. Are you a student of history Captain?" Darius suddenly asked looking back to Anderson as he leaned against the divider.

"To tell you the truth history was not one of my favorite subjects. To many people looking back on the choices of others and judging them for what they did." Anderson replied shaking his head.

Darius nodded understanding what Anderson meant. "A fair answer. It is easy to look back and say what if someone saw something, said something, acted differently, how would things have changed, would they have changed." He paused and looked at his hands as if seeing something on them, before letting them fall to his sides. "But what ifs are pointless. There is only the here and now." He stated firmly.

Anderson waited for Darius to continue but before he could ask him to continue Darius resumed. "Change is difficult, and truth is both brutal and liberating."

Anderson raised an eyebrow at that line. "Could you explain that?"

Darius sighed. "Yes, I can, did you see the files I handed to the SPECTRE?"

Anderson nodded. "Nihlus was gracious enough to share them. We all want to know who we are dealing with."

"Understandable." Darius replied. "Then you know about the problems we have with aliens. Part of that is our fault. The Imperial Creed which is the dominate religion within the imperium teaches that aliens are evil, immoral, cruel, you get the point. That said it's not exactly wrong either. Craftworld Aeldari have little concern for human casualties if it will save even a handful of their own people, Drukhari are basically pure evil, corsairs can fall on either end of that scale, and Harlequins ,are for one, weird and two, how they act depends on the trope and what masque they belong to. Which makes them unpredictable. That's just the Aeldari."

"What about the exodites? They seem more reasonable." Anderson pointed out.

Darius waved a hand dismissively. "On the surface, yes. They would seem that way. However, they are extremely isolationist and tend to resent humans on their worlds. There are a few exceptions but…" He trailed off before sighing. "They have had abysmal luck."

Anderson waited for Darius to get to his point.

Darius spoke again. "I'm not totally xenophobic Captain. I won't deny that in a split-second decision to save the life of an alien or a human with no more information, I would pick the human almost always. That's just how it is."

"I'm not sure what your point is." Anderson pressed.

"The point is that while I am fairly flexible on the whole idea of working with aliens, within reason, some of my people aren't. Not because of anything any alien native to your reality has done but because of the fact they are aliens. The imperial creed is everything to a lot of my humanity, and it is extremely rigid."

"You're saying that you may need to break a few of your soldiers to ensure that they can work with aliens. Put them essentially back through basic training." Anderson noted.

Darius smiled slightly. "Yes. That's exactly it, but more ideological than most boot camps. Now back to your question. The imperium is an extremely broad topic, I'll give you a brief explanation of the various pieces of the Imperium but…" Darius checked his gauntlet. "It will have to be a very quick overview there are a lot of factions and sub-factions, and even more sub-sub-factions." He sounded more resigned as he progressed in his last sentence.

"You're making Alliance bureaucracy sound straight forward, by comparison." Anderson noted. "How does anything get done?"

"Often very slowly. Catch me later and I'll tell you what I know about a sub-sector which may break into a civil war because they are running out of places to store their damned paperwork." Darius sighed placing a hand on his forehead, before pinching the bridge of his nose. A few moments later he dropped his hand to his side. "Alright let's start from the top. The central government for the Imperium of Man is on Terra or Earth, either works. Centered within the Imperial Palace in the Himalayan Mountain range, and is officially controlled by a group known as the High Lords of Terra…"

Ashley

SSV-Normandy Crew Deck

7:30 Hours Earth Standard

Much to her own annoyance she was wandering aimlessly, her addition to the crew of the SSV-Normandy was still being sorted out, so she officially had no current duties. Which is why she was roaming the halls getting a handle of the ship's layout. She stopped to mentally rehearse the map she was building of the vessel when she heard two people speaking nearby. They were speaking a dialect of Russian. Which she was able to understand thanks to a grand-aunt on her mother's side, who had spoken fluent Russian and had encouraged her family members to learn the language. Normally not one to eavesdrop Ashely was about to walk away when she realized why the conversation had attracted her attention. Their accent was off, and they were starting to get heated.

"I still don't like it." A male voice said.

"You think I do?" The second voice a female replied. "You heard what the Commissar said, he's an Inquisitorial agent."

"What does that even mean?" The man stated.

"I honestly don't know, but the Commissar was willing to bow to his authority. That says a lot." The woman answered.

"Making us play nice with xenos? That's against the creed, against everything we were taught! He's risking our damnation!"

"I know but what can we do about it? We agreed to follow his orders."

"Maybe we could bring our concerns to the thunder warrior?" The man stumbled over the last two words like they were unfamiliar. "The Lieutenant seems to listen to him."

"Let's think on it. If we do bring our concerns to him, we need to be careful. I have no desire to die in this place."

Ashley rounded the corner to see the two imperials with the large overcoats, Sergeant Kasteen and Corporal Radek heading away down toward the cabins. She watched the pair go. It wasn't her business was it?

Anderson

He leaned against the back wall of the firing range and rested his chin on his hand. From what Darius had just explained about the Imperium he figured that the whole thing was one colossal mess. Different sub factions fighting not only external threats but on multiple occasions each other. He was astounded that the whole imperium hadn't imploded.

Darius was about to say something but Anderson held up his hand. "A moment. Please. This is a lot to take in." Somethings hadn't completely added up. "Given, what you have told me about the imperial creed why are you so unconcerned about aliens?"

Darius shrugged. "Unconcerned is not the word I would use, but outside of the batarians, no one had openly done anything from what I read, and I prefer to wait until someone does something. Also, I'm part of the imperium which follows the imperial truth, which was the original philosophy the Imperium was supposed to follow. Not a large part but there are still hold outs."

"The difference is?" Anderson asked.

"Another long story. I-" Darius began before the ships intercom activated and Jokers voice came over stating.

"Heads up Captain. We're about thirty minutes out from the Citadel."

Anderson powered up his omni-tool and replied. "Understood Joker." He looked up to see Darius relaxing from a defensive stance and raised an eyebrow at him.

Darius grinned somewhat sheepishly at him. "Sorry. Still getting used to those. Back home whenever someone's hand starts to glow, it tends to mean the situation is going to get, extremely complicated. Though orange is not a normal color for psyker abilities as far as I know."

Anderson mentally noted that before replying.

"We are out of time for now. I need to go; I have duties to attend to before we dock. Later I would like to speak with your troops, unless you have any objections?"

Darius shook his head. "No, but I will ask you be careful. I feel that some of them could be fragile right now, and if they shatter at the wrong time? There could be bodies."

Anderson nodded. "I will keep that in mind. Once you put that weapon away, come up to the cockpit, we'll be in visual range of the citadel soon." He turned and headed out the door not totally satisfied with what he had learned, with Darius's response following him out.

"I'll be there. Oh, and Captain?"

Anderson turned back. "Yes?"

Darius pulled a small drive from a belt pouch and tossed it to him. "This has a copy of both the standard Imperial Creed and the Imperial Truth on it. While I doubt you'll like either of them you should have an understanding of what you are dealing with and the differences."

Anderson caught the drive, bounced it on his palm a couple of times before closing his hand around it, and saying. "You just happened to be carrying this around?" Anderson stated with a touch of sarcasm.

Darius gave a small shrug. "Digital books are easier to carry than a tome or two."

"Even with that device you carry around?" Anderson replied somewhat incredulously.

"No but they are easier to replace if necessary." Darius answered coolly.

"That is true…" Anderson mused as he left the range.

Darius

He removed the jokaero device from its hiding place in his armor, touched it to the heavy stubber which glowed blue and vanished. He stowed the device back in its place and left the range, so he could deposit the weapon back in its crate.

Ronon

SSV-Normandy Cargo bay

7:55 Hours Earth Standard

He settled down in the corner with the crates, after wandering restlessly for the better part of an hour, giving Jenkins an amused look as he placed his helmet on one of the crates, and pulled out a small tin of polish, along with a rag. With what he needed in hand; he began to clean the scorch marks off of his shield, but he recognized that the micro dents in his armors enamel would be harder to remove. He was several minutes and one scorch mark in when the lifts door opened, and Nihlus stepped out with a purpose.

Nihlus

SSV-Normandy elevator

8:05 Hours Earth Standard

He was tapping his talons on his arm. In less than a few hours, if the pilot, Joker, he reminded himself, was right, which according to the files he had on the Normandy's crew, well the normal crew at least, Jeff Moreau was an outstanding pilot. He would be rid of the annoying beacon and could get to work on other problems. Like the attack on Eden Prime and the location of that mech that the council had wanted so badly, or some other assignment.

As he mused on his work the lifts door opened and he stepped out into the cargo bay. A quick scan of the room showed him that it was mostly empty save for Sergeant Ronon and apparently Jenkins as the Corporal jogged past him. He paced to the crate which held the beacon, and gave it a quick scan. Once he was satisfied, he headed back toward the lift, dodging Jenkins as he did, waving off the young man's apology but he hesitated entering the lift looking back at Ronon. It hadn't been hard to see where this Imperium of Man had acquired xenophobic tendencies, yet Darius's words rang through his mind regarding the thunder warrior.

(If you make a good impression, you have a good chance of him liking you.)

He made a decision, stepped away from the lift, and paced toward the Sergeant.

Ronan

He heard the approaching footsteps and flicked his eyes up to see who was approaching. It was the turian SPECTRE.

It was Nihlus who spoke first. "Sergeant."

"SPECTRE." Ronon replied.

"Mind if I sit?" Nihlus asked nodding at one of the nearby crates.

Ronon inclined his head and Nihlus sat.

They sat quietly for a while before Nihlus broke the silence again.

"My people had a unification war."

"I heard; it was in the racial dossier we reviewed last night." Ronon answered still polishing his shield.

Several more minutes passed before Ronon sighed and focused on Nihlus.

"What is it that you want SPECTRE?" He asked.

Nihlus tapped his talons on the crate, before responding.

"In general, a safer galaxy, for everyone. I wouldn't mind if people just got along, but then I would be out of a job, wouldn't I?"

"I suppose you would." Ronon replied.

"As for right now, I want to know how to handle someone who can beat a group of pirates and slavers to death with one of their own comrades." Nihlus stated dryly.

"I suppose that was a bit excessive." Ronon answered matching Nihlus's tone before continuing in a more normal voice. "I'm not going to pretend to be anything other than I am SPECTRE. I'm a soldier, born when peace was a mythological state, I grew up being taught to do one thing well. Kill, and kill brutally. I expected to die on the field defending my home. That changed when the self-proclaimed emperor arose and started to bring the various warlords in line using whatever methods available. He brought with him a dream of peace, of a humanity free of fear. Now I am here. Where people can just simply life without a care, having never suffered the horror of living life on the edge of ruin."

"Does that bother you?" Nihlus asked.

Ronon drummed his fingers on his shield for a few moments before responding. "No but I find that I'm worried at how complacent people seem to be."

"You're talking about Eden Prime." Nihlus noted.

Ronon nodded going back to his work on his shield. "A whole lot of people would still be alive right now if those in charge dealt with problems as they arose instead of ignoring them. How many people are enslaved because your council seemingly can't take on a rag-tag bunch of warlords, who in my experience are more likely to stab each other in the back, or put the Hegemony in their place once and for all?"

Nihlus stiffened slightly and Ronon knew that he had hit a nerve, but Nihlus didn't respond to his remark. Instead he shifted topics.

"What do you know about the others?"

Ronon gave a slight shrug. "Most of them about as much as you do. The last one, if I'm right, well, that's not my secret to tell."

Nihlus was about to say something else but the ships intercom came to life and announced that they were thirty minutes out form the citadel.

"Well I need to head up." Nihlus said as he got to his feet, as he walked away Ronon spoke.

"SPECTRE, don't take what I said to personally. I'm used to leaders being a lot more proactive about threats, and often dealing with them personally."

Nihlus, looked back and nodded, before heading to the lift.

Ronon went back to his work several minutes later Darius walked past and deposited the heavy stubber into the nearby crate.

"How was your talk with the Captain?" Ronon asked.

"I think it went alright he has extended the invitation for us to be in the cockpit when we dock. Do you want to come?" Darius answered

Ronon thought for a moment looking at his shield which still has several scorch marks before answering. "No. I may not need to answer to the quartermaster any longer, but I'd feel guilty if I don't finish cleaning my gear."

Darius smiled slightly signaling his approval as he turned to leave. "Very well. Carry on then."

Anderson

SSV-Normandy CIC Deck Cockpit

8:45 Hours Earth Standard

He stood behind Joker in the cockpit. Which was rapidly becoming cramped with people, the Commanders Elisabeth and Isabelle, Lieutenant Fane in his uniform and minus his sword, finally, Nihlus was also in attendance, having taken over the co-pilots seat. As the ship decelerated from the FTL corridor, Anderson noted that while his people handled the transition smoothly Darius staggered slightly before quickly bracing himself against a wall.

As the Normandy flew through the stellar cloud which partly hid the antient prothean station he listened to the comm chatter which spiked once they exited the cloud. As Joker adjusted their course to take them toward the citadels central ring, Lieutenant Alenko arrived with Sergeant Williams hot on his heels, just in time for them to pass beneath the Destiny Ascension.

"Look at the size of that ship." Ashley stated.

"The Ascension. The flagship of the Citadel fleet." Kaiden answered.

"Well, size isn't everything." Joker muttered.

"Why so touchy Joker?" Ashley smirked.

"I'm just saying you need firepower too." Joker protested.

"look at that monster! Its main gun could rip through the barriers on any ship in the alliance fleet!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Good thing it's on our side then." Kaiden replied.

As they continued toward the Citadel Anderson moved to Darius and quietly asked.

"What do you think of the Council's flagship?"

"Other than no comment?" Darius muttered back. "I was expecting something more graceful than that." He stated gesturing slightly with his head toward where the rough location of the Ascension.

Meanwhile Joker had finally contacted Citadel control tower.

"Citadel control this is the SSV-Normandy SR1 requesting a vector and a berth."

"We read you Normandy. Proceed to Presidium secure dock 021. A security team will meet you to receive the package." A turian on the other end of the line responded.

"Understood Citadel Control. Normandy out." Joker replied.

Nihlus stood as they began final approach. "I'd better head down to the cargo bay for the transfer. Anderson you should be present as well."

Anderson nodded in response. "I'll be there. One we have handed off the beacon we will head for the embassy."

"Good." Nihlus responded as he passed Anderson.

"I want the whole ground team from Eden Prime ready to disembark once we dock. Also has anyone seen Jenkins? The ambassador has requested our presence." Anderson ordered, before turning to Darius as the people he had indicated headed for the cargo bay so they could gear up. "What about you?" He asked.

"Depends is it an order? Cause I don't think my presence is going to help. You have my report and helmet cam footage, there's not much more to add to that. Don't want everyone to be distracted away from important matters. I intend on using the day to go over more of your codex with my people, we only got over a very general over view of the various species. Oh, and Jenkin is still jogging around the cargo bay last I saw him." Darius answered as he leaned against a wall.

Anderson snorted in amusement as he headed away from the cockpit, shaking his head.

Normandy Cargo bay

9:00 Hours Earth Standard.

(Well they do take these beacons seriously.) Anderson thought to himself, not that he doubted otherwise, as he surveyed the mass of security personnel who had arrived to collect the beacon. At least two platoons of turian marines, a squad of asari commandos, and group of salarians so ordinary they might as well be STG, add to that several SPECTRE's and you had the beginning of a small army.

"Looks like the council isn't taking any chances." Nihlus commented as a turian SPECTRE stepped forward and approached them from the base of the cargo ramp.

"Nihlus, David." The turian said as he reached them. "It is good to see you both."

"And you Saren." Nihlus replied. "I shouldn't be surprised to see you here, but I was sure you were on assignment."

Saren shrugged slightly as he replied. "I Just finished my last one, so I was in-between assignments. The council asked me to be present when the beacon arrived."

"Saren." Anderson nodded slightly. "Quite a lot of people for a simple pick up." He noted. "A more suspicious person may think the council doesn't trust the alliance to deliver what we promise."

Saren nodded. "I agree, it would normally be excessive but they are worried after the attempt to steal it on Eden Prime, and not to be disrespectful, but you did have the mech stolen from you." His eyes flicked to the corner of the cargo bay where Ronon stood like a statue, his shield freshly polished planted onto the bay floor, resting his hands on the upper rim, and wearing a very blank look. "Besides there are other concerns."

Anderson grimaced, noting where Saren's eyes had gone to. "We lost good men and women protecting those, and Sergeant Ronon is likely the reason the pirates didn't make off with both."

"I know." Saren answered as he pulled a data-pad out of a section of his armor and handed it to Anderson. "Official transfer documents, to be signed by all three of us."

Anderson read the document carefully before signing and handing it to Nihlus who followed suit, before returning it to Saren who signed before collapsing the data pad, and signaling to the cargo loaders operator.

"Nihlus you'll be coming with me for a debriefing. David once the beacon is off your ship you will be instructed to relocate to the alliance docks." Saren informed them, and sparing a final glance at Ronon as he started down the ramp.

Nihlus looked at Anderson, gave him a small nod and hurried after Saren, leaving Anderson to handle cargo transfer.

Nihlus

Citadel tower elevator 9:45 Galactic Standard.

Silence ruled the elevator as they ascended toward the presidium. Saren was tapping his talons against his arm and occasionally shooting a murderous glare toward the speakers which incessantly piped out that infuriating music. Nihlus could understand his feelings on the subject, the music could be grating on a good day, and from what he could tell from reading Saren's body language, he was not having a good day.

Finally, with a resounding ding, their ride was over and they exited heading for the SPECTRE offices. They entered the small uninteresting building with little fuss and once they were outside the door to the tactical center at the heart of the building Saren finally spoke.

"I'm sure you can guess as to the focus of this debriefing Nihlus."

Nihlus nodded in affirmative. "Strange individuals with highly advanced technology, along with clear xenophobic leanings, add to that no way to verify any of it? Of course, the counsel is worried, but what about the attack on Eden Prime?"

Saren transmitted his access code and waited for Nihlus to do the same. Once the both of them had entered, and the door sealed behind them did Saren respond.

"We are handling it. Some of our best investigators boarded a C-Sec transport along with several detectives and an investigation unit from the STG before you arrived this morning. They are to find what they can, and submit their findings in two days. However, that isn't our concern right now."

Saren gestured toward one of the side rooms which Nihlus knew contained a holoprojector. As they entered Nihlus noted around half a dozen SPECTRE's from various species before his eyes focused on the screen and he found himself watching a strangely familiar fight, from a vastly different angle.

Several minutes later as the "fight" ended with the execution of the remaining pirate and the cam's wearer, Darius kneeling next to the abandoned quarian and turning him over. Saren waved his hand and pause the footage. As the attention of the room's occupants refocused Saren spoke.

"As we have all become aware the attack on Eden Prime has caused a great number of questions to be raised. Who attacked Eden Prime? Was the Hegemony responsible, or are they as they claim, innocent…"

There was a derisive snort and a salarian sitting towards the front of the room who Nihlus recognized as SPECTRE Astok Molono muttered. "Not likely…"

Saren glared at Astok for a moment before continuing. "It is our duty to protect citadel space from threats foreign and domestic. The investigators have been dispatched; we will hopefully have a report within several days. Until then we need to remain as impartial as possible."

"What's the planned worst-case scenario?" Taeemlia Mior an asari standing at the back of the room asked.

Saren nodded at Taeemlia. "If it turns out the Hegemony is responsible then we maybe looking at war. You have likely heard the news reports out of Arcturus station. The humans are truly angry this time. Which brings us to the issue of the seven surviving individuals who assisted the Alliance during the attack. The council is concerned that in the event of a war that they will side with the Systems Alliance."

"Reasonable for them to do. Allying with something at least remotely familiar." Viia Oriencus a turian stated as she read something off her omni-tool.

Saren nodded again. "For now, we are not going to do anything about them save watch them if they come onto the citadel. However, as the humans say. "Have a plan to kill everyone you meet." We need to come up with ways to handle them if we have to."

"Why the need for special tactics? According to the physical reports the Normandy's doctor submitted, with a couple of exceptions they are basically standard humans with fancy tech." A junior asari SPECTRE Kaledlea Bezea asked.

"That Kaledlea is why you are still a junior SPECTRE." A third asari who had until that moment had been contemplating the holoscreen stated as she turned to face the rest of the room.

Nihlus recognized matriarch Siorthea D'riali, one of the older SPECTRE's still in the office. He didn't really know a lot about her, save she was old even by asari standards, pushing twelve hundred years. She waved her hand at the holoscreen and the video recording rewound to a part which showed the cameras wearer looking up at an approaching craft, before resuming.

Nihlus watched the fighters attack run destroy an escape pod, scorch the earth and finally the third shot was blocked by a gold colored barrier when Lieutenant Fane stopped, spun around, and raised his hands. As the fighter soared off to line up for what was likely another attack run, Fane collapsed got Ensign Barnett of his shoulders, then, there was some conversation between Fane and Sergeant Soris, before Fane took the volkite weapon and Soris braced his shield between the three of them and the fighter. Fane fiddled with a setting on the side of the weapon before lining up on the approaching fighter. Both fired at the same time. Nihlus blinked at the blue white energy which was blocked by a flash of light as the volkite's beam pierced the fighter's cockpit sending it hurtling towards the ground. As both Fane and Soris hit the ground the fighter screamed over them, plowing a gash into the field.

Matriarch Siorthea paused the recording and looked at Kaledlea. "That is why we need special tactics Kaledlea. They looked death in the face and didn't flinch at all. Not to mention the other soldiers who fought overwhelming odds in that bunker and had no fear of death. They aren't humans as we understand them. Treating them like humans from the Systems Alliance is foolish." She looked at Nihlus and frowned slightly. "Is there something wrong SPECTRE Kryik?

Nihlus shook his head. "To be truthful this is the first time I've seen this footage, I wasn't expecting what happened with the fighter. It almost looks like something a bad action vid would come up with. If I had known about that last night I would have pushed more. Do you have any other observations to share matriarch?"

Matriarch Siorthea looked at the screen and leaned back slightly before her frown deepened. "Yes, but it doesn't make any sense." She said rubbing the back of her neck.

"What do you mean?" Astok asked.

Siorthea shook her head. "It's hard to describe in words, and it's likely nothing."

Saren sighed. "When you figure it out please let us know. In the meantime, let's get started. Nihlus what can you tell us about their weapons and armor."

Nihlus nodded. "I haven't seen every thing in use but here are my observations." He focused the screen onto a pre-marked section of footage from his own camera. "The sword the Lieutenant Fane wields is capable of producing some form of energy field which has so far cut through every material I have see it come against. Furthermore…"

Citadel

Silver Sun Strip Apartments 11:00 GS

"…This is Rollo Seger of the Future Content Corporation, and now to one of our investigative journalists Emily Wong on the Citadel."

The screen shifts to reveal an attractive woman in her mid-twenties wearing an asari styled dress. She smiles sadly as she begins her report.

"Thank you, Rollo. I'm here in front of the human embassy on the Citadel. The Alliance remains in shock following the events on Eden Prime yesterday and continues to mourn the casualties that both the marine garrison and civilian population suffered. I wish I could report better news. We still don't have official numbers on those who are dead or who are simply missing, but analysts report that there are only a small number of survivors from the 212th and the 214th, sadly there are not such reports about the 211th or the 213th. The 139th and 140th armored divisions have also been believed to have been destroyed and there are currently no reports of survivors." She informed her audience.

"Dreadful to be certain and our hearts go out to the families who are trapped in that horrifying limbo of not knowing whether their loved ones are safe. However, there are reports of and I quote "Strange Soldiers" during the attack, do you have anything to report on this?" Seger inquires.

Emily nodded slightly before she answered. "I do unfortunately it's not much. As our viewers likely remember we had a partial classified Alliance report leaked just hours after the attack. Most of the footage imbedded in the report was redacted, but we were able to retrieve a few sections. I will not show our viewers most of it because it is graphic in nature but we do have some which we believe is safe for our audience."

The screen shifted again to show a humanoid in strange garb with what looked like an ancient ballistic heavy machine gun in their hands, standing at ease, facing a sealed bunker door, it's holographic lock red giving everyone who was watching a message the door was sealed. Then the lock turned green, the person adjusted their grip so they could fire the weapon as the bunker door's slowly opened. Then the individual simply waked forward, leveled their weapon and squeezed the trigger, firing through the opening bunker doors, the muffled roar of the weapon was all that was heard. Once the door opened enough, they stepped through and out of the cameras sight. Twenty seconds later the gunfire stopped. ten seconds after that a mob of pirates and slaver poured through the bunker door. The next section was in front of the final blast door which separated the civilians and the slavers during the attack. Which showed nine figures with strange rifles. Beams of crimson energy punctuated by muted cracks lanced out of barrels toward targets outside of the cameras view. The final was from a helmet camera which showed a figure in black removing a gasmask from a fallen solider revealing them to be a pale human man only for a black gauntleted hand to close his eyes. The camera shifted with its wears head to look the other person in the eyes.

Then the footage cut out and return to Emily's face. "We still have a lot of questions about these people Seger. Who are they? Where did they come from? What are their intentions?"

"Have there been any official statements about them?" Seger asked.

Emily nodded. "Yes, there have. Shaman Knight issued this statement when I asked him earlier today, his response was, and I quote. "All I will say on that subject is that thirteen of twenty men and women bled and died alongside Alliance marines protecting the citizens of Eden Prime. For that the Alliance thanks them for their sacrifice and extends our condolences to the survivors.""

"Now forgive me but were those laser weapons which we saw on that footage?" Seger stated.

"While it appears so, the Alliance has been extremely tight lipped about such information. Until we are allowed more information, I believe all we can do is speculate at this time." Emily replied.

"Have there been any statements about the attack on Eden Prime itself?" Seger probed.

Emily shook her head. "No, other than the investigation is ongoing and that Ambassador Udina intends on petitioning the Council to investigate and to eventually take action."

"Thank you, Emily. We now go to our correspondent on Arcturus Station. Abelina Nathan. Abelina what's the situation in the home of the Alliance parliament?"

The screen shifted again to show a more middle eastern woman in her mid-twenties with dark brown eyes and a deep brown hair.

"Well Seger. As our viewers know the Terra Firma party has always been extremely vocal about the amount of leverage the Council races have over the Alliance. However, since Eden Prime, they have issued the following statement." The camera begins to show a man in an expensive suit speaking from a podium. "How much longer are we expected to sit on the sidelines like good little sheep, while agents of the Batarian Hegemony, ravage our colonies, burn our homes, enslave our husbands and sons, rape our wives and daughters! The Council has never made a serious effort to prevent these attacks, they instead tie our hands, as if we're the aggressors. This must end! If the Council cannot be bothered to deal with the batarians then it is high time we did. Furthermore…"

One of the apartments occupants an older asari used her biotics to pick up a remote and turn down the television's volume. "What do you think Taedrama?" She asked the younger asari seated across from her, who was focused on the game board between them.

The asari fiddled with one of the pieces from the board before she answered. "About what Matriarch?" Taedrama asked, as she pondered her next move.

The Matriarch sighed slightly before she replied. "Taedrama T'saburo, how many times do I need to tell you that you don't have to be so formal when it's just the two of us."

The younger asari looked up at the sound of her full name, before she blushed slightly and looked back toward the floor. "I'm sorry Mat-err Benezia. I forgot."

Benezia sighed internally. It had been over two decades since her friend Matriarch Ril'nee T'saburo had asked her to look after Taedrama, her youngest. While she took her house to deal with some important business which she refused to talk about.

They never returned.

Benezia eventually sent some of her commandos to look for house T'saburo. All they found was the burnt-out hulk of Ril'nee T'saburo's private yacht, with all its escape pods intact, but no bodies. She had looked after Taedrama ever since.

"What do think about what we just heard about Eden Prime and the Alliances response?" Benezia elaborated.

Taedrama sucked in one of her cheeks as she finally settled on her move. "I think they are right to be angry, but I don't think that the current climate will allow the problem to be resolved. If they attack the Hegemony the Council will have to step in on the side of the Batarians." She said.

Benezia nodded sadly. "That's true. I'm glad that you are paying attention to galactic politics. What do you think of these strangers who helped the Alliance?"

Taedrama contemplated for several moments before she shook her head. "I don't know enough to make an informed decision."

"A wise decision. Far too many people fail to do just that." Benezia stated as she started to contemplate her next move.

Anderson

Presidium, Human embassy lobby

11:00 GS

The building was busy. No, it was packed. People were rushing to and fro, some demanding answers, others trying to get transport documents, while the harried staff did their best to maintain some semblance of order. Anderson sighed; he hadn't been on the citadel after Mindoir but he had a friend who had been on embassy detail after that raid. So, he had heard of how it might be, seeing it in person was still worse.

A couple of marines cut through the crowd to escort them into the office area, where they left them to go help the staff in the lobby.

"A lot of people are scared." Alenko noted looking out of a window.

"Yeah. It never really hit's you until it's your home, your family at risk. I just wish there was more we could do." Jenkins said looking at his hands.

"This is the part I hate the most. The waiting." Isabelle muttered glumly as she kept Barnette from falling out of her seat having dozed off.

"We should be out there getting payback." Williams declared coolly, glaring out the window.

"I agree, but without proof we would just cause more problems." Elisabeth replied.

Before Anderson could comment, Udina's assistant an asari named Amaraka Morasan let them into his office. As they filed into the ambassador's office, out of the calm of the waiting area, and right into an argument.

"This is an OUTRAGE! The council would step in if this attack happened to a turian colony!" Udina half shouted.

"The turians don't found colonies in the Attican traverse, ambassador." Valern countered.

"Yet it's the only place we were allowed to settle." Shaman Knight retorted coolly.

"The Systems Alliance knew the risks of going into the traverse." Tevos replied in a calm soothing tone.

"What about the hegemony their supposedly rogue operatives were leading the attack! The Alliance demands action!"

"I would advise against making accusations ambassador. Unless you have proof…" Valern answered darkly.

"Perhaps we can renegotiate the Treaty of Farixen? If we had more dreadnaughts, we could protect our colonies more effectively." Knight coaxed. Sparatus jerked his gaze to the shaman.

"No, I'm sorry Shaman Knight but the Treaty of Farixen is not negotiable." Sparatus answered. Shaking his head.

"We will discuss the results of the investigation when we have them, not before." Tevos stated in a placating tone, before they all disconnected.

Udina hung his head before turning to glare at Anderson and his people, like the whole mess was their fault. "I see you brought half your crew with you. Anderson."

"Just the Alliance personnel." Anderson replied coolly.

"I have your reports I assume they are accurate." Udina replied dismissively.

"Udina…" Shaman Knight interjected in a warning tone. "Just because you've had a bad couple of day's doesn't mean you can take it out on the brave men and women in uniform."

Udina shifted his glare to Knight. "This whole situation is a mess; the council is upset over the loss of one of their prizes…" He turned is glare back to Anderson. "…and you would not believe the requests which have been coming across my desk in regards to your guests Captain."

"I know of at least one." Anderson responded in a dangerously low voice.

Udina stiffened slightly, but before he could speak Knight cut him off.

"Enough! There are more important things right now."

Isabelle spoke up in the silence. "Well we know there is an investigation. It's not much but, it's a start."

Knight inclined his head to her. "Quite right Commander. Now Captain, you, Udina, and I have things to discuss about handling your current guests, they can't stay in your hold forever."

Anderson nodded. "Commander's let everyone know that once their duties are done, they are on leave until eighteen hundred. Everyone except for Barnette and Jenkins is dismissed."

Citadel

The wards, Flux

2:00 G.S.

After a few hours of wandering the wards chatting with shop keepers and general light banter they ended up at a bar.

"We lost a lot of good people yesterday." Elisabeth commented staring at her beer.

"Yes." Ashely replied, before raising her beer for a toast. "To fallen comrades."

"To fallen comrades." The Shepards and Alenko chorused bottles clicking together.

"You think the Council's investigators will find anything?" Alenko asked.

Isabelle drained her beer before answering. "Who knows? All I'm sure as even if they don't; I intend to keep looking."

"Count me in Skipper." Ashley smiled wolfishly.

Anderson

Normandy CIC Deck CO's office

17:30 E.S.

Anderson settled behind his desk and reviewed the daily logs. The imperials were quite most of the day, they surfaced for food at lunch and retired back to their section of the cargo bay.

Chakwas listed the supplies she had requested for the medical bay including a dozen translator implants.

There was a second requisition request from the quartermaster.

Darius had apparently hunted down where to

Below he had listed requisitions for hardsuits in various sizes including one which was likely going to be custom for Ronon, half a dozen wooden fighting staves, and among more less interesting supplies and materials was one of the damaged geth rifles which the Alliance had yet to collect.

He was willing to sign off for most of the supplies but he had to send the request for the damaged rifle up the chain. R&D were a little interested in getting their hands on each and every one for him to ok without authorization.

So, he signed off on what he could agree to, sent the request to the appropriate parties, and went to go have dinner.

Sparatus

Citadel Tower

Turian Councilors office

16 58 G.S.

He was packing in for the day when Valevea messaged him.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry sir but Admiral Lucvius Olymtumus is here. He says it's a personal matter."

Sparatus sighed. "Send him in."

Admiral Lucvius Olymtumus was an older turian who walked with a limp from a shrapnel wound sustained in a pirate suppression campaign before the humans first contact.

"Admiral Olymtumus how can I help you?" Sparatus asked clasping his hands on his desk.

"Councilor Sparatus, I apologize for coming to talk so late, but it's important to me." He said as he settled in one of the chairs in the office. "My youngest daughter Flodia, is assigned to the 35th fleet keeping an eye on the Yahg home world."

"So, what's the problem." Sparatus inquired. He knew the importance of that fleet.

Olymtumus looked toward his hands. "Well ever since my wife passed last year, she has always checked in on me, once a week."

Sparatus waited for Olymtumus to elaborate.

"She is two day's late. It's unlike her, worse I can't reach anyone in the 35th." He continued. "So, unless they have gone comm's dark for some reason." He shrugged. "I hope I'm just being a foolish old man, but I'm worried."

Sparatus frowned. "The 35th should have no reason to go comm's dark, let me make a call." He checked the time difference; it was about noon on Palaven. So, he called fleet command, and the call was received unusually quickly.

"Rear Admiral Valetilia Regidonis here. What do you need Councilor?"

Sparatus resisted the urge to growl. Regidonis had never like him.

"Business. I have Admiral Olymtumus in my office. Has anyone heard from the 35th recently?"

Regidonis paused for several moments. "One moment I'll connect you with the Primarch."

Sparatus and Olymtumus shared a look, they both were getting a bad feeling.

"Sparatus." Fedorian's voice came out of the comm. "We lost contact with the 35th little over two days ago, we've diverted the 34th and the 36th to go look and secure the region if necessary. That's all I can tell you at this moment."

Olymtumus hung his head and made a distress sound. "I'll let you know if I hear anything Olymtumus. Until then I'm sorry." Then he disconnected.

"Not much of a bedside manner." Olymtumus stated his eyes on the floor. "I forgot that about him."

"Not what his job requires." Sparatus sighed.

Review responses. As usual constructive criticism is always welcome.

Ilireanwri

First off. Thank you for your reviews, both of them.

Cegorach is one of my favorite entities in 40K, so I'm glad you approve.

As for adding more 40K characters, maybe.

I won't say yes or no because that could change but I am somewhat allergic to canon characters, limited usage is fine but long term tends to require either killing them or adjusting who they are.

Creed was more or less a throw away reference. Still alive and active, but drawn somewhat sharply into another layer of the Big E's plans.

Using Yarrick would almost demand the usage of orks and the ME universe simply can't take orks.

I want to limit the number of 40K factions which get involved, too many could simply destroy the reapers then go onto crush the ME factions. Not really the direction I want to go.

As for the Tau...

To be honest I never really liked the Tau.

Sure, they could thrive in the ME universe, but just because they seem nicer doesn't mean that they are nicer. Convert or die maybe more polite than nuke on contact but...

Wom1

1 Nothing wrong with a defensive alliance. At least until they are broken or betrayed...

2 Very true which makes you wonder why they did not. That is never explained.

3 As I said its old obscure fluff.

Spartan-A312 Thanks! Yeah, I know that Bioware put a lot of work in making us hate Spartacus but when push came to shove, he was the one to step up to the plate. Instead of attempted sabotage of the war effort, or lying about a beacon. From the other two alien council governments.

Red Server Understood. The fandom does overblow certain things I.E. Commissars, the Inquisition's use of exterminatus, and so on.

RandomReader

Thank you. This whole project is about working on my writing skills. Constructive Criticism is a vital part of this process.

I'm glad that I'm improving. I understand that I can't run with training/brainwashing forever.

It will come to a head at some point. However, I'm still trying to figure out how I want to handle it. There are several power discrepancies I need to handle before I can. The first one is the relation between Darius and Kasteen, I need to get to a point where Kasteen understands that Darius won't shoot her for voicing her opinion, and that will not happen overnight. Why Kasteen? Simply put she is the highest ranked standard Guardsmen/Guardswomen alive. The second one is (ironically) even larger. I still don't know what Darius "Official" rank/status within the imperium would be. I've been mulling it over. A lot. I have some ideas but I hesitate to say saint (separate from a living saint … or maybe not…) because it brings up a whole host of other issues I.E. the whole belief shapes reality aspect of 40K. However, having Darius pull some truly high rank to tell them to stop would feel like an arse-pull, and I want to do better than that, that conflict deserves better. I do have some concepts but it remains a work in progress.

That talk between Ronon and Darius will be easier to handle due to a significantly smaller power discrepancy between them. Ronon respects Darius for what he is, but there is none of the speak out and I shoot you, or possible religious connotations lingering around.

Oh, you know, the usual. Murder, mayhem, and the occasional gambit pileup…

RedRat8 Fair enough plus it's easier to write. Still I'm planning on adding at least one 40K civilian at some point.

Guest 5 Good to hear!

Guest 4 Interesting concept. What makes you say that?

Guest 3 you're right as far as the batarians are concerned but ME3's Citadel DLC showed them flipping out and having all AI's which existed at the time the geth rebelled massacred but then they don't go and finish the job? That makes no sense.

Guest 2 Not sure why you are bringing that up, but yeah, the imperials rations may suddenly "vanish" in the near future depending on what they are.

Guest 1 Thank you!

Authors Note 5

No, I haven't died and holy shit this took way, way too long to hammer out, an unhealthy mix of writer's block, college, video games, and rewriting several scenes, several times, kept pulling me in separate directions. Sorry about that everyone.

You ever have that one scene that just keeps nagging at you? Like it feels wrong and demands rewrites, a lot. This section had two of those, and adding insult to injury one didn't even fit this section due to feeling premature. I'll admit that there are still a couple I'm a bit iffy about but, I've drag this out far to long.

I feel like I need to level with everyone. I never liked the Salarians, sure we get a couple of awesome characters out of them but ME3 shows us a lot of unfortunate facts about them. For starters their leaders are unwilling to even entertain the fact they may have made a mistake or that people/species can change. Second of all they failed at learning from said mistake/the mistakes of others, as they have plan in place to uplift the damn Yahg. Finally, they're cred as spies is also suspect, since the Batarians in canon are constantly able to deny their activities which if the Salarians are even half as good as they claimed to be, they would be able to call the batarians on their shit. Which means they either don't care/are sitting on the information for some nebulous later, or the batarians counter-espionage forces are simply that good. Which is more likely? All that said at the end of the day they don't live long enough to gain some of the long term thinking which longer lived species should acquire.

Also, yes even in the grimdarkness of the 41st millennia a coffee machine is still a coffee machine.

What Recaf is seems to different depending on source and author. One it is tea used to brew a pot of coffee, another it's just a highly evolved coffee plant, or the term is a catch all for hot caffeinated drinks.

Psykers

Color Coded for Your Convenience

Gold: for the Emperor or people who have spent a large amount of time (we're talking centuries) in his presence or within several miles

Silver: Grey Knights

Blue-Purple: most humans are on the scale depending on the amount of Heresy in their system

Silver-white: Aeldari

Red/Crimson: Khorne (yes, I know…)

Green: Orks or Nurgle

Purple/Violet: Tzeentch

Pink: Slaanesh

Perpetual

I'm planning on expanding on what Perpetual is in new directions just a heads up on that. Sure, being unable to stay dead in 40K sucks but what if it has the potential for deeper issues. Along with the true implications of the term. Belief shapes reality.

Cut Content.

The number and composition of the imperials was originally different. For starters Gwynira, Ronon, Radek and Kasteen did not exist. There would have been five surviving Kriegians (the commissar was doomed regardless) an officer, grenadier, quarter master, a weapon specialist and a standard guardsman.

Another thing I cut was the STC which kick-started this whole process, I had planned on Darius coming to and find himself staring at the thing (or having it fall on his head). Que swearing. I figured that was too much so I removed it.

Other business.

I've set up a poll asking about how much supernatural elements should be included into the story.

Give it a look, I want to hear your thoughts. It will be closed once the next part of Chapter five is posted. Whenever that is…