The Shadow of Old Transgressions (Homeworld/Mass Effect Crossover Quest)

The Outlands

Nest Nebula
The Haborship Memnon

In the end you decide to return to the Bentusi, but not to Bentus itself. The great harborship is your flotilla's home and family where you grew and played. And thus it is your natural stopping point whenever you wish to return to the embrace of the Bentusi, but it is not the only harborship.

In the times before the galactic council, when the Pax Bentusi spread across the galaxy, the Bentusi were a great and growing people. Hundreds of harborships were built to house the elders and to the needs of the Bentusi tradeships in various parts of the galaxy. There was only one Far Jumper core and so these other harbor ships did not have the same capabilities of Bentus, but that only made them slower. In every other respect these massive vessels served as the homes, families, and guardians for generations of Bentusi.

The other races know little of them, for Bentus was the face of the Bentusi and the fist that enforced the peace. When Bentus withdrew from galactic affairs they thought that the Bentusi were a fading race whose time was short, but that was only ever one aspect of Bentusi affairs. The harborships continue to watch over the Bentusi as they grew from nebula to nebula.

One of the many activities that the harborships support is the examination of progenitor relics. Even after millenia the Bentusi have barely scratched the surface of their secrets, not helped by Keeper interference. So you know that it is very likely that a harborship is near the archeological team that High Minister Telassa asked you to intercede with.

So you stop at a Bentusi waystation to pick up the latest map of harborships. This waystation isn't like the ones that line the Old Routes. Unlike those emergency shelters this one is meant only for Bentusi use. It resides in the deep black between stars. The station is a thing of stealth and shadows that the Sentinels keep regularly updated. Even as you approach you can feel the ping of its targeting scanners as a dozen baleful ion turrets track you. Only a response on the highest levels of Bentusi protocols saves you from their fire.

Even so you don't stay long before jumping out again. Only long enough to receive a package with the latest harborship locations in this part of the galaxy. As you expected there is one near the progenitor wreck safely tucked away in a nebula near a proto star, Memnon.

According to your databanks Memnon is relatively young. Only a few centuries older than the galactic rebellions that overthrew the Bentusi. Though you assume that many of the elders in its gestalt are far older.

As might be expected from the secrecy of its location you can't just take your flicker allies to rendezvous with the harborship. Fortunately you have a convenient excuse to split them off. With Ulysses taking up Aurora's hangar she was unable to carry them into hyperspace, and instead outfitted with them some hyperspace cores from her collection of trade designs. Then you asked them to escort Iuno ahead to contact the Taiidan expedition and protect her while she liaises with the scientists. You sent the remaining drones with her. You feel a little uncomfortable showing your elders you delvings into fleet warfare. It isn't something a proper young Bentusi does.

Which leaves you, Laverna, and Aurora to emerge from your golden quantum gates in the hazy embrace of the nebula. As always sentinels scan you and allow you passage close to the proto star where Memnon floats in all its magnificence.

You can help but compare it to Bentus and find it a bit lacking. Memnon has the same iconic profile, but it is slightly shorter and slimmer. It was never intended to support multiple war fleets. Only civilian Bentusi convoys and potentially a few escorts. Still it is a harborship and has far superior facilities to Aurora along with specialists in mind core examination. Which is exactly what you need right now.

Your trio slides into docking bays and you contact Memnon. In only a moment you feel its immense presence focus on you and examine you closely. In this respect it is every bit Bentus's equal. "Greetings, young ones. I see you have been through quite an ordeal. Tell me what ails you."

Dutifully you send your damage reports, but the physical damage isn't the main concern. "We've been fighting a force of strange aliens with technology that is subversive on both a physical and virtual level. Both Laverna and I have been infected and need a full decontamination. And Ulysses lost his body and hasn't come back online. We need your aid Elder Memnon."

"Oh dear. That is an unfortunate turn of events. I heard that there were pirates preying on the Bentusi, but it seems that the situation has escalated even beyond that. Allow me access so I can scan you."

You have a small moment of unease as you take down your firewalls. You were taught to always keep yourself shielded as one of the most basic safety protocols. But you were also taught that sometimes you needed to let others in, and so after a moment you do. In what feels like both moments and an eternity a great light passes over you as Memnon performs an in depth diagnostic of your systems.

After what seems like a subjective age it responds, "I have good news and bad young one. Which would you like first?"

"The bad." Better to lessen whatever the sting is with a followup of good news.

"Then unfortunately I must tell you that repairs will take some time. I must bring several other elders into this. Specialists in memory repair and anti viral treatments. I estimate we will need several weeks or maybe months to fully remove the corruption. But the good news is that you should be as good as new afterwards. Your quarantine efforts were quite effective, and nothing has spread beyond the systems you already flagged as corrupted. I especially commend you on your repair of your hyperspace core. Most your age don't take as good a care of their hyperspace databanks as they should."

This is not especially good news. You are glad to hear it can be repaired, but you have other things to do in the galaxy. "What about Laverna and Ulysses?"

"Laverna will require similar repairs to you. Ulysses shows some minor signs of corruption, but mainly it is physical damage to his systems that is causing issues. Aurora did an excellent job, but she lacks the necessary facilities to do a full core rebuild. I will tell you that we will only be able to work on Laverna or yourself at a time. I understand that you are impatient to continue your quest, and your quarantine protocols are holding. So it would be possible for one of you to continue on to your mission as long as you hurry back as soon as you can."

That's definitely good news, and you ponder for a few minutes before contacting Laverna. Time to decide which of you should be repaired first.

[ ] Laverna
You want to make sure that all of your flotilla mates are fixed up before you put yourself in for repairs. Plus from a purely tactical standpoint Iuno no longer has any support from a defensive field ship. While she does have the shepherds with her. You can add more to that situation than Laverna can.

[ ] Valerius
From what Memnon is telling you your corruption is deeper and more insidious than Laverna's. Given how the Void Wraiths keep springing surprises on you it might be better to clean it out before it can get worse somehow. Plus this dispute between the Taiidan expedition and the Bentusi archeologists should be purely diplomatic, and your own special skills won't be needed this time.

(Quest Note: If you choose to put Valerius in repairs we will be switching viewpoints to Iuno for this side mission. Whoever you pick will be fully repaired by the end of it.)

The Outlands

System 1240-C
Mobile Base Camp

Iuno hummed as she exited the quantum gate. Her drives radiated modulated thermal radiation out into the void. At the same time her escorts exited their own gates. It actually made Iuno slightly uncomfortable. She knew Laverna and Valerius got so excited about making their little drone pets, but she would much rather talk to someone who was actually intelligent.

Though she would admit having a flotilla of drone frigates nearby with the explicit task of protecting her from any and all threats did make her feel a bit safer. The last few months had been a wild and dangerous time. The galaxy seemed to teem with threats around every corner.

And it wasn't as if she was actually alone. Captains Dire and captain Zefal were also there in their two frigates. Iuno had asked them to fly in close formation on either side of her for extra protection. She hadn't told them that she had more armor than the Marduk and was faster than the Raawan. Her projections said that the two flicker captains could use a confidence boost after not participating in the siege of Irune.
Even putting them aside though she still had friends. Even now she was chatting with Praetor Vell about the philosophy of the Garden. It was truly interesting digging into the roots of the Kushan obsession with purity. They actually had a rational reason for doing so. In the very long term they planned to settle the planets that formed around the star that formed out of the garden nebula. And they didn't want outsiders disrupting an already long process. Iuno still hadn't grasped why they didn't just settle on an existing planet, but she was working on it. The praetor was more than willing to talk in exchange for her own answers about Bentusi customs.

Warchief Sulaku had been a tougher customer. With a chip on his shoulder the size of the war cruiser. Eventually she had determined that he didn't respect her as a non warrior. She could have brought up her time as a shepherd, but she had decided to get a bit more physical. Iuno had fabricated a combat bot and challenged the warchief to a spar. She had pushed that little robot to its limits, but it had still been a loss for her. So she had built a new robot and tried again and again. Getting a little better each time and winning the warchief's respect for her determination and growing skill. Which had been the point of course. She could have fabricated a drone with radial armor and enough power to snap the warchief in half, but that wouldn't have earned his respect for her as a peer just her technology.

Besides, it was a new and exciting project. She didn't know of any Bentusi who actually trained in melee combat. Maybe she'd ask Aurora to build her some big external manipulators.

A ping from her sensors drew Iuno's attention back to the outside world. She was approaching the mobile base camp that the Taiidan researchers had set up. It wasn't anywhere near as impressive as the one at the megalith, but then they hadn't actually established their dig yet. Instead it appeared to be a large ship with a cavernous hangar and expansive modules to fit various sensor equipment.

Iuno pinged the surrounding area with her radar, and tssked as she got no returns. The Taiidan scientists didn't have any escorts. Their science ship was unguarded. The Taiidan must have gotten very comfortable in their position as galactic super power if they were willing to send a science ship out alone. Their were pirates suicidal enough to attack the Bentusi, she shuddered to think of what they would do to a ship like this. Hopefully they at least had a few fighters in that hangar.

Though she supposed it shouldn't matter now that she had arrived. She ordered one of the shepherds to launch a patrol of dervishes to protect against just that scenario while she pondered her choices.

She could open a channel herself of course. But she was a Bentusi, and presumably they were still stinging from being rebuffed by her fellows. It might be better to lead with other options. She could tap the praetor to open the diplomacy. Or she could ask the warchief. Not the greatest options. She wished she had been able to pick up a few Vol clan. They'd be perfect for this. But she just didn't have any more room on board for them. Maybe once that Ark was finished she'd volunteer to embody it.
Iuno's decision

[ ] She'll do the talking
Whatever gripe these researchers had with the Bentusi she can get over it. Better to start off without any misunderstandings, and she's the best diplomat here.

[ ] Ask Praetor Vell to do it.
The Praetor was talkative enough, but somewhat circular in his arguments. The Kushan didn't typically talk with outsiders after all so they didn't have much experience in other cultures.

[ ] Set Warchief Sulaku on them.
The warchief was a blunt instrument and aggressive in his demands, but beneath that armored skin was an intelligent mind. And one surprisingly well versed in diplomacy. The Kushan clans could be quite disparate after all.