I Wanna Watch You Bleed

July 11th 2185

Khar'shan falls. Arshan had taken the entire fleet through three other Batarian worlds before heading towards their home world where the bulk of their defenses were gathered. Once reaching the green planet, the synthesized had taken the lead, cutting through the defense fleet with such ease that most of the watching unsynthesized felt an unfamiliar thrill of anticipation. Precise kinetic strikes destroyed military bases and they fell upon the planet to begin processing the population.

The batarian defense of Khar'shan was not helped by the indoctrinated within their ranks. The Batarian's see it only as betrayal, the combined SIL and SOCL fleet recognize that while they would have had absolutely no problems conquering the Batarians, it is too easy and they seek the source of indoctrination. The damaged hulk of one of their own is easily discovered. Harbinger, already angry at the damage his organic suffered is further enraged and while he attempts to initiate contact there is no intelligent reply. Arshan tries as well, with no better luck, even when he physically connects. The remains are active but not alive and with sorrow, for another species lost to time, they are destroyed.

Arshan left facilities on the first three batarian worlds conquered and they are ruthlessly processing the population. The process is started on Khar'shan and half the remaining fleet continue on to the other seven worlds possessed by the Batarians. There is nothing that can be done to stop them.

-me:s-

July 14 th 2185 Terra Nova

Harbinger looked at the human before him. She was still thinking about Synthesis but he could sense that she was leaning towards it. He had explained that the process would take several years and had realized it would most likely be as if he was in hibernation. That wasn't an issue. The issue was that the others would not be in hibernation with him. He trusted his own kind, but he knew what they could get up to, not to mention what the synthesized might do. They were far too fond of the organics. Harbinger could understand the need for individual organics but not for entire races. So long as they did not deviate from the plan he could adapt to any changes but a few instructions would not go astray.

He knew Shepard was leaning towards agreeing because between conversations with him, she was currently writing letters and speaking with comrades. She was not saying good bye but was making plans to be away. He had definitely made the right decision in treating her gently. His usual methods would have been too forceful and he had seen in her mind. She could be stubborn but she was willing to listen to reason. So long as his organic felt that it was her decision she could be malleable.

"Harbinger, if we do synthesis, when do you want to begin?" Jane asked looking up towards him.

"Once we return to your home world," he replied. If he could he would have returned to the safety of dark space between galaxies but there were no resources there. He would need the resources and Sol System was the best defended. "Are you recovering well?"

"The Doctors say well enough. Are you organizing them to your satisfaction?"

"What you know as the SIL are my forces, and they will not forget it, even if I am not contactable for a few years," he rumbled the reply. Shepard might be beginning to know more about them than other humans but she did not yet comprehend the truth behind them. She would but by then synthesis would have begun and it would be too late to change her mind. Not that Harbinger thought that she would. Shepard was not one to change her mind just because something was not quite as she expected. He was being as honest as he could but organics could not comprehend the eternity they represented. She had asked quite a few questions and despite his answers she still had more. He was being patient though. A few days did not matter and he knew that even with her documented ability to resist, Arshan or anyone else could get her to say yes but that would be rather unsatisfying. He'd always feel as if he cheated, it was far better for him to convince her himself.

"So what do you really get out of synthesis?" the skeptism in her voice was rather impressive though he could feel in her mind that she would be open to a reasonable answer. She did not pretend she understood everything.

Regardless of her feelings, he had been anticipating it. "I contain the knowledge of millennia. Synthesis will activate it. You have seen those who return. They are larger, stronger, faster. Synthesis means improvement."

"So why can't you use that knowledge?" For an organic, who did not understand, that was an obvious question. They often saw no reason not to use knowledge they possessed simply because they could not see the long scope.

It was a harder question to answer. She was organic, she could not comprehend their purpose but he would try. "We have a purpose. We have no beginning or end, only purpose and our purpose is to preserve, not to use."

"That doesn't explain why you need an organic."

No it didn't. "Synthesis was a choice made to divert our purpose." It was better than the other choices.

"It didn't work?"

"It worked. From the time the choice was made we have longed for synthesis." They'd had no choice. He didn't like to think they were controlled but he knew his duty. It almost made him laugh to consider what the organic would think of it.

"How will it change your purpose?"

"That has yet to be determined."

"So you get a power boost… a big one… and the chance to change your purpose. What is your purpose?"

That was a very leading question, though the truth was simple enough. The means of that truth would be more problematic. "Our purpose is to preserve knowledge." Shepard hadn't believed that entirely but she had let it pass.

"What do I get out of synthesis?"

"I would offer most of your kind eternity but that would not interest you so I will instead tell you information. All my memory will be for you to know. Every species I have encountered, every history I know will be yours."

"Will it change me?"

"Information changes everyone. How it changes them is up to the individual."

She seemed to accept that and was silent. He waited for her to speak again but she said nothing more and he turned his attention to the rest of his kind, filtering through the information they were collecting from Batarian space.

Given what he knew of Shepard, once she felt the full extent of his answers he was almost looking forward to some of her reactions. Synthesis had been a choice to end the cycle but he had never believed it would be. The cycle was eternal, as they were, but perhaps she would provide a different purpose. It did not matter, once synthesis began, it could not be reversed.

-me:s-

July 15th 2185

After extensive conversations, Jane Shepard agrees to synthesis with Harbinger. The information is not released to the general public though Systems Alliance Command are informed. Lieutenant Commander Shepard's rank is unchanged though she is given special permission and much higher level clearances to match with Harbinger's clearances. Jane is now familiar enough with Harbinger to know that he doesn't care about such niceties. She will know whatever information Harbinger knows, regardless of her clearances.

Doctors also note that she was healing far faster than she should. Medi-gel is good but not that good. They assume that Harbinger or one of the CEumans did something to accelerate her recovery and while they would like to know what, it is agreed that now is not the time to ask.

System Alliance Command scraps plans they had drawn up for the court marshall of Jane Shepard. As she agreed to synthesis, eventually, and Harbinger had not brought up the matter of her deception, the Systems Alliance is willing to sweep the matter under the carpet as it were. They do however make it a condition of service that you do not fake your genetic scan. Humanities Government follow suit, voting for and accepting retrospective legislation that makes it illegal to fake your genetic scan for determining compatibility with the SIL. A grace period is allowed to allow any others like Shepard to come forward. While the legislation is deemed draconian by many, it is passed because in argument it was emphasized that the choice for synthesis remains one of free will. Some politicians did argue that no one has ever said no and thus somehow the SIL must be coercing agreement, but they were pushed to the side as a vocal but marginal minority.

-me:s-

July 16th 2185 Citadel

Tevos watched the vid again. She knew what it showed but she didn't know what it meant.

At 05:37 an unknown ship had entered Citadel space and the instant it had finished deceleration it had spun, ignoring all hails from the defense fleet. Five ships had broken away from the defense fleet to intercept but the ship was already heading back towards the Relay and as it accelerated into the mass effect corridor the ship fired. At first no one was sure what the ship had fired at until there was an explosion from the Relay accompanied by a shower of debris and at 05:38 the unknown vessel disappeared.

It was at that point that the defense fleet had realized that they had just watched a perfect intercept and apart from the vid of the ship and a few long range scans they had nothing. The ship that was destroyed was identified to be Batarian and while they had sent a cruiser through the Relay on the same vector the unknown ship had taken, nothing had been found in the system. Since it had been a Batarian ship destroyed the Council had attempted to initiate contact with Khar'shan but no one had managed to get any response from any part of Batarian space. The Ambassador had returned to Khar'shan two days hence and if the fate of the ship was anything to go by, the Council was now assuming that the Ambassador was dead.

She looked at a still of the ship. It was relatively long and sleek, comprised of several flanges, all of which had powerful engines at the back. It had a main spine mounted cannon and several other protrusions that they assumed were secondary weapons. It was almost completely black though there was some paint trim and on the side there were marks they assumed were identification tags, probably the ships name but no one recognized the language. It was an odd language. Some of the symbols were all curves and they were interspersed with others that were angular and some that were combined. Who had a language that could not decide its own lettering?

The conclusion was obvious. This was a ship of the race the Batarians were at war with. And with Batarian space falling silent the outcome of that war didn't bode well for the Batarians. But that ship… its movements, its weaponry strength… if the unknown race could make ships of that caliber then they should have conquered the Batarians years ago which lead to a rather unsettling conclusion though for the moment she shied away from that in favor of listening to Valern's report.

"Analysis incomplete," the Salarian started, "unknown vessel, large, small dreadnought class. Very agile and very fast. Performed as destroyer. Probable not to have artificial gravity."

"What?" Sparatus interrupted. "But that's…" the Turian didn't finish.

"Unusual for advanced state of weaponry," Valern agreed. "Calculation of force of turn," he continued, touching a key pad which brought up a schematic of the exact trajectory of the ship and the angles and forces involved at the speeds detected. Sparatus eyes glazed slightly at the technical drawing but he continued listening. "Occupants, assuming physiology equal to Council races, would be unconscious. Doubtful that even krogan would maintain consciousness."

"Artificial dampening? Or counter gravity?" Tevos asked.

"Not detected, but a possibility," Valern admitted. "Exact nature of weapons unknown. Shielding capacity unknown. Armor strength unknown. Too many unknowns. Design unknown. Origin unknown. IFF signature unknown. Only know willing to use armaments and vessel fast and maneuverable. Assumed to be in Batarian territory. Computing power behind intercept indicates highest quality vessel." There was one more detail that he had not included. One of the Salarian ships long range scans said the ship was organic but as none of the others had scans to confirm that and it was ridiculous, the scan was considered an anomaly. "Probable inference of non-hostility towards Council. No engagement of our ships, no ambush of our scout. Speculate from evidence, Batarian war ended. Batarians lost."

They were all silent for a moment. It wasn't that the war had likely ended it was how they postulated it ending that was causing concern. Sparatus was the first to recover. "Practically speaking, even if the Batarians have suffered a catastrophic defeat there is nothing we can do. Officially we do not even know they were at war and they have never requested assistance."

Tevos and Valern both nodded. That was true. The turian continued, the equivalent of his species' frown gracing his features. "It is the enemy we need to concern ourselves with. We simply know nothing about them. As a result, I would suggest we send probes into Batarian space merely to gather information. Once we know the situation we can make decisions… though I would suggest that the Citadel Fleet and our home world fleets be put on alert."

Tevos nodded. That made the most sense. Operating with a lack of information was one of the certain ways to make mistakes. "We will re-visit the issue once we have greater information. For now, I suggest we say that the unknown ship was a Terminus Pirate and leave it at that."

"Reasonable," Valern agreed as Sparatus nodded before all three moved on to other issues.

-me:s-

July 17th 2185 Citadel

C-Sec Officer Garrus Vakarian despite being ordered to drop all investigations into Spectre Saren is involved in a shoot-out in Chora's Den where several civilians are injured, including one Quarian. Vakarian insists that the Quarian could prove his case, but after receiving several antibiotic boosts, she declines to comment and takes the next transport off the Citadel, presumably returning to the Migrant Fleet. Vakarian is dismissed from his position.

July 17th 2185 Systems Alliance

Harbinger and Shepard return to Sol System and begin synthesis. Before flying close to the sun, Harbinger detours into the Oort Cloud, launching mining drones which almost immediately begin harvesting resources before sending them towards him in close Sol orbit for refinement.

Systems Alliance Command decides to re-instate the Kilimanjaro and with the SOCL's help it is towed back to Sol Space for the massive job of repairing and refitting the dreadnought. Some consider this to be a useless gesture, though the rise in moral is deemed to make it worth it.

Despite protests Hannah Shepard is promoted to Rear Admiral for her defense of Terra Nova, though she refuses to take command of another dreadnought and oversees the work on the Kilimanjaro.

-me:s-

July 18th 2185 Citadel

"What do you mean you can't get into Batarian space?"

Valern looked back at Tevos. "STG probes cannot access Batarian space," he repeated.

"The Batarians wouldn't let them through?"

"Relays are closed."

Tevos had been watching Valern so she saw the flicker of annoyance that flashed across his face. Even if the Batarians had been in control they wouldn't have been able to stop STG probes, not completely though the report that the Relays were closed… That was worrying. "They tried to open them?" Opening Relays without knowing where they lead was against Council Law, but these were well mapped.

"It did nothing."

Sparatus expression was one of surprise, but Tevos knew that only because she had been a Councillor for so long and knew how to read Turian faces. "That's not the work of pirates," he said firmly.

"I think we can safely conclude that the Batarians have definitely been conquered."

"By what?"

That was the question. It went without saying that none of them knew how to close Relays. They had found inactive Relays in the past, and the theory was that they would turn themselves off if not used after sufficient time, but they could easily be re-activated by sending the appropriate codes.

Tevos closed her eyes. They couldn't access Batarian space, and she had no doubt that if the Relays the Salarians had tried to use were closed, that all others would be closed but they knew that there was a militant force behind those Relays. It had been hostile to the Batarians but they simply didn't know if they were hostile to the Council. She had to assume they knew about the Council. Combat against military ships resulted in the collection of very little information but against an entire planet and all civilian ships… No one could wipe that much information, not even the Batarians so whoever they were by now they would have full language downloads of most races as well as history chips… providing they could sort them out from Hemegony propaganda. That left only one thing the Council could do now.

Sparatus and Valern were thinking about the problem as well but their attention was caught by Tevos' sigh. "I don't like to do this but I suggest we authorize a 20% increase in military forces to correspond with the patrolling of the Batarian border."

The other two looked shocked for a moment before they thought it through. It really was the most sensible suggestion.

"And if we encounter the unknowns?"

"First Contact situation," Tevos shrugged. "We aren't the Batarians so they shouldn't be hostile towards us and I believe they would now have our languages, communication should be relatively simple."

"New race presents most interesting contradictions," Valern mused excitedly. "No other viable solution but to patrol. If Relays re-activate STG will send probes to assess."

Sparatus was quiet for a few minutes while he thought. Increasing military was something the Turian Hierarchy would be more prone to suggest but the fact that the Asari had suggested it… The Volus would work out the economics. He nodded. "I'll set up the schedules, though what do we tell the public. Regardless of the fact that most do not care for Batarians, they are bound to notice that they are no longer around."

Tevos laughed, "We tell them something like the truth. The Batarians have closed their borders and all communications have been severed. It will explain the patrols as well and isn't that far from the truth."

Valern looked thoughtful for a moment before he shrugged, the gesture unfamiliar to the salarian. "Plausible explanation. STG will look for further information in Terminus Systems. Batarian Pirates may know further details about Batarian enemy."

"I'll re-schedule our patrols," Sparatus agreed, though his voice betrayed some worry. It was a worry they all felt. It was disconcerting to realize that there was a hostile, quite powerful military force with the ability to close Relays who had appeared in the galaxy from nowhere. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were playing the alien's game and that the outcome would not be anything they expected.

-me:s-

July 20th 2185 Sol System

All transmissions from Harbinger cease and the SIL inform the human Government that synthesis is fully underway. A photograph of the sun shows Cendain who is still undergoing synthesis. Preliminary measurements indicate that a new hull has been laid and it was larger than anything seen. Estimates are approximately 8 km long which has most of Systems Alliance Command muttering about the laws of physics.

-me:s-

August 9th 2185 Khar'shan

Jarra was a pleb. She'd been a pleb her entire life. She knew she lived on Khar'shan and that she was a Batarian, which put her on a slightly higher social scale than some of the alien slaves but not all of them. It depended on their owners. She'd learned that the hard way and it was easier just to look down when talking to anyone.

She knew that they'd been at war because her Supervisors said as much, complaining about the rising cost of things but that had never really impacted upon her. Except for now.

Right at the moment she was standing under the Khar'shan sun, surrounded by many other plebs but most surprising was that there were Masters and Supervisors standing in the field with them. They weren't even complaining. Surrounding them all were strange things that glowed blue. They were scary. And they were not afraid to use the weapons they were carrying. Sure, as a pleb, Jarra was used to seeing force and death but these beings did not care for rank. She'd seen them shoot a Master. Backing up the guards were massive scuttling things that were surrounded by swarms of small circular ships. They fired occasionally and Jarra knew they were killing troops. Nothing ever got close to them. More of the huge scuttling things hovered overhead.

They were being herded towards an enormous ship that had landed in the field and the guards didn't care if they talked. That was new and while Jarra hadn't said anything, she was listening.

"…cut through the defenses as if they weren't there…"

"… they aren't human though…"

Jarra assumed that was the name of the enemy was human but it hardly mattered to her.

"It doesn't matter."

No, it didn't. They had guns and they were strong. That's all that ever mattered. She was nearing the front of the field now and could see that there was something new. At the front there appeared to be an alien master and it was sorting through them. Some were sent to the left into the vast cavern of the grounded ship and those to the right just disappeared.

"… now that's a human…" someone said from behind her.

"How do you know?"

Jarra turned slightly, if she tried to turn fully one of the small circle things would kill her and from the corner of her outermost left eye she could see the original speaker. He had a military bearing. "Fought them," came his reply and Jarra turned back as she was prodded to take another step forward. He probably had, though he wasn't fighting now. No one was and even if they wanted to no one would have gotten near the human, though when she looked at them, Jarra realized she had seen a human before. It had been a slave, the possession of the highest ranking Batarian Jarra and her Supervisor had ever seen. There were no humans in the crowd around her though and Jarra realized that the attacking forces had probably already separated them, rescued them. She didn't know what she felt at that. She'd long accepted her place as a pleb but there was a tiny spark inside that these humans cared enough for each other to attack and to apparently attack with such force that victory was assured.

The human standing at the head of the field was surrounded by a horde of the glowing blue things. She realized now that the guards bore a vague resemblance to batarians. Four glowing eyes on each watched the crowd carefully. There was a small swarm of spherical ships hovering over the human. It was even better guarded than any Master Jarra had ever seen. They were being lead in single file passed the human who seemed to be sorting them though how Jarra couldn't tell. Occasionally it would flick a hand left or right but mostly the glowing blue guards just prodded the batarian in one direction or another.

The human kind of looked like an asari. What she could see of its skin wasn't blue and it had fur on the top of its head. It was covered in some sort of black body suit with blue armor. There was nothing special about its appearance but somehow the human was truly intimidating. She wasn't an expert at reading facial expression but the human was cold. It was something about its single set of eyes and the set of its jaw. Jarra shivered. She'd seen those looks. Only the highest ranked ever had that look, the one that said without words that it was better than all of them.

She looked at the ground as she was lead passed the human but she could still feel its gaze on her. A shove pushed her to the left and she stumbled but didn't fall when one of the glowing blue things caught her and pulled her up. She began walking again towards the huge ship that had landed in the field. The opening was a chasm and there weren't that many batarians being sent towards it. Most were going to the right but she couldn't think about that. The glowing blue thing that was like a batarian was behind her but as she slowed it walked past her before grabbing one of her arms and dragging her into the darkness. The silence in the ship was deafening and it took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the gloom but as she looked around she saw a lot of tubes. She couldn't see anything in them so it seemed like a random selection when she was pushed into one.

The tube closed and she watched as the door sealed until she couldn't even tell where it had been. Then a light came on and there was a hissing noise. Her nose twitched. It didn't smell bad but then she really felt it and screamed!

She'd been conditioned to pain. All plebs were. It was part of their life but this was worse than anything she'd ever felt. Every nerve was alight and Jarra clawed at her throat as she breathed in the gas and her insides burned. She'd felt pain before. Sometimes the supervisors punished her until she passed out but that was an encroaching blackness. This was different. Her mind couldn't retreat, it was as if she had been tied into consciousness. Jarra looked down and wished she hadn't. Her fingers felt like they were curled into claws but they weren't. They weren't even there. She watched her flesh dripped away.

Jarra would have drawn breath to scream again but there was nothing and mentally her mind screamed for her. Agony assaulted her and it was never ending. She couldn't think any more. She screwed all four eyes closed and screamed.

It came as a surprise when it stopped. Reflectively she gasped, drawing in air. At least that's what she thought she was doing. It felt like it and that was a comfort. Jarra kept doing that, trying to calm down. Whatever had happened couldn't be that bad if she could still breathe. She tried to keep that in mind and slowly it felt like her heart beat slowed. Relief flooded through her.

Slowly she opened her eyes. The Khar'shan sun was over head. There was the smell of grass in her nose. She was in the field. Jarra shivered. There weren't as many people around her and there were no glowing blue guards. She couldn't really be here again but no one else seemed to know what was going on. Then she felt it. It was subtle but it was there. It was a heartbeat, slow and steady and Jarra looked up. The sun vanished and she could see stars and somehow she could feel eternity. She looked down again. This time there was no grass but instead Jarra was looking at the hull of one of the ships she had seen over Khar'shan. Its hull was grey but dappled and she blinked, focusing her eyes.

She was looking down at herself. Her face. Her four eyes opened wide in pain, her mouth extended, screaming. Jarra looked over the rest of the hull… there were others there… The fear returned. The pain all came flooding back and she didn't even feel herself fall to her knees as eternity truly opened and she screamed, and screamed and screamed.