[Book Four] Chapter 44: War and hope

Chapter 44: War and hope

“It’s not your fault.”

Adam was looking through the glass of the meeting room, deep into space when he heard his mother speak. He didn’t turn around and just stayed straight, his arms crossed. He couldn't do anything but thinking over and over again at what happened in the colony almost two months earlier. Trying to find a mistake he or someone else made. He couldn’t find any except his initial order, the whole crew going scouting. He also knew that the whole team scouting may have been captured or never get the precious intel they retrieved. In the end, despite making no mistake the mission ended in failure. That drove home the point that sometimes even if you do everything correctly you still fail.

“I know.” he answered his mother. “And it doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“Adam…”
“As the Leader of the team, I should have been the one staying behind to give time to my subordinates to escape. I didn’t.”
“Your father chose to stay.”
“I know that too. I was there. What’s bothering me is that… We didn’t even speak about it. There was no arguing, no dissuasion talk… Nothing. We just… understood that it was the way for things to be. I just… accepted it like it was normal. I felt… so powerless. I’m taking comfort in knowing that I did what he wanted, that I did the right thing but at the end of the day… I left him behind.”

Jane and Ashley looked at each other and didn’t quite know what to say. They didn’t know the words to comfort him when they were doing their very best to not break down, themselves. The former tried a change of topic.

“Those aliens…”
“Monsters. Everything that’s not them is beneath them and should be used as they wish. Dad recommended exterminating them all.”
“... Your father was okay with that only twice. First the Collectors then the Reapers. What did he see that he would make such a judgment?”
“I don’t know Auntie. Dad… He just pointed out the impossibility of coexisting with a species like that. That war was on the horizon and would be inevitable. Did Auntie EDI and Auntie Liara get something from the data? There must be something there that explains…”
“They are still working on it.” Sandra said as she entered the meeting room. “What they got was that they were experimenting on the colonists to see if they could become ‘exalted’.” she added, taking her seat.
“““Exalted?”””
“We don’t know yet what that means but considering what that entails so far, it’s nothing good.”
“What are we doing, then? What’s the plan?” asked Adam.
“You are doing nothing but wait for further instructions from the Alliance.”
“Sandra!”
“Don’t Sandra me! You may be part of Project EDEN but you belong to the alliance first and foremost. You can’t be part of anything I decide to do because of that. Not without approval of your higher ups. None of you can.”
“That’s…”
“She’s right, Adam. Our job here is to support the project militarily but we’re not supposed to act in ways that would be detrimental to the Alliance.” interjected his mother.
“Sandra, what’s your plan?” inquired Jane looking at her niece.
“War.”
“““...”””
“I’m going to pull every resource of the company and put everything in it. Dad is… was right. Those aliens… they’re like the Nazis. What they did to those colonists? We need to wipe them out from the surface of the universe.”
“How are you going to do that? Your company is employing mercs, sure, but it’s not enough to start a war when we know nothing about our enemy.”
“Appeal to the council. They are a threat to any one.”
“Good luck with that. If anything they will celebrate.” Ashley said despondingly.
“It’s still worth a shot.” replied Jane.

____________________________________________________________

A shot that missed, greatly. The council once again chose to be passive. They decreed that the cluster was off limits, much like the Perseus veil was during its control under the Geths, centuries earlier. They believed that since the Aliens had attacked this cluster and none others, where colonies had been started, they must have originated from it. They saw the destruction of the colony as an act of defense of their territory. Once again Lindholm was outvoted and could do nothing. That had not been a surprise for her but something predicted.
Jane, Ashley and Hannah had personally shared the news of what happened with Hackett who was worried by the report. He was also saddened to hear of Rick’s passing and secretly toast in the honor of the man who despite his attitude and abilities always worked for the betterment of everyone. As the Fleet Admiral of the alliance he couldn’t openly support the man since humanity was not the only one profiting from his doings. But as a person he respected him and was thankful for what he has done. Humanity had never been so prosperous before Rick entered the field and indirectly at that.

A plan began to form. They couldn’t let that attack slide, not against humanity and not against their allies. But they knew the council would have been a significant obstacle. They had two options. One, was following the council’s decree, which, considering they were seating on it, was a given. Secretly they would  ‘allow’ any volunteers in the Navy to go to war in Andromeda. They wouldn’t be allowed to come back into council space or get back into the Navy since they would become outlaws and or deserters however. That was the cave heat.
The second option was to simply leave the council and the coalition of species. After working so hard to get where they were today it was a bitter pill to swallow. They wouldn’t have been alone however. Krogans and Quarians were dissatisfied with the council’s decision for a decade at least and the opportunity to ally themselves and form another council was not a pipe dream. The krogans were pushing for a seat on the council as not only did they have the numbers of people, the numbers of worlds and colonies but also the attitude for it. The quarians were still upset with the Geths still not being recognized as a sentient species with rights.
Other species wanting to join as well as a possibility. Elcors and Volus had been roaming the galaxy for centuries and never got more than an embassy because they were ‘too weak’ militarily speaking or their numbers were low. In consequence they were subjected to the whim and laws of the four leading species on the council. They had no other choice anyway.

“Sandra thinks that the current council and system is flawed. Only four species get to rule while there are ten at the very least. Offering a place on the council and in consequence a voice could help a lot in forming a new council without the Asari, Turians and Salarian. Even if they are small.” announced Jane.
“The krogans would definitely be interested and so would the Quarians if we recognize the geths and give them a seat too. She also said that should humanity go that way she will support this new council and every species being a part of it. Any species part of the old coalition would be cut off for her company products.” added Hannah.
“That would leave the ones staying in the current regime in a dire situation. Withouts BLUEs their entire economy will crash. They could always buy at a higher price to the other species but… I think they would go to war instead.” ventured Lindholm.
“A war that they will not win.” stated Hackett and got a look from everyone present. “I’m not an idiot. I’m pretty sure the company has in stock some advanced technology to rival the Alliance in a fight.”
“Knowing Rick? I think it’s a fact.” replied Ashley.
“He always was careful to hide the most dangerous technology that could cause trouble. The Mass Effect technology, the RED, the GREEN and VERDUN… Even he feared the DRED and what it could do if weaponized and in the hands of anyone including him.” added Jane.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he took a dreadnought and weaponized it to make a giant robot out of it just like the PatLabors and EVAs.” muttered Hannah but not low enough to not be heard.

The thought made a chill run down the spine of everyone. A simple EVA was able to defeat two dozen cruisers and one dreadnought during a virtual simulation. Sure it implies the pilots were outstanding but talented people were not a rarity. The fighting capabilities of a deployed EVA was simply out of this world, so a dreadnought? Something to fuel nightmares for decades. The saving grace was that there won’t be many of them. The price of making an EVA could make anyone dizzy, a dreadnought’s could give someone a stroke.

“...We’ll go with the first option first but we need to know more about this enemy.” Hackett decided.

That was why neither Jane nor Lindholm had pushed much for the intervention of the council. They needed information about the Ketts. That was the name that had come up from Liara’s and EDI’s translation of the data. While most of what they got was ‘scientific’ reports about their experiments, there wasn’t much about the Kett themselves. Only that they were led by an ‘Archon’ and talked about it with reverence and adulation.

After the expected failed meeting with the council, Jane, Hannah and  Ashley went back to Andromeda where they made a short stop on the Cassiopeia to share the news with the family and leave for the forbidden cluster in secret with the Normandy. With its Mass Effect technology equipped in it, they were back into the destroyed colony in mere hours.

It was completely destroyed and very few buildings were left standing or intact. There was no Kett presence at all beyond the decaying bodies of the dead ones when they could find some. Those corpses were loaded into the Normandy and to be brought back for examination in one of Cassiopeia’s secret labs belonging to the family.

“Adam?” called out Ashley but got no answer. “What is it? Did you find anything.” she asked as her eldest son looked into a specific direction.

“That building over there.” he pointed with his finger. “That’s where I saw dad for the last time. He was giving them hell. Charging around, killing them all. He was like a sickle through a field, mom. Reaping them all, small group by small group. As if Death itself had come for them.”
“...”

She didn’t know what to say. In fact she chose to not say anything, fearing that she would simply break her composure if she made a single sound. Instead she just looked at the completely devastated area. It couldn’t even be classified as a ruin; there were only rubles. There was no way they could find Rick’s body there.

“That’s strange. The EVA is not here.” said EDI through the coms.
“Perhaps they found it and took it?” replied questioningly the young man.
“Perhaps…”
“EDI? You think Rick is alive too, don’t you?” Jane asked, knowing her friend and how she thought well by now.
“Auntie, that’s impossible. The whole of them were converging on…”
“Yes. The odds are very low but it’s a possibility.”
“It isn’t. Dad couldn’t have dealt with all of them alone! He was overwhelmed! And let’s say he did? Huh? Why the hell didn’t he make it back home? It’s been almost three months!” heatedly said Adam.
“Adam, if there is one thing you should know about your father…” Ashley began with hope in her voice.
“Is that he never does what people expect of him. As long as I don’t see his body with my own two eyes, I refuse to believe he’s dead.” said Jane.
“Me neither.”
“I agree.”
“You weren’t there… You didn’t see. No one would have been able to survive. I get it, you want him to be alive. I want it too but the truth is the truth. Mom, Aunties, dad is gone.”
“You’re free to believe what you want, Adam. But if any one could survive, it’s him.”
“Just take the ‘I told you so’, like a man when your father reappears.” added Ashley to Jane’s words.

Shaking his head at their delusions, he walked away to continue the investigation. They got more corpses to study and found several consoles to take data from. As the sun set they returned to the Normandy and made their way home.

____________________________________________________________

“This is worse than we thought.” Arianna said sitting beside Liara, who nodded, as she looked at Sandra, Jane, Ashley and Hannah.
“How bad is it?” asked her mother.
“Each Kett has the same DNA structure minus one small strand. That strand differs from one individual to another, though some of them were identical.”
“What do you mean? Arianna, layman terms please.” asked her grandmother.
“Those strands are not from their species.” the youngest redhead replied as she displayed in the middle of the table, multiple strands of DNA.
“So… What? They steal DNA from others?” Ashley asked.
“Worse.” said Liara. “They turned others. That’s what exaltation is and means.”
“““What?!”””
“Are they… incorporating the strong traits of other species into them or… are they sterile?” inquired Sandra.
“I don’t know about the former but it’s a possibility. The latter is a fact. While the Kett have both a male and female gender, they do not have any reproductive organs. Which means…”
“That the only way to perpetuate their species is to turn others into them. Like you say, ‘turn’. Shit.” said Jane.
“That’s why they call it exaltation. They chose an inferior being and turned them into them. A superior species. To the Kett, it is a sacred gift they bestowed upon animals. There are temples dedicated to it.”
“That also implied subservience or mind control.” Sandra stated and got a look of puzzlement from everyone. “Think about it. You’re turned into your enemy and you don’t wish to kill them for it? When they slaughtered your own people? Unlikely. How would the Krett still exist if that was the case?”
“That… makes sense.” said Hannah.
“So, they’re like… Organic Reapers? Slaughtering the weak, turning the strong and indoctrinating them?” asked Jane.
“Pretty much.” said Sandra.
“That’s not good.” replied Ashley. “They could use our own people against us. I thought we were done with that when we killed the Reapers.”
“They wouldn’t be our people anymore Auntie.” Sandra said. “That’s also proof that they will expand their territories forcefully, we need to be prepared.”
“How so?”
“Ash, once they kill or turn every sentient species in their territory to reproduce, they will have to expand to find new species and perpetuate their own.” explained Liara.
“Crap… Their numbers could be overwhelming.”
“Yes, but thankfully, from what Auntie EDI said they won’t be here for a while. Apparently their technology for space travel is around ours from thirty five years ago, before Dad and Auntie Tali revolutionized it. Traveling from one Cluster to another would be difficult for them and would take time. Furthermore the rest of their technology is a bit more advanced and on par with what’s publicly available in the Milky Way. Ours is of course beyond them so we could completely dominate the Kett or match any numbers they have for a while. It would take time to thin them all but we would prevail.”
“I like the sounds of that.” said Hannah with a predatory smile.
“What do you intend to do?” asked Jane to her niece.
“Preemptive strike. I’ll have small teams scout the clusters nearest to the one Adam encountered them. We need to know where they are and how far they’re spread. That one cluster will be purged of all Kett while taking as much information as we can about their whereabouts. Once we get an idea of their position we fight back, taking their territories one by one until they have no choice but to retreat to their homeworld.”

“That’s… a lot of space to cover, Sandra.” replied her redheaded aunt.
“I know. But perhaps for once, the council will move their asses and understand the need to act.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it.” Hannah said with a shake of her head.
“I know. It’s more to make the news and weaken their position than anything. If we publicly share our findings on the Ketts any refusal from them would be taken negatively, especially if you’re the one who does it Auntie. People remember how the Reaper’s threat you brought to them at the time was ignored and how badly it cost the galaxy. Some will make the same mistake but many will not. A simple call to arms aired across the whole galaxy and people will follow you. That’s also the perfect opportunity to create that new council. If they’re smart they’ll relent and join, if they’re not they’ll get humbled. Either way the councilors will once again be changed and we may get new ones more inclined to our perspective.”

“““...””””
“What?” the ravenette asked as everyone around the table looked at her with a peculiar look.
“Nothing. Just…”
“You’re really your father’s daughter.” Jane finished Liara’s sentence.
“Of course I am. Why do you think he left me in charge of the company?” answered Sandra with a brow raised.
“Are you sure a message from me will rally the people?”
“Yes. You’re more than a hero Auntie, you’re an Icon. People will flock to you either out of duty or to have the honor to fight with you for something important. The krogans would join for the fun of it, because they didn’t have a good fight in thirty years. The Quarians may join out of fear for their home in Andromeda or just because it’s you who’s asking. And the Alliance’s Navy? I wouldn’t be surprised if more than half of it doesn’t desert to join you.”
“Sandra has a point. You may have been out of the public eye for the last three decades but people remember what you did.”
“Well, maybe not the Salarian since they’re probably all dead by now.” added Liara to Hannah’s words.
“You may lose your status as a spectre though. At best. At worst, the Alliance would have no choice than to dishonorably discharge you.” Hannah warned.
“... That’s fine. It’s just a rank.”
“It’s not just a rank, Auntie. You’re the only Commander in the entire Navy.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.” said Ashley.
“They went through with…”
“Yes, Jane, they did.” replied Hannah.
“Actually they may hesitate to discharge you though… But since you don’t care, there's no point in talking about it.”

The meeting stopped there, each member leaving to prepare themselves for their tasks.