[Book Four] Chapter 45: Preparations

Chapter 45: Preparations

“The navy is bleeding men and women. Ever since Commander Shepard’s warning two weeks ago about the existence of a species hell bent on our destruction in Andromeda and her ralliement to fight the threat the numbers of desertion from the military has reached a height unprecedented.” an Indian man said as he presented the news.
“It’s not really a surprise, Lester. With the council refusing to take action and forbidding anyone of it, many chose to ignore it and join the Commander.” replied an asian woman by his side.
“That’s a political mess if I ever saw one. The parliament is not happy about this news. One has to wonder why they would join the Commander in the first place.”
“Some think that it’s a way for the Commander to get back under the limelight, others believe in her warning, and others believe it’s a way for her very controversial companion, Rick Wald, and his company to push forward their agenda in galactic domination.”
“ Rick Wald has been declared MIA after first contact with this hostile species, I doubt it’s for some hidden agenda in galactic domination. Furthermore, even if he was alive, he hasn’t been in charge of the company for five years now. And it’s not like he didn’t own the galaxy already with BLUEs.”
“Whatever the reason, each deserter believes in something. We have on site Diana Allers, interviewing some of them.”

The screen’s display changed from the news studio to Diana, who had in her company three marines.

“This is Diana Allers with what can be called deserters.” she said and turned towards the military women and men and began asking questions. “The Commander Shepard has called for war and you chose to answer that call. Why?”
“Because, it’s the Commander. Anyone else and we wouldn’t have done so.” said a brunette.
“The proof of her claim of a hostile species with the objective to destroy us is scarce and yet you chose to believe her because it’s her?”
“Yes. Thirty years ago she came to the council with much less to warn them about the Reapers, and she was right. I don’t want history repeating itself. I don’t want humanity and other species caught unaware. If I can put a stop to the threat before it reaches our space then deserting is not a big price to pay.” said the man.
“You don’t believe it’s a hoax or a public stunt from the Commander to make herself important again?”
“Not in the least. After everything she did for the galaxy during the Reaper War, the Commander has basically retired and stayed out of the public eye, understandably. It makes no sense for her to suddenly change her mind after so many decades if the threat wasn’t real.”
“You may be tried and imprisoned for your desertion. Are you okay with that?”
“We are because we’re marines. Our duty is to protect the innocents, protect the peace and face any threats endangering them, no matter the consequences we might face in return.”
“What about your families? They will be affected by your actions.”
“My grandfather and my father fought during the Reaper war and they told me of what the Commander did. When I need advice it’s them I turn too. When I shared my indecision with them, they both wished they could fight once more and join her themselves. They are 100% behind my decision and cursed the council and the parliament for their choice.”
“Pretty much the same for my family but they are former military too so it was expected.”
“Not mine but they understood why.. They…”

The screen turned to black and Jane let out a tired sigh. From what Hackett had told her a few days ago, twenty percent of the military had deserted to join her in Andromeda and the number kept on growing dramatically and showed no sign of stopping. The parliament didn’t know what to do. Without a strong military force, humanity was weak and opened to attacks. Some idiots tried to pass a bill to stop the bleeding of the military of its people with harsh consequences, most notably decades of prison time and huge fines. It was stupid and ineffective, especially when the deserters would find themselves in Andromeda and be out of reach. The galaxy was still being discovered and there was plenty to do for everyone going there. A bit like the development of the Far West in the USA of old all those centuries ago. But unlike then, where law was scarce and people mostly on their own, Sandra would hire them all. She has the means to do so after all.

Hackett, with the help of Lindholm, Anderson, Hannah and her, will soon push for the creation of a new council. The krogans were on board of course and so were the quarians (along the geths) after a bit of negotiations. It took months to iron out the common laws and everything else but with already a council in place to learn from, it hasn’t been that much of work. The volus joined the endeavor, of course, when they learned that the company was supporting the new council. They always go where the money is after all. The Elcors had been a bit more difficult to convince but were on board too when Arianna had found a way to boost their fertility. After the war they had been on the verge of extention and their efforts to bring up their numbers had not presented much result. The fact that by joining they would have the possibility to increase their population drastically was a god send. The real surprise had been the Batarians. In the past thirty years they rebuilt their homeworld and their numbers drastically and while they were not as numerous and strong as before they were of equal power with the Quarians. Presented with the opportunity to matter again, they didn’t hesitate. When it was hammered that there would be no slavery, they didn’t care and simply said they had given up that practice after the war for good and didn’t intend to pick it up again ( which was true since Bahlak's demise thirty years ago). Their reasoning was that they would build their future with their own hands and not on the back of someone else. The new Hegemony was also eager to be back on the galactic stage in a way that mattered. While there was still some tension between them and humanity, the latter didn’t consider them much, they were after all capable of wiping them out easily.

The real difficulty would be the human parliament. On one hand humanity has more or less been ignored by the other members of the council, on the other they would see this new council as a loss of power. Thankfully Liara and EDI, thanks to the shadow broker’s network, had enough blackmail material to push the human politicians in favor of this new council if need be.
From what they heard here and there, there was dissension among the Asari and the Turians. Many were dissatisfied with the way things were going. It all started with former students of Celeste Academy, who thanks to their position and the friendships or networking they did during their time there, were making waves and ‘converting’ others to cooperation. Liara believed that a schism could happen with her people. Unfortunately the turians were too disciplined for that and the last time a group of them tried for independence they were all exterminated.

Sighing again, Jane stood up for her couch. She didn’t know what to do with herself anymore. She felt old. Old, tired and empty. War would start soon and she didn’t want it. She had fought enough in her life already and didn’t want to fight more. Being the leading figure during the Reaper War has been difficult and it nearly broke her, especially after that Mission on Thessia. She would have held on, she knew that but out of desperation. Instead she had Rick by her side and she held on out of hope and faith. Now, he was gone or rather out there, somewhere, she was sure of it. She needed him, now more than ever, to once again support her. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. As she made her way outside her quarters she saw a picture on the shelf near the door. A picture of her in a wedding dress and him in a Hawaiian shirt, short and flip flop. That drew a small smile on her face. She remembered that day fondly.
It was halloween on Celeste and after a vote from the students it has been decided that a costume party would take place. It all came from young teenage human students sharing what the holiday was about to others. Of course, disguising themselves and getting sweet has been broadly interesting to students from other species and had petitioned Kahlee for doing something. Once last party before the end of the school year.
Jane didn’t miss the opportunity to wear a wedding dress, something that she knew Rick always wanted her to do. She had to admit, she looked damn right gorgeous in it and so thought most of her students and colleagues. She mentally laughed at Rick’s costume. It wasn’t even a costume, he just put something on quickly because he was too lazy to actually think of something. The thick mustache he added that he called ‘pussy tickler’ has been a hit. Sure, he told her and everyone that he was cosplaying as a man named Magnum from one of his 20th century shows, but she knew better. To think that they won the best costume award still boggled her mind decades later. Students even wanted them to give classes like that. Had Kahlee not put her foot down, Rick would have.

Putting down the picture, she took a deep breath. Putting her mind in order, she exited her quarters for a meeting with Sandra and the rest of the family. They had a war to talk about.

__________________________________________________________________

Things were not going as well as expected. Two months since her speech and the only people that answered her call had been humans. Sandra has no problem providing them accommodation from simple lodging, to weapons, armor, training ground and everything else an army would need. She had hoped for more though. Korgans, Quarians, Geths, not so much the Batarians but she had hoped they would send people. Wrex had assured her that his people were ready to act but waited for the new council to be formed. He argued that the last time something like that happened it didn’t end well for the Krogans. He was not wrong. The Salarians had uplifted them and what they got in return was the genophage. True they also fucked up along the way by trying to conquer the galaxy but they also got nothing for fighting for the council against the Rachnis. Jane understood and didn’t blame Wrex in the least for wanting assurance first then doing the job after. It had been like that during the fight against the Reapers after all. The Quarians were pretty much the same. While they trusted her, they didn’t trust humanity ( most specifically the parliament) to not just use them.

They were missing people, people that they needed yesterday. Scouts had come back from the diverse clusters and the news were not good. Some were devoid of Kett presence and others completely under their control. Truth was, they were not in a rush to go to war. They were not under attack massively, there was no invasion. Everything was on their own terms, so they had the time. She did however want to end it quickly, one part in the hope to find Rick, the other to finally rest for good. Retirement was appealing to her. She wasn’t even old. Only sixty seven; by human’s standards she had more than half her life yet to live but the idea of disappearing into a remote location as soon as possible was more and more pleasant. Her children were grown and didn’t need her anymore, her nephew and nieces too for the most part. Siohban and Analysse were now adults leaving only Aezzia as the youngest. Liara was still teaching at Celeste and so, just like with Ashley, Rick has been the primary caretaker of the little asari. Thanks to the travel between the galaxies being almost instantaneous, mother and daughter saw each other constantly many times a week but there was some period of time where they only saw each other via holo screen.
As a result, with Rick gone, she had taken up to raise Aezzia with Ashley. Her, more than her friend as she didn’t really have much of a job to do, while Ashley had to coordinate the entirety of the Alliance’s forces in Andromeda. A job that came with a promotion to Admiral and going down in history as the first commanding officer of the (small) first fleet in Andromeda.

All in all, taking care of Aezzia was… difficult. Not that the young asari was a bad child or anything but she was very, very energetic and very curious. Always exploring trying to find new things. Keeping track of her without EDI was a nightmare, thankfully the AI helped more often than not. She had wondered if Liara had been like that as a child and Benezia assured her that yes, though not to that extent. Her friend wanted to explore but also liked to study history at length. Aezzia on the other hand was not accademically inclined and just followed her whims of exploration. They all blame Rick for that and weren’t wrong to do so.
Jane loved the girl but sometimes she just wanted to strangle her or just drugged her to sleep so she could have a moment of peace. That’s when she realized that she was getting old. She didn’t have the patience to raise a child anymore and knew she had been lucky with Arianna and Matthew. They have been energetic, sure, like any child but they weren’t wild like Aezzia. She couldn’t wait for Rick to come back or for Aezzia to become an adult or old enough to enter Celeste.

“A small house in a remote location with a lot of rain… I found it odd at the time but I understand now why he wanted that.” she mused in her head just before Sandra grabbed her attention.
“Auntie?”
“Yes?”
“Is everything alright?”
“Yes, why?”
“You’ve been spacing out and didn’t react when EDI told you that unknown ships had arrived.”
“Oh! Sorry, unknown ships you say? I’m on it.”

Under everyone’s worried and puzzled gaze, Jane exited the meeting room to reach the command room. In Rick’s absence, it was her job to give the approval of ships wishing to dock on the Cassiopeia or simply stationed around. Before the creation of the council’s relay in the Galaxy she also had to act as a border agent. Signaling Traynor to open the coms and getting a thumbs up in return, she spoke up.

“This is Commander Shepard of the Cassiopeia. Identify yourself.”
“This is Urdnot Mordin, here to kick ass.”
“This is Bladden Vakaryan, reporting for duty.”
“This is Tilona Aldalsi, ready to serve.”

More and more ships of all sizes appeared around the Cassiopeia. All from different species. All ready to join the war effort. Most of all there were a lot of them. While Jane felt at first surprised then relieved at the sight she began to panic a bit as despite the Cassiopeia only having half of its maximum population there was no way they could welcome everyone. Thankfully it was not her job and hence not her problem.
Quickly, she welcomed everyone in Andromeda through the com and invited the leaders of the different factions to get onto the Cass via shuttle instead of docking their ships. Along with members of security she went to wait for her new guests landing. Mordin was the first to get out of her shuttle and saluted her with excitement. Bladden followed suit and so did the others.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s good to see all of you here, though I admit that I’m surprised. I thought that most of you would wait for the new council to be formed.” Jane said.
“To avoid the possibility of armed conflict, we left early for here.” replied Tilona to which Bladden nodded in agreement.
“The new council will be announced in a few days. The higher ups leaned to the cautious side. Despite our difference in opinions and our separation, no one wants to fight their own people. Especially the Turian, it would have turned bloody very fast.”
“I was just bored and tired of waiting.” added Mordin in a flat tone making Jane snort. The young krogan was her father’s daughter.

They waited a bit more for every leader to arrive and kept talking about what was happening in the meantime in the Milky Way. Former primarch Victus and former Councilor Quentius were actually the leaders of the separatist faction among the Turians. Their position during and after the war allowed them to see that their many successors were one after the other and step by step reverting to a political stance pre-Reapers. Something, in their opinion, completely asinine since the post war effort and economy had recovered quickly thanks to a politics of serious cooperation between species and even persisted more than a decade after that. It was only until they retired and with their successors management that slowly everything went a bit downhill very slowly. Hackett, through Hannah, contacted Quentius who contacted Victus. From there, the two turians began to recruit and prepare for a schism.
The asari, to everyone’s surprise, were almost all on board. A good two third of their government at least. From what Tilona explained, Aethyta (of all people) had kicked some ass and opened their eyes to most. The galactic political and military map had changed drastically since the end of the war and being stubborn in wanting to go back or preserve the asari's subtle dominance was foolish and impossible. Especially when the blue aliens’ reputation never really recovered after the discovery of the beacon on Thessia, Liara’s book about the truth of the prothean and the multiple succession of councilors. Three different councilors in thirty years was unheard of. In contrast Tevos lasted four centuries and retired instead of being dismissed.
The fact that the Alliance had more than tight ties with Rick’s company and still wished for cooperation between species instead of ruling over everyone was also an important factor. That didn’t sit well with the blue ladies that another species was playing the cooperation card when it was their card to begin with. In the end the matriarchs in charge voted and the entirety of the asari would join the new council.

“That’s… That’s great. It may also bring the other half of the turians to the fold now that they’re alone with the salarian.” exclaimed Jane.
“Actually it’s three quarters but yes it could help. I sincerely hope it does because I don’t want my people to fight each other. Even more now, when we’re at war with another species already.” Bladden commented.

As the last leaders or captain (she didn’t really know) exited their shuttle, Jane led everyone to the meeting room where Sandra was waiting. There both women briefed their new comrades on what was going on in Andromeda and the plan of action to deal with the Ketts.