Mass Effect: Dawn of Tomorrow (IC)

[IAmZero]

Velia glanced over to Durant. "Kell makes a point. Where is your Admiral? Surely he'll meet us on the way to the Council?"

No sooner had she spoken than a tall, older human arrived with two of his soldiers. "I'm here," he said. "It took longer to arrive than expected. I'm-"

Tyzuris interrupted with an armored hand and a frustrated grunt. "Pleasantries can be exchanged later. To the meeting."

Velia smirked at him, but he ignored her and ushered the growing human group toward the transport depot. Two shiny red hovercars were waiting for them, and made the trip to the Council chambers must swifter. Once they arrived at the Council chambers, more C-Sec officers greeted them and led the way into the room. At the top of three long staircases stood the Council, waiting for the human delegation.

The Admiral stepped forward, acting as the human ambassador, as well. Durant and the other soldiers were requested to step back and wait. Velia stood to one side of them while Tyzuris returned to his other duties as C-Sec captain.

[Reececr]

Reilly noticed the strange creature as it jumped from what seemed to be a vent, instantly he didn't like this but no one reacted to it so he lowered his pistol and eased up. He decided enough was enough and walked back to the captain as it seemed they were to get ready to meet the council. Who knew what it would bring for them but hopefully it would be interesting. He wanted to see what it was like to deal with these aliens who were basically in charge of the galaxy. He saluted the arrival of the somewhat flustered looking admiral and headed towards the hovercar with the squad.

[kotetsu852]

Dmitri saw the shore party leave just a little while ago, he had no desire to go with them considering they had enough elite soldiers to fight their way back out if necessary. He remained in the ship's armory going over his equipment and making sure all the weapons were cleaned and examined every inch of his armor for any sign of weakness. After a short time he decided to try and relax, which the observation decks often made him do. He made his way through the bowels of the ship to the first window he could find. Calm and collected, he stared out at the immensity of the Citadel in silence.

[IAmZero]

Behind the Council was a miniature garden, filled with exotic flowering trees from the home planets of the Council races. Artificial sunlight glittered over the garden from light sources far overhead. The Council waited as Admiral Bates ascended the stairs. Separating him from the Council members was a large gap and a metal security rail.

"Let me be the first to welcome you all back to the Citadel," Alaria, the Asari representative, greeted. Her pale pink-white dress complimented her easily even when they contrasted against the blue skin and mottled features of her face. Her eyes were alight as she spoke. "Much has changed in the last two hundred years and humankind was missed."

"Thank you, Council woman," replied Bates diplomatically. "We are grateful for this opportunity to reunite with old allies. We had hoped, however, that our position on the Council would be remembered."

"Yes, we recall the humans' rise to power," Vernix, the Turian Councilor, said sharply. He stood rigid, his face hard and his eyes skeptical. Even his attire was no exception: a dark blue uniform, laced with stripes along each and every seam. Small pauldrons sat on his rather lanky shoulders and his head-ridges had been neatly filed to a upward curve. "But, matters have changed in two centuries. Humanity has been missing, and the present Council races had to rebuild the Citadel on their own."

"We wish we could have progressed more quickly," Bates replied calmly. "But, our solar system and the nearby systems featured little element zero with which to work. And, with only the historical information from the old Council, our knowledge of the inner workings of the ancient technology was slim."

"If your people had not mined your planets into oblivion-"

"Councilor," chimed in the Malfaris, the Salarian Dalatrass and Councilor. "It is unfair to the humans to be so critical. If I recall, the Turians also mined most of the natural elements from their nearby planets shortly after discovering space flight." She was a petite reptilian woman whose features remained mostly hidden under an elaborately designed hood woven in purple and gold. She seemed quick in her response and very objective in the way of words, little to no emotion spared in their execution. "We must also not forget Commander Shepard's contributions to the defeat of the Reapers. She is the reason we are still here."

Vernix scowled at Malfaris, but held his tongue. Instead, a human-looking man at the far right spoke up. Bates, from what he'd heard about the Council races, assumed this was the Quarian Councilor. "We must also consider the actions of the strictly human organization, Cerberus," Kel'Gran said. "They killed many of our people, and threatened to bring the full wrath of the Reapers down upon us."

"Every species has its extremists," Bates replied coolly. "As you may recall, Commander Shepard and the Alliance were targets of Cerberus, as well, and we suffered many casualties."

"The fact of the matter is that human extremists invaded the Citadel, slaughtered hundreds of people, and almost circumvented the Crucible from its objective," Vernix replied harshly. "Humans are unpredictable, capable of sudden, unexplainable bursts of violence."

"And before that, a Turian attacked the Citadel - and nearly killed the Council," Bates insisted. "A human saved both. More than once. A human led the assault against Sovereign, a human led the war against the Reapers, a human gave her life so that trillions of people - from all species - might live."

"A human who, without the technology and advancements of the Council, would have never survived her first encounter with the Reapers," replied Kel'Gran. "Human capabilities have always been behind the times, and after two centuries of isolation, you are no doubt not ready to meet the challenges of the new galactic community."

"We are forgetting the humans determination and resiliency," stated Alaria. "They push forward with everything they have. They may not be the most technologically advanced, or the most predictable, but they are the most determined. A quality that should be admired, not feared."

"It is that determination that drove the human Alliance into war with everything that they perceived as a threat," Vernix growled.

"Aside from the Turians, the only threats to humanity as a whole, threatened all of us," replied Malfaris.

The fifth Councilor, quite until now, shifted slightly. The movement was subtle, but evident enough to draw the attention of every Councilor, and Bates turned to watch the Krogan. "This debate is pointless," came the smooth words of Urdnot Taxia. She stood nearly as tall as Vernix, and twice as broad, clothed in an elegant Krogan gown and headdress that gracefully covered her face. "The arguments you present are all true, and circular. The humans are a force that has instilled both awe and fear in others. But can they be judged on the actions of one war? They had been members of the galactic community for less than forty years before they were isolated. What do we know about them, really?"

The other Councilors exchanged glances briefly. Taxia continued, "The humans are, indeed, a driving force with a motivation that cannot be discerned. The Council is at ends."

For several minutes, there was silence in the chamber hall. Taxia folded her hands into her gown and seemed to rest. Alaria nodded minutely at the other Councilors, and they agreed. "The Council cannot come to a decision," she said at length. She looked remorsefully at Bates. "I'm afraid we need more time to discuss this matter alone. We will inform the human delegation when we have reached a conclusion."

"I can understand your hesitation," Bates said carefully. "I sincerely hope that it doesn't take thirty years for a decision, this time."

Vernix glowered at Bates and moved forward to speak. Alaria was faster. "We will reach a decision as swiftly as possible. Until then, you are free to stay on the Citadel."

Bates produced a forced smile and bowed slightly to show his respect. As he turned to leave, Captain Tyzuris entered the chambers again. He brushed past Bates without apology and approached the presentation platform.

"Captain?" Alaria questioned. "Do you have an opinion on the matter at hand?"

"No, Councilor," he replied. "I have an urgent message for the Dalatrass. We received it at C-Sec just minutes ago."

Malfaris looked at him curiously. "What is it?"

"Learia IV is under attack," he said. "The message is a distress call for immediate aid."

Malfaris narrowed her eyes. "I will send for a fleet immediately."

Never had such an opportunity struck him in the face so perfectly, Bates mused inwardly. He advanced up the platform again. "Councilors," he said. "Let us go. Let us secure your colony, and prove to you that we have no adverse intentions nor ulterior motives here."

Malfaris tilted her head. "That is an... unusual request. However, Learia IV is not far from here, perhaps five hours at current FTL speeds." She turned to the other Councilors. They whispered to each other for a moment before the Salarian turned back to Bates. "It is agreed. Go, and secure the colony."

Bates bowed slightly again and turned away, a wide grin spread across his face. This would be ideal. This could easily prove something to the Council, maybe even make their decision for them. It didn't take long to return to the Normandy and prepare the ship for the mission. Before they left, Velia arrived at the dock.

"I have been instructed by the Council to assist you in this," she told them.

Bates sighed, knowing he couldn't override the Council's declaration. "Very well, let's go."

The Normandy left the Citadel and was underway shortly thereafter.

[cider]

The Normandy was about to reach the colony. Durant did not like this. In his eagerness to jump back in bed with the Council, the admiral had sent the Normandy and its crew into battle, facing an unknown enemy. Unknown meant unpredictable, and unpredictable was something Durant did not like. There had been discussions as to what the nature of the attack could be. A few theories had been thrown around, but Durant was not happy with any of them. Since Learia IV was so close to the Citadel, whoever caused trouble there had to either be a complete fool or powerful enough to not care. No one was that big of a fool however, and if they were, Laeria as the target still did not make sense, from what Durant had gathered.

He was in his suite, getting suited in his combat armor. It was largely black with streaks of red and white, as most Alliance issued armor. It was also of the heavier kind. Not quite the tanklike battlesuits of the N7 Destroyers, for example, but it certainly was heavy. Instead of the supreme armor offered by the battlesuits, this armor was a combination of heavy armor and strong shields. When he was done, Durant attached his standard issue pistol and headed down to the armory, which looked like a circus. Alliance officers and N7 operatives alike scuffled around the area, arming themselves with their designated equipment. Durant made his way to his locker and opened it. He picked out a V-12 Vindicator. Originally developed by a turian private security organization, the Vindicator-series of assault rifles had since the destruction of the mass relays been continually developed by the Alliance. The V-12 was the latest and greatest of the series. While suitable for any range, the V-12 really came into its own at long distance fighting. It was extremely accurate and packed a rather large punch. In case things got hairy, Durant also helped himself to a couple of grenades before heading up to the bridge.

Ten minutes later the Normandy was in orbit of Learia IV. The location of the distress signal had been pin-pointed, and the men had loaded themselves into three different shuttles, six men in each. This was possibly going to be their first confrontation with alien forces in two centuries (disregarding the few alien criminals back in the Sol system), and Durant had made it abundantly clear they were going to exercise caution. Not wanting to risk landing the Normandy in a beehive, Durant opted for a quiet landing by shuttle just outside the combat zone, from where they would assess the situation. Durant's shuttle and another one where to land west of the target, while the third shuttle landed to the north, from where the men where to flank any opposition Durant encountered.

And so the shuttles departed from the ship, quickly finding their way to their targets. Durant's shuttle settled down in a green area with dense vegetation. Durant took the lead while the other eleven followed in two squads, and in a few minutes the colony was clearly visible.

[ThunderFox]

Yates grinning under his helmet the whole way to the colony has been itching to prove his worth, pulled out a data pad reading some till they got there. looked up ever so often look at the people he was in the shuttle with didnt show it but was more nervous about the mission he leads on. When there shuttle finally landed he slipped off the shuttle first and went to get into position gonna line self up where he could see the hostiles and engage them when given the order

[Reececr]

Reilly Jones was to the north of the target, he had scoped out a number of points to set up his men to be ready to spring an ambush with him. Bringing out his M97-Viper he imagined the weight he used to feel, now he felt fluid, he felt ready. The men assembled out of the shuttle and readied up.

"Our mission is to take the north ridge and provide support" he said into the comms, "Follow up, keep quiet, dont give our position away, ill take point, fall in"

An affirmative rang out in his ears, he didnt want anything to go wrong but he felt his squad were competent and he knew their limits. They advanced slowly to the ridge setting up in smaller groups.

"Captain Durant sir, we are in position at the ridge... Orders?" he said awaiting reply his scope came into focus as he zoomed in on the colony.

[kotetsu852]

Dmitri was about 6 meters outside the shuttle with his saber on his shoulder in a crouched position waiting for the order to move on flanking against the unknown enemy. As an N6 he had been trained in Elite interplanetary infantry combat along with his officer training which made him a very capable ship commander. He had lived for war since 18 and continued now, though his first time on any planet but Luna and Earth he was having an easy time adjusting to the situation.

"Nothing but waiting for now." He thought to himself as he prepared to assault an enemy that could be anywhere as complex as a Sovereign class Reaper to a group of Batarian rebels. His briefing had consisted of hearing a couple of guys talk about shuttling down to some colony and defending it against an unknown enemy. He lowered his rifle and waited for the green light to go.

[IAmZero]

Velia remained in her combat armor, and had never surrendered her weapons. She waited patiently as the human ship made its way to the colony. It'd been a little while since she had participated in a combat situation with allies - not since the commando units. Before the teams disembarked from the Normandy, she approached Captain Durant, who would be in charge of the mission groundside.

"I work better on my own," she explained. "I'll scout ahead."

Without waiting for a reply, she proceeded to the shuttles. Once they touched down, she drew her SevenX pistol and proceeded toward the colony. As with most Salarian outposts, what appeared on the surface was no doubt only half of the actual base. Ground level, there was a serious of silver, circular buildings - all connected by narrow corridors. There were few windows, and only a couple of entrances. No transmissions had been received from the base, and attempts to raise the colony on long-range hails provided no results. As she neared the outpost, no Salarians approached her.

"The southwest entrance is deserted," she said over the com-line to Durant's teams. "The colony's communications must be down."

She carefully neared a large rock formation and pressed herself against it. She peeked around the corner, but saw no threats. She waited a moment before rounding the corner and beginning her approach on the outpost itself. She hadn't gained more then ten yards when the automatic doors ahead opened and four wolf-like mechs charged out of the building. They sported narrow, flat heads with holographic faces, and six legs for greater speed. The machines were slender, built for speed. They had no mouths, and no other direct means of assault - rather, they were designed like Fenrir mechs, to charge the target and stun them, or detonate in close proximity.

Velia fired two rounds into the first mech's head, strafing backwards to expand the distance between her and the others. The first dropped sharply, then spun into the second. A moment later, they both exploded.

"Mechs," she said over the com. "Likely more inside the building."

[Shoryu]

Kell was fairly giddy to observe the council meeting, granted the C-sec guards observing the area for dangers didn't exactly like a member of a 'new race' being anywhere near the council outside of their own official meeting, his diplomatic status earned him a good bit of lee-way, as well as the fact he was known to be harmless unless attacked himself. He Remembered when he'd happened to see the council's garden for the first time as well, despite being the type who feels quite at home surrounded by roaring machinery and flashing electronics, even he thought it was quite the beautiful sight.

If one could tell what went on in his mind while he was observing the council, they would understand one of the reasons why 'he', despite his outwardly childish nature, was among the handful of diplomats sent by his species. He was learning quite a bit about the council members through their various reactions to the humans return and the way they spoke to even eachother during the meeting. He picked out which ones could be considered sympathetic, or which ones may actually 'fear' the humans even, though that could be expected to unbiasedly judge others, and those who may see some other races as 'inferior' in a way. It was an exciting exercise of the mind to observe this meeting, also because he got to learn a goodbit about the human's 'leader' as he guessed he was, and take in his reactions and such as well.


It was also quite interesting to hear about the various catastrophe's that the reapers caused and how the councilors thought about these situations, and it made him remember something. If his people knew of the details of what had been happening within the galaxy at that time, they perhaps could've helped, with the technology at their finger tips perhaps they could've slaughtered a good number of reapers and improved the chances of the other races. That was however 'moot', as the ranking members of his species long ago had decided to remain outside of the galaxy until all felt certain they could've wiped out the reapers themselves, far worse than simply losing to the reapers, would've been to take everything they had developed into the galaxy to 'fight', 'lose', and then make the reapers vastly stronger by allowing them to assimilate the Kestraai's unique technology into themselves, Hence why they chose instead to remain 'outside', at least until the sensors went nuts detecting an event on an unparalelled galactic scale.


He quickly got out of this thought process and continued listening to the meeting, the mention of 'threats' brought up memories of something he'd read about recently in the citadel records, The Rachni, to him a rather interesting race even if they frightened the others, and he'd relish the chance to meet one of them, or their queen even, someday.

It was also an interesting thing to see when the krogan councilor, of a species he'd read were known for raw battle prowess and devastating creatures to have as enemies, brought about some of the wiser words of the meeting thus far.


Then things suddenly turned more serious and the good Captain Tyzuris announced that a colony fairly nearby was under-attack, and Kell's fur suddenly stood on end while the tendrils mixed into his hair tensed up and a terrible grin spread across his face. 'Oh what a chance that's presented itself. Humans return to the galaxy 'and' I can get a chance to see them in battle in the same day, AND An unknown threat attacking so close to the 'center of council space' so to speak... I wouldn't miss this unless I was chained down in a prison cell, hahah.' with that he was off about as quickly as any of the humans were, more so given that he slipped out, stole a vent entrance, and made his way to one of the diplomatic docks that held his Party's Transport, from which moments later a comparitively small personal ship slipped out and zipped out of the citadel to follow the Normandy's Trail, more accurately riding it's FTL trail at a safe enough distance not to be considered a particular threat.


He wasn't sure how welcome he might be to have been following the humans there, but he could always lend a hand to alleviate such concerns 'while' he's observing everything going on, even without being human he had ideas for the 'better to ask forgiveness than permission' saying. As such, by the time the Shuttles departed from the normandy, he had caught up close enough to track the shuttles trajectories and follow them to their landing zones, and park himself a fair distance away to avoid undesired defensive reactions to an uninvited follower.

He disembarked from his personal ship quite rapidly, his armor deploying at the same time and providing him with a mask, scans of the immediate area, and a HUD to display important data to tell him whether or not it was safe to breath on this planet, of course it 'was', but it never hurts to make sure first. Before long he was off, gauging the positions of the human shuttles and trying to predict an expectable distance for them to have passed through so he could catch up and get eyes on them easily. He skittered off quite rapidly through the greenery, despite his techy specialty his body type was perfect for springing about a setting ripe with forestry, and allowed him to move very quickly unless he came under fire.

As he moved along as well, his little ship, currently set to a simple 'follow' command, was in a very low hovering position keeping a distance of approximately 100 Meters from his position to act as personal support. It didn't take him long to get eyes on Captain Durant's team, but rather than just 'popping out', which he figured may inspire much less controlled reactions given the setting and his status as 'uninvited' currently, he stuck to being sneaky and watching for the time being, and would only intervene if 'shit got real', so to speak, and generally kept himself well hidden to avoid any over-reaction from the humans he was following, of course it'd probably help that Velia was present.

As he moved along with his carefully concealed following, he went about tapping into the comm line as well so he could keep track of what was going on now that he was closer, the mention of 'mechs' that he just barely caught made him grin a little.