[Book Four] Chapter 19: I’m BLUE

Chapter 19: I'm BLUE

The year 2193 began and Ariana had chosen to be homeschooled. To spend more time with Adam and Sandra but also her dad. After a whole semester of going with the teachers in the family to some classes she had decided to enroll in fifth year at eight. It meant that she had two years to go through middle school and highschool education. Rick was curious to find out if she could and was surprised that his lay back daughter was fired up and had set a goal for herself. The other children were growing up nicely and everything was going well at home.

Rick had opened a show on the Citadel and every homeworld of each species. That store was selling exclusively tech from his company from simple softwares to ships. Their simultaneous opening was supported by the announcement of the BLUE, the battery using a tiny amount of energy from a RED generator. Rick wanted to call it BRED for Battery Rick EDI David but immediately dismissed the idea. In the end, the name was chosen to be BLUE because of the color of the material they were made of.
BLUE was incorporated in most of the technology the company was making. Synthetics? BLUE. Energy weapons? BLUE. Ships? BLUE.

Anything that was using a lot of energy was on its way to use BLUE. That didn’t mean that eezo would be obsolete. Not when it was the only substance permitting the use of the mass effect. The needed amount was however reduced.

Rick had asked David and EDI if it was possible for a ship to be its own Mass Relay. They knew for sure that a ship could be one for others as the Citadel was just a spaceship without thrusters and a gigantic Mass Relay but using itself as one for itself was a question they had no answer to. It was a challenge that occupied all their time but a worthy one. In case the mass Relay were blocked or destroyed, a ship could not be stranded and still get away.

One of the CQC teacher’s contracts had come to an end and the man didn’t wish to make a new one. Not because he didn’t like the academy but because he wanted to do something else. And that’s how Rick’s last sister in law found herself living and teaching on Celeste. Even Javik had been impressed by her knowledge in hand to hand combat and was sometimes watching from the side of Lyn's class.

With three of her daughters and all her grandsons on Celeste, Maria gave a try to the position of a caretaker on the school ship. Thankfully the man paying everyone's salary was Rick so she was hired on the post. Nepotism at its finest.

Finally after six years, four grandsons and giving opportunities and jobs to all her daughters and herself, the Williams matriarch changed her mind a bit about her son in law. A bit more when her job was just part time and that she was needed as a nanny.

Ashley has been on a confidential mission for Hackett, for nearly eight months and neither Hannah nor Anderson knew anything. Rick was of a mind to increase by a thousand percent anything the alliance would buy from him unless he got news from or about his wife. Hackery relented; Ashley was alright, making regular contact at the scheduled times and was doing fine.

That wasn’t enough for Rick but all his alliance entourage asked him to drop it and he reluctantly did so. Though he did ask Liara to keep an eye open with the shadow broker network. It had been a good decision to make as she got some similar information from different sources from all across the galaxy. Small quantities of weapons, ships and explosives and mecha were bought everywhere. The similarity between them was that every time the amount bought was sufficient for a small group of mercs or for the defense of a small settlement. What caught Liara’s eye was that it was exactly the same quantities, the location for delivery was unique for each space in the galaxy and finally that for each space only one company bought everything. Digging further she found out that they were all shell companies belonging to one main shell company.

When she shared her discoveries to Rick he took a moment to think.

“ I think… Someone is preparing for war on a small scale. It’s too covert but at the same time done badly. As if… the person in charge was lazy and just copy pasted the original order to all the others.”
“If you put everything together it’s enough for a small army, yes.”
“Do your agents know where everything is being delivered?”
“Yes. Either the Terminus or the Attican Traverse. However, all ships doing a delivery never reached their destination.”
“Did the buyers ask for a refund?”
“Yes…I think they attacked those ships and stole everything then asked for a refund for… Well… basically have everything free. It’s a scam.”
“Hmmm….” he replied pensively.

Opening his Omni-Tool he checked every single one of his stores’ sales.

“Those bastards scammed me too. A tank here and there, a few armors, a crate of guns… Nothing as big as they usually do but each store lost the exact same amount.”
“How come there weren’t any reports?”
“We’re assured so we didn’t lose any money and it was a very small quantity each time…  That bastard is clever but they don’t have a clever subordinate or subordinates.”
“... What are you talking about?” she asked, confused.

“The plan itself? Smart. Good way to build a small army and geared it discreetly. It tells me that someone is very meticulous and careful, taking their time. The execution though? Very poorly done as if someone just couldn’t be bothered or was a bit too zealous to get everything done quickly.”
“That doesn’t fit the profile of someone coming up with the plan.”
“Exactly! Making orders is a task that nobody wants to do, a trivial and repetitive thing that you can’t really fuck up. That tells me that the guy coming up with the plan is more arrogant than meticulous or they would have done it themselves but instead delegated that mundane task to someone else. It’s a job beneath them.”
“Okay… what does that tell us?”
“...That either the one who came up with the plan is in charge or that they are close enough to the one in charge since their plan has been listened to. Did you find out if any of the stolen merchandise was sold anywhere?”
“No, nothing came up on the black market.”
“Then that confirms my initial thought. Someone is making an army and I think I know who.”
“You’re thinking about that new warlord that’s been raiding all along the Traverse’s frontier.”
“Yes.”
“That’s not good.” Liara said with worry.
“Not good at all. We need to tell the council. Colonies close to the frontier must be given more defenses. Or another Skyllian raid is going to happen, except with my tech in their possession, this time it may very well succeed.”

Contacting his mother, he and Liara shared everything they had, the latter the proof and Rick the ideas and speculations. Hannah listened attentively and admitted that it was worrying. It was not full proof but she trusted her son. If he believed something bad was going to happen then it probably will. The other councilors reacted the same way, they knew better than to dismiss Rick’s words. A spectre was put in charge of the investigation to know more while each government with worlds close to the Traverse or in case of humanity, in it, began to send more defenses to them. Rick also warned Aria, just in case but with the automatic turrets he gifted her she was more or less protected.

It was now out of his hands but Rick hoped that it was enough.

____________________________________________________________

His thoughts proved to be true when a new colony named Shangri-La was attacked two months later in the middle of August. The colony, on the planet Ontarom in the Kepler verge, had bravely resisted the assault but barely. There were a lot of casualties and people taken away before the attackers could be pushed back.

It was giving Hannah a massive headache as the human parliament wanted to retaliate despite not knowing who the attackers were nor where they came from. From the testimonies collected from the colonists and the soldiers that were there, it was definitely pirates as the assailants were from many different species. Other than that, they knew nothing. Well with the exception that they would all be dealt soon enough. Of that they were certain. That’s what she was about to say to a member of the parliament that had visited her office. Fortunately for her, he was one of the good ones that just wanted to know the details of the attacks as he had some relatives there and what the navy was planning, first to help the colony, second, what were the avenues the Navy was thinking of to deal with the problem. The man was a good fellow just asking questions. The three young stooges that barged into her office and demanded answers and demanded for her to attack however… They were about to discover why you didn’t cross the Butcher of Torfan.

“We’re doing nothing because there is no need.” she simply said.
“Doing nothing?! What kind of representative of humanity are you?! You’re going to…”
“I’m going to punch your face and send you back to your father, you little shit.” Hannah responded.

No one talked to her that way and she made it known as she got up from her seat and buried her fist into the three stooges’ leader’s jaw, making fall to the ground.

“Listen up, you little trash. I am an admiral of the Navy, I am the councilor of humanity and I am the Butcher of Torfan. Who does a spoiled little shit like you that is still sucking his father’s dick to get everything in his life think you are to order ME around? Huh?”
“My father…” shouted the young man holding his jaw with his hand before  but was stopped when Hannah put her boots on his chest and pushed him down.
“The problem will be dealt with soon and the Alliance won’t have to spend a credit on it.”
“Not a credit? How?” asked her invited guest.
“Major Williams was the one who was organizing the defense of the colony. She’s alive but gravely wounded.”
“Oh, dear.” the man replied, paling.
“Who cares about some major…” tried stooge number two but he too was interrupted, this time by the man.
“Major Ashley Williams. Member of THE Normandy crew and wife of none other than Rick Wald.”

“....”
“Oh.” said the third stooge.
“Yes,’oh’. The man is going to slaughter them all and every one on its way, that’s why we’re doing nothing. Well not nothing as we do have Major Alenko, the second human spectre in case you didn’t know, investigating. Now I advise the three of you to go back from the shit hole you came from, before I call c-sec to arrest the three of you for terrorism.”
“““What?!”””
“Young men, you just forcefully entered the office of the human councilor with an hostile attitude, in numbers and making demands. That’s good enough for Councilor Shepard to spin a little tale and label you terrorists who tried to make a coup.”
“We didn’t! We..”
“Are at my mercy, now get away from here before I change my mind.”

In no time they ran out of the office, though the leader couldn’t help himself and shouted ‘My father will hear about this’ as he left.

“Do you know any of them?” Hannah asked.
“They are new members of the parliament.”
“So young? They’re what twenty four, twenty five?”
“More or less. They got a seat thanks to their parents’ money. They made a good campaign, making promises and everything and got elected instead of old timers that people were tired of.”
“Well… They won’t stay seated long.”
“I will pretend that I didn’t hear that. Conspiracy and all. However I’d be very thankful, they have no idea what being a member of the parliament means and are only after their own self interest. At least their parents understand that they can’t do anything and everything they want.”
“To be fair, so far you’re one of the few members that I know of that aren’t like that.”
“I was raised by a mechanic. Raised me well and taught me good principles.” the man replied with a shrug as he raised from his seat. “Could you keep me posted on the situation on Shangri-La please? My nephew and his family live there.”
“As long as it’s not detrimental to the success of the mission, I will.”
“Thank you, councilor.”

The man left and Hannah went back to her seat. As she was about to resume work a message alert from her daughter appeared. Reading the message she smiled predatorily.

“They’re so fucked.”

____________________________________________________________

When he heard that Ashley had been hurt. Rick stopped everything he was doing and told Jane as he began to make a list of things they would need for the voyage to Shangri-La. There was no way he was staying here. Jane agreed and asked him to wait a bit, so she could gather people wishing to be part of the self-imposed mission. Liara, Garrus and Jennifer were in. Tali wanted to but there would have been no one to take care of Leeha so she reluctantly declined until Dorothea told her that she would skip classes to take care of her daughter. As a result Tali was almost the first on the ship, only a few minutes behind Rick. Sarah had asked to come and since the Normandy had no one from the medical field nobody objected. Ever since she has started working at Celeste, Dr. Michel pushed her to not just stop at being a nurse but to become a full fledged doctor as she already knew more than the average nurse. She didn’t meet the requirement for the academy but Rick gave her access to the cursus. Every break or slow moment she had, Sarah was busting her ass to learn everything she could and even studying in the evening. The last member of the crew was of course Hilary, to pilot the Normandy.

Speaking of the ship; after EDI’s request the Eezo core had been modified to be made smaller to allow the implementation of a RED.  She also asked for new thrusters. Rick looked at her like she had two heads and asked why.

“To fly faster. I don’t like that Celeste is faster than me.”
“... Okay. I’m… a bit worried about you having a RED with a GR-Canon already installed… Not because I think you would use it inappropriately but because if it’s known… why not use a BLUE instead?”
“Because Celeste had a RED.”
“... You’re jealous.”
“I am not.”
“You’re jealous of a non-sentient ship…. Wow.”
“I am not.”
“No, no, it’s alright. I understand. We’ve been on Celeste for three years now and you rarely get to go out..”
“...”
“Do you want to be uploaded to Celeste too?”
“No. I don’t like its shape.” the AI replied but didn’t deny anymore not being Jealous after Rick pointed out the reasons why.

In the end, she got everything she asked for and more, Rick giving an upgrade to her servers, something she was thankful for.

When they arrived on Ontarom, Rick immediately went to see Ashley with Sarah. Her wounds were extensive. She had lost her right arm and got a nasty looking scar on the right side of her face, from her jaw to her forehead. Her eye, completely lost. She looked like depressed shit and when she saw him entering her room she shouted for him to go away and other things that he didn’t bother to listen to. He simply walked to ward and kissed her deeply.

“You’re going to be alright.” he whispered, her face in his hands and looking at her.
“I’m missing an arm and an eye!”
“Nothing that I can’t fix.”
“There is… What?!” she exclaimed in the middle of the rant she was making.
“I can fix you.The latest prosthetics my guys made. Once we cultivate some skin to put on it you won’t even feel like it’s not your arm anymore. The synthetic eye is still a work in progress aesthetic wise but it’s working perfectly well.”
“I… really?” she asked in hope.
“Of course. The pro of the prosthetic is that you won’t ever have the need for a manicure. The con is, you’ll need to watch out for its strength when you use it. You’re not going to be stuck behind a desk or retire and touch your invalidity pension.” he joked.

“...”
“Is it the scar that’s bothering you? Because I don’t care. I always knew you were a badass, now you really look like one. If you care, then I’ll see what I can do to make them go away though the cut brow stays because it’s fucking sexy.”
“...”
“Sis… If you don’t want him anymore because of some stupid idea that you’re not pretty anymore, I’m taking him.”
“Back off! He’s mine!” she said as she gripped her husband with her left arm and pulled him to her making both him and Sarah laugh. “When can I get them? I want to go after those bastards.”

“As soon as we’re back on Celeste.”
“Then let’s go. Now.” Ashley said with determination as she began to get out of bed but was put back down.
“Not yet. We need to gather information first. I promise you though, before the end of the month.”

Ashley nodded and the conversation shifted to the attack itself, Rick listening attentively. When she was done with her tale, Rick kissed her once again and left the room leaving the sisters to talk privately. She joined Jane and the rest of the crew at the Alliance’s base. From what they had learned, the pirates had come with twice the number of colonists with top notch gear. The Alliances forces took a defensive position and sheltered everyone they could. The added defenses provided by the alliance worked for a time but were dealt with when the pirates brought out Rick’s tech. Two tanks of the Blastoise model were unleashed on the automatic turrets. Those thanks were designed to be like a mountain. Very little mobility but very hard to damage. The weapons were no joke either. An Hammerhead was completely outclassed in every way except speed and mobility. When a breach was made Ashley focused the forces at her command to kill every pirate walking through the walls. She ordered any soldier on the walls to get down and not lose their lives uselessly by manning normal turrets. With the Blastoise deployed they would have been easy pecking. After a few hours of fighting. The pirates retreated but not before bombarding one last time the settlement. Ashley had been caught in an explosion and that was how she lost an arm and an eye. Two hundred people were taken, three hundred wounded and a hundred dead. To Rick, the pirates' actions made no sense. They had the advantage in every way. They just needed to keep fighting to take over, yet they had retreated.

“What are you thinking about?” Jane asked.
“That something is very wrong with this attack.” he replied.
“They retreated too soon.” she commented.
“Yeah. The attack on a colony in the traverse… The chances are high that it’s this new warlord but… it doesn’t quite fit the usual MO. Their raid always went the same way. They came, took people, killed the opposition, took resources, burnt everything down and left quickly.”
“And here they just took a few people and left.”

“... I think… It was a test.” he announced after thinking for a bit.
“I think so too but test what? The Colony’s defenses?”

"...Themselves. How they worked together, how to use my tech… They had the advantage yet retreated faster than usual. I think they got the results they wanted and bailed out because there was no need to stay further. The two hundred people taken are either a clumsy way to hide their intention or just a bonus."

"Why not go all the way? Taking down the colony since they could. That would have created a perfect cover for their real objective."
“Either… Because the one in charge of the raid didn’t care one bit. They came to do something, they did so they left. Or because hiding their objectives were not part of the plan at all and the missing people were truly merely a bonus. I think that the raids they did until now were to get slaves, resources but also experience. They’ve been going at it for a while now so they have more than enough. This one was a test as we said. Meaning they are entering a new phase of whatever plans they have.”
“Any idea of it?”
“On top of my head…Conquest.”
“Of what?”
“Space.” he replied and looking at Jane’s confused face explained. “I think they’re preparing for war, taking planets to create a turf.”
“That’s insane.”
“Not really. The Traverse on the east side of the Galaxy is rather unprotected, despite the Alliance and Salarian not far. The west side is too dangerous. The asari and the Turian are there, they wouldn’t let a new group with their morals and from the Terminus locate there. Humanity and the Salarian on the other hand? A bit close but not as close and not as strong.”
“What about the Terminus? Won’t that pose a problem with the clans?”
“Not if they rally the clans or supply them or are the clans. Those people doing the raids are slavers after all.”
“So what? They intend to create… a nation?”
“I can’t say right now but it’s possible.”
“Any idea who they are? Did Aria tell you anything?”
“Yes, I do. No she didn’t. She didn’t even hear anything. That in itself is a hint.”
“Who?”
“All species suffered during the war, some more than others. You have one guess. Hint: They definitely don’t like you.”
“... The batarians?”
“Yeah. It’s their way or the highway with them. They do not negotiate, they use force instead. That’s why they pulled themselves from the council when they didn’t do squat shit when the alliance began to expand aggressively. From there they were low key. Getting slaves from the Terminus clans, developing their technology through the study of the Leviathan of Dis. And when the Reapers arrived, they got completely owned. They are almost all gone. They won nothing after the end of the war, not like they could with the little help they could give at the time… They still had those connections with the Terminus clans though. With their own space completely ravaged by the Reapers and the Alliance and Salarian so close… Not the best situation to rebuild especially when your arch enemy is way stronger than you are now.”
“So they left for the traverse and Allied themselves with the Terminus clans.”
“It’s the first possibility that comes to mind. And I’m not sure it’s all the batarians. Just the more conservative that wants to go back to their alleged glory days. If I’m right, I’m sure you know who leads them.”
“... Bahlak.” she said with a frown and disgust.
“Correct.”
“Any idea what they will do next?”
“If they are patient, more tests like this one and get more gear. Then… I don’t know. Personally I’d attack the quarians.”
“Why?”
“Their fleet is consequential but far from the best. They only have Rannoch and don’t have the best gear around… Sure there are the geths with them but they demilitarized a lot… If they are smart they could succeed in taking the planet and enslaving everyone. They are on the edge of the galaxy in the traverse, currently not that important on the galactic stage… Perfect Target. The council wouldn’t be able to intervene, too close to the Terminus Systems. Furthermore, the Quarians are in the Traverse yet no raid was conducted close to them. As if on purpose, to not get their worries up and bolster their defenses.”
“We need to warn the council, find those assholes and take them out.”
“Not you.”
“What? Why not me?”
“Jane, the council has been generous to let you have your spectre status despite being inactive. They may ask you to be active for good if you’re part of this. The alliance would probably ask you to go back to active duty too. What would come of your time with Arianna? Our son that you’re carrying?” he said looking at her three months pregnant belly.
“... I didn’t think about that.”
“If you want to go back to active duty… That’s alright. I didn’t stop Ash, I won’t stop you but think about the consequences you’ll have to shoulder.”

____________________________________________________________

They didn’t stay long on Shangri-La but long enough for Kaidan to show up with his own ship and his own crew. The ship being a Ghost model indicated that the man had agreed to sacrifice a bit of autonomy for help. Though its colors were definitely of the Alliance and so was the crew. Joker, Chakwas, Adams and James being part of the small crew was further proof that humanity supported their second spectre. The reunion went well and Jane shared everything they knew and speculated so far. Which was not a lot but enough to get some things moving in certain directions. Everyone had visited Ashley once before she got relocated to Normandy under Sarah’s and Rick’s watchful eyes.

When they arrived on Celeste they immediately brought her to the hospital to receive her prosthetics. She would have to take some time to move her new arm properly but everything was fine with it otherwise. Her eye however didn’t pleased her one bit, and Rick simply offered her an eyepatch. That made him think of the features of the eye patches used for the camo armor. As such he gave the task to one of his team to make an eye with the same features.

Tali had warned Zaal'Koris of the possibility of an attack and advised him to buff their defenses. Just in case. Even though there wasn’t any proof the man did so since it was still a possibility.
Rick was personally reading the reports Liara got from the Shadow broker’s agents, most notably the Mass Relays activities. After a couple more months of raids like the one on Shangri-La. Rick saw a pattern.

“That son of a whore!”

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