Mass Effect x SEEK
Prologue
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One of the many benefits of being an Asari, was that one gained a repertoire of skills and tricks over the course of nearly a millennium; a boon to any career in Citadel space, but especially in the world of politics.
Genuine emotion could earn the favor of the masses, yet could easily be seen as weakness around peers who expected grace and control. Admittedly, part of that stemmed from the Asari desiring for other races to expect that from their culture.
So Councilor Tevos was proud that the only true expression of shock and horror on her face was the slight widening of her eyes, the press of her lips, and the grip she had on her podium.
Councilor Sparatus had plenty of expression for both of them.
"I can't believe this," the Turian said. Not with any heat or anger, but sheer confusion and a hint of despair. He swiped a few more slides back and forth, as though looking for a new answer.
After a moment, he stopped and looked down at the visitors and repeated, "I can't believe this."
Tevos did not blame him. She had done much the same when she had been skimming the reports.
Before the three Councilors were an equal number of Spectres: Saren Arterius, Nihlus Kryik, and Jondum Bau. Each of them were legendary figures in their own rights, with political, social, and military capital to spare, though only Jondum had been the Spectre officially assigned to the task at hand.
Beyond them were the holographic representations of the leaders of Asari, Turians, and Salarian interests. Matriarch Irissa, Primarch Quentious Sarvo, and Dalatrass Esheel.
On any other day, she might have marveled at the motley crew assembled here, and the symbolic nature of how each of their worlds proclaimed mutual leadership among peers, yet these were the true power players behind the scenes.
She could not muster up the energy to care.
"We did not believe it either," Jondum Bau answered. "All three of us considered hundreds of theoreticals and none were satisfactory."
"Not quite true," Saren said with light annoyance.
"Correction. Some have theoreticals that satisfy personal beliefs."
The light bristle of his jaw was Saren's only response to that supposed correction.
"A planet is gone," Councilor Valern, bringing all focus back on track. "Any theory would be appreciated."
"A smaller correction", Nihilus spoke up. "Several planets are gone."
If that was an attempt at humor, no one found it amusing. Councilor Tevos seriously considered leaving the assembly then and there. Maybe even drown her panic in some Deep Blue she kept in case of emergencies.
From the looks of everyone else in the room, she was not alone, which ironically enough gave her some measure of control back.
"Inhabited?" She asked.
"Only the colony that Spectre Jondum was sent to investigate beforehand," Saren said. He glanced at both of his compatriots before lapsing into his explanation, "The colony of Dishal Hagar. Named after a Salarian God of Agriculture and Medicine. On paper the colony was aptly named, as the focus was a Salarian led venture into researching virtual intelligence crop organization and implementation of biochemicals for increased nutritional value. Three hundred Salarians, fifty Turians, forty-eight Asari, thirty Volus and Hanar, and at least three recorded Quarians called this colony home."
He glanced at Dalatrass Esheel.
Her expression gave way to nothing, which impressed Tevos. She had spent centuries with aliens of all sorts, and prided herself on being able to read the microexpressions on any one that crossed her path.
Esheel might as well have been one of the Citadels' statues.
"That is, of course, a falsehood. Dishal Hagar was a chemical weapons development biome, with the list of potential uses ranging from quelling insurrections, potential Rachni invasion, and Krogan insurgency. From what we've found and learned through contacts that were off-world, they were considering delivering shipments to the Terminus Systems in experimental phases. So far as we are aware, this never came to be."
"Because the planet is gone," Dalatrass Esheel said gravely. "Please remain on task, Saren."
"I am not under your command."
Tevos coughed lightly, "In fairness to the Dalatrass, the missing planet… planets, do rate higher at the moment than the experiments. We can table that discussion for another time. Councilor Valern?"
"Tabled," he nodded, staring at Esheel. She simply nodded.
Tevos was not looking forward to navigating the bureaucratic nightmare that the STG would place at their feet.
"Mhm," Saren hummed, smugly.
Jondum took that as cue to speak up, "Six days ago, I received your report that all communications with the colony had suddenly cut off. You assigned me to the task of investigation, as one of the Asari was the daughter of a Matriarch's close ally, and I had experience with Salarian operations in the area. Naturally, the STG had already arrived and were all too happy to give me what they had found."
All too happy? Tevos doubted that, but kept quiet.
"Which was nothing," Nihilus added. "The STG had no leads on the disappearance."
"Indeed. For all intents and purposes, the planet seemingly vanished from existence. At the time, the only information we had was a dense patch of radiation cloud, so lethal that one of the STG ships had to be quarantined and scrubbed several times over."
His eyes rolled in surprising nervousness, "At least four agents died onboard and another three a short time later. The rest of the crew are, as far as I'm aware, slowly dying of radiation sickness despite our best medical equipment."
"What about the shielding?" Primarch Quentius asked. "All ships should be able to handle even lethal doses of radiation with our protections in place!"
"The issue was not with the quantity of radiation, but the type. Please find page 42, third block." Jondum waited before going on, "As you can see, the STG found that this oddly small particle radiation had some means of quantum shifting - for lack of a better explanation - bypassing shielding by having an inconsistent size. Electronics failed, shielding was bypassed, and cells began to rapidly die out when they unknowingly approached the cloud."
Tevos rubbed her head. What a mess.
"I, of course, suspected the STG," Jondum continued, uncaring of the Dalatrass and Councilor in the room. "I theorized that this was in fact, a double bluff, and that the colony was truly being used to experiment on new FTL drives. Perhaps even Relay technology or Prothean artifacts."
"Which is where we come in," Nihilus spoke up, nodding to Saren. "Jondum reached out to us, asking for an outsider perspective, and to assist in the investigation in manners that the STG could not reliably track."
Saren added, "We investigated Turian military records and career service, checking for commonalities or evidence of scrubbing, alongside Volus and Hanar business records. Same for the Asari, though that took significantly longer due some of their lengthy careers."
Naturally. It was not out of place for an Asari to be a dancer, mercenary, scientist, and artistic performer over hundreds of years. Tevos had old friends who made it a tradition to loop careers, as a hobby.
"We found little on the Quarians beyond third hand sources, due to logistical reasons." Nihilus sighed, "And it was not as though we could question the Flotilla for information without arousing suspicion."
"What we did find were recordings." Saren stood a bit straighter. "Page 78."
They all looked.
Sure enough, there were recordings and transcripts of at least three Asari streams, one Hanar stream, and two dozen messages between the colonists and their associates, on and off planet.
She did not play the videos. Seven hundred years of living did not mean she was immune to the nightmares of her position. Nightmares persisted regardless of seniority.
Better to stick solely to reading.
Long minutes passed.
"They all cut off at the same time," Sparatus said softly. "And we can see off-worlders trying to communicate, only to get errors."
"Two messages and at least three streams mention a sudden feeling of breathlessness, nausea, followed by a cut signal."
"Was it true then," Sparatus growled out, eyes on the Dalatrass. Anger shared by her compatriots beside her, hologram be damned. "Did the STG… I don't know, destroy this planet with Prothean technology?"
"No." And the Dalatrass finally appeared incensed. "The colony served dual purposes, this is true, but there was no study on FTL or Prothean technology on site. This is not our doing!"
"We agree," Saren said, reluctantly.
"You do?" Valern asked, surprised.
"Yes. In our investigation, we naturally sought out any connections to targets in the Terminus Systems, wondering whether they played a part in the disappearance. And what we found were the other missing planets. Page 90."
He looked at the Council, eyes cold, "At least four planets taken from Terminus territory, uninhabited, only noticed because they served as pit-stops for pirate raiders and occasional luxury escapades. The lack of notable star charts in the systems means that they remain rumors, but that will not be the case when this colony's disappearance hits the public."
Tevos wondered aloud, "And this rules out STG involvement… how?"
"We found a trail," Nihilus said.
A pin could have dropped and shattered the silence.
"Please," Tevos said. "Explain."
"We didn't notice it with the colony, because the cloud was still fresh. Too potent and dangerous to do much more than quarantine. These lost planet trails, however, had aged by weeks and months. The radiation became relatively harmless - from what can be concluded at least - and revealed a particle trail over several light years. Faint but traceable to an extent."
Jondum nodded, "And none led to the colony or Salarian space. They all lead to the same general location on page 205, block four. Past Relay 314 entirely, before the trail grows too faint."
"The planets are being taken," Matriarch Irissa said in horror.
The idea was ludicrous. The words almost didn't make any sense. Not even Mass Relays were capable of such a feat. Yet, they now had five missing planets, vanishing in seconds.
"There are other possibilities. Rogue solar flares, FTL technology being studied on every one of these planets, or perhaps Prothean artifacts activating in a chain reaction." Still, Jondum sighed, "However, being 'taken' as you put it, fits the most."
"By who? And why?!"
Nihilus and Jondum turned to Saren. Apparently, this was now his show.
"I have no concrete evidence for this," Saren noted. "However, we have at least two possible suspects. One species that we know mastered FTL beyond our wildest dreams, who built the very station we stand upon, and whom we venerate as near gods."
That earned a scoff from Quentious, "The Protheans? No jokes Saren, that isn't like you."
"Am I laughing? Do you believe I enjoy the idea of the Protheans, perhaps a small enclave that hid away from the galaxy for fifty-thousand years, turning their level of technology on us?"
The Primarch remained quiet.
"Motive is sound enough", Saren growled out. "We are a bunch of ignorant upstarts, living in their homes, with pale copies of their technology and cultures. Think of our history, the warlords in colonies, and how the Hierarchy viewed them."
Tevos thought of the VI on their homeworld, glancing at Irissa, who was clearly doing the same.
She did not want to believe this. Partly because it may mean revealing the artifact, and dealing with the nightmare of political fallout from that, but also because it went against everything that she believed in the Protheans.
They had uplifted the Asari and other races! They had been guiding those in need. To strike out and harm those they once protected was… horrendous to consider.
"What of the second suspect?" Valern asked.
Saren shrugged, "We wondered why the Protheans vanished so long ago. In this investigation, and with follow up readings, I believe that we may be dealing with the relics of whatever species they warred with in ancient history. The Prothean Nemesis, or some remnant of them, perhaps with a Citadel of their own."
"I do not know which is the worse outcome," he admitted. "At least with the Protheans, we had a semblance of an idea as to what they were and could do. I do not relish facing an enemy that rivals them, that we have nothing on."
Everyone was horrified at the thought.
Not since the Rachni Wars or Krogan Rebellion, had the galaxy faced such a terrifying threat. A mere possibility of one, but a threat nonetheless.
And from a piece of history they had not unraveled in thousands of years.
"Councilor Sparatus," Tevos finally said. "This is your area of expertise."
"Mhm," he nodded slowly. "We need to commission exploratory fleets to follow these trails. We'll need some information for the public to digest, and they'll want to feel secure when the digestion makes them sick. Saren, Nihilus, Jondum, we'd have you continue the investigations. Recruit whomever you need, but I want to know if other planets or even moons have gone missing. We don't have concrete star charts of the Terminus Systems, but it's time we made some."
To the rest of the assembly, he spoke solemnly, "In the meantime, we must prepare for war."
"Against these Protheans or this Prothean Nemesis?" Matriarch Irissa said with worry. "I worry nothing we have could compare to whatever faction can pull in literal planets in mere moments."
"I know, but it's better than nothing. And I find it curious that they are targeting small to average size planets, most of them unpopulated, compared to our capitals. Perhaps that is telling of a weakness. I want to study this odd radiation and I want to fortify the Relays. The Protheans used them before and I can't imagine they wouldn't want them back. Perhaps a secret to stopping whatever planet stealing is happening lies in the Citadel and Relays as well."
For a moment, Sparatus did not seem to know how to continue. Perhaps laying out the monumental task at hand had driven the weight on his shoulders to a paralyzing degree.
"And perhaps," Tevos said, taking some of that burden. "It is time to open the doors to other races in the council. We've long held the Batarians, Volus, Elcor, and even Quarians at arms length. If we are to face a threat of this scale, unity is paramount."
"The Batarian's will use this as an excuse for more slave raids," Esheel warned. "And the Quarians will all but be demanding we retake Rannoch from the Geth. Can we afford their divisive ideals at this stage?"
"It is in my long experience that cooler heads will prevail," Tevos said softly. "If nothing but for the pure and simple truth that to do otherwise is to face unimaginable consequences."
"Unimaginable consequences," Saren murmured. "Embracing eternity in one hand, a biotic storm in another, I see."
She did not deny it, "Do you object?"
"On the contrary." Saren did the Turian equivalent of a smirk, "It works perfectly with what I had in mind."
