Chapter 186

A/N: Sorry for the extremely late updates, I've been very busy with work and other stories lately but I am still writing this story and plan to finish it.

Also just want to wish a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and Happy Holidays to everyone else!

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On the planet Victoria within the Ascendency home galaxy, several Senators had gathered together within the Senatorial residence of Senator David Osman. All the Senators presents were the ones heavily influenced by the Precursors.

Senator Osman, a man whose charisma once drew people together, was now fully controlled by outside forces. "Our efforts must remain discreet," he urged. "The AIA must not get even a whiff of what's going on here, because if they do then they have the power and authority to remove us from power."

Senator Renlo, seated to Osman's right, leaned forward, "However, if we keep all of this under wraps, then they won't have much evidence to make a move." The rest of the senators nodded, understanding the amount of secrecy they needed.

"And if we manage to keep thing under wrap until they leave for the other galaxy, I have received word from our benefactors that they will provide us with a vast loyal army to start attacking the Ascendency." Osman further explained. There was no way they were going to try and insight a rebellion within the Ascendency military as it was literally impossible.

The Precursor's understood that they wouldn't be able to achieve their goals without using force.

So instead, they would send Billions of soldiers from one of their client species to attack the Ascendency home galaxy and keep them occupied for the next few years while they make a move within their own galaxy to subjugate the other species and then use them to attack the Ascendency.

Once they brought their galaxy under their control, they would be able to send hundreds of billions of soldiers to conquer the Ascendency and take revenge against the Forerunners and the rest of the species that work alongside them.

Meanwhile, within the walls of the newly constructed Eclipse Ascendant, Catherine worked through late night strategy sessions, and various other tasks that were required of her.

She couldn't shake the feeling that something big was about to happen soon. With the recent divergence of the Senators from what could be considered normal Ascendency politics, she felt there was about to be a much bigger threat that the Ascendency was going to face in the future.

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Within the Mass effect Galaxy, the re-construction era has been progressing smoothly with the galactic council being at the forefront of galactic affairs. The galactic council was led by an elected representative which at this time happens to be the Ascendency.

All the species have started to work together since the end of the war, fostering a strong sense of cooperation and shared resources between each species. Some of the smaller races who found themselves under either the Asari, Turians, or Salarians have mostly changed their loyalties to the Ascendency.

It was better for them as a species to be economically and culturally tied to empire which saved the entire galaxy and has an overall good reputation.

The Ascendency representative was authorized to wield his influence for the benefit of all species and was closely watched for any type of corruption that would come from one wielding such tremendous amount of power and influence.

This was one of the perks of having secured the loyalty of those in important positions and being viewed as a righteous leader. The AIA was able to remain uncorrupted and highly effective at keeping corruption low.

Until now, they were unable to detect how a few senators have been corrupted by outside forces. But the blame can't be placed on the AIA since they were facing yet another galaxy ending threat.

———

3 Months later

The time had finally come as the technology to slipspace jump to a galaxy that is shrouded in energy fields and spatial anomalies has been completed. The first successful tests have been completed by unmanned scouting drones with no damage being done to the drones.

Once the technology was considered safe, every single ship within the new fleet was repurposed with the new slipspace drive within days.

Now it was time to finally find Axel and bring him back. The final announcement was made publicly as the people started to cheer across the Ascendency for the return of their ruler.

Onboard the Eclipse Ascendant, Catherine was standing next to Fleet Admiral Konrad Volkov who was the former Fleet Admiral of the 4th fleet during the Human-Covenant war. Now he has been chosen to lead the new fleet in the new galaxy.

Catherine sat in her seat within the bridge alongside her two sons while Miranda had stayed behind to investigate those Senators who had been making suspicious moves within the Ascendency.

Normally the Senatorial Honor Guard would report any suspicious activity to their superiors and an investigation would be launched. However, whenever they were questioned on the activities of the Senators, they all gave the exact same answer which was a little suspicious.

Despite what they may all see, a group of people who have been brought in for questioning usually said the same thing with some very small variations in their reports.

However, their reports were the exact same thing for every person questioned which pointed to a strong possibility that they were lying to cover something up.

As the fleet moved into position, the final reports were coming in showing the fleet readiness as their destination was plotted and the final checks were being made.

"This is it," Catherine said, her voice calm despite how eager she was to finally find the one she loved and bring him home. "The moment we've all been waiting for."

Konrad nodded as he turned to give orders, "Prepare to engage slipspace drives. All stations, prepare to jump."

As the countdown began, Arthur and Andrew placed their hands on each of Catherine's shoulders, offering a reassuring smile. "We'll find them, mom. I can't imagine what type of thing would be able to defeat our forces even in an unfair fight."

Once the countdown hit zero, the fleet jumped into slipspace which lasted for a few minutes before they emerged on the other side. It was a breathtaking sight to see a new unexplored galaxy filled with unknown dangers and species.

But there was no time to admire the view.

"Admiral," Catherine called, "begin the search grid. We need to find Axel as quickly as possible."

Konrad nodded and issued the commands. The fleet scanned its long-range sensors, searching for any Ascendency contact within the galaxy.

Back within the Ascendency, as soon as Catherine and the fleet left, the Precursors launched their attack on Installation 00. Upon getting fed information by the Senators, they decided to target the heart of the Ascendency along with other important targets.

On Installation 00, the people were going about their day like normal when the warning came out.

"All stations this is not a drill, I say again this is not a drill. All civilians are ordered to seek shelter immediately, I repeat seek shelter immediately." The AI warning echoed as people scrambled to get underground.

The Precursor's forces jumped into the system with over 30,000 ships in their fleet and quickly overwhelmed the defenses surrounding the installation.

Fleet Admiral Joseph Harper who was in charge of this region of space was on the surface of the Ark when the attack began.

"Sir, we are under attack we need you onboard your ship now, please proceed to the teleporter now," ordered Ossian the Metarch-class ancilla in charge of the Installation.

Admiral Joseph didn't waste time asking questions and proceeded to the teleporter where he boarded his flagship and took charge of the battle. But by this time, the shields of the Installation were penetrated, and ground forces had begun to land on the surface.

All forces on the Installation were deployed within minutes to combat the enemy forces, while reinforcements began to mobilize and would arrive within minutes.

On the ground, the Precursors used one of their client races called the Jikari's who were genetically altered for leadership roles while the main grunts of the war would be the Gnarlers. The Gnarlers are a mindless genetically engineered species designed to be frontline troops who swarm enemy positions with their overwhelming strength and durability.

The combination of these two species would give the Ascendency's military a challenge because of their combination of strength and numbers.

Installation 00 wasn't the only place attacked as a number of other installations and important planets such as Reach were attacked also. They were trying to release the Flood which had been hidden on those installations and allow them to wreak havoc across the Ascendency to further weaken them.

Chaos had started, and neither Catherine nor Axel would know until they both returned to face it due to communications between the two galaxies being cut off.